The "either/or" question is the wrong question
A lot of installers ask us "do I need a website if I have a Google Business Profile?" or "is my website pointless because everyone uses Maps now?" The honest answer is that they do different jobs and you genuinely need both. But the order matters, and so does the budget split.
This breaks down what each one actually does, where the calls come from, and how to spend if you can only do one first.
What Google Business Profile does
Google Business Profile (GBP) is the free listing that appears in Google Maps and in the Maps three-pack at the top of local search results. When someone types "solar installers near me," "plumber Bristol," or "heat pump installer Leeds," GBP listings are what they see first — before the regular blue links, before any ads.
What GBP wins you:
- Maps three-pack visibility (top of mobile screens, where 60% of local clicks happen)
- "Call" button right in the search results — no website visit required
- "Directions" button (huge for service businesses with a showroom)
- Photo gallery shown directly in search results
- Reviews and star rating visible without clicking through
- "Book online" and quote-request buttons built in
What GBP costs: Nothing. It's free, forever. Setup takes about a day. Verification takes 5 days by postcard or 2 minutes by video.
Who calls from GBP: Mostly impulse buyers. Someone whose boiler just broke. Someone whose neighbour just got solar. Lower-intent, higher-volume.
What your website does
Your website is where people go to *decide* whether to call you. GBP gets them to consider you; the website closes the sale (or doesn't).
What a website wins you:
- Detailed service pages explaining what you actually do
- Real photos of installs, with locations and details
- Pricing transparency (even ballpark)
- Trust signals (accreditations, team page, founding date)
- Long-form content that ranks for research-stage queries ("how much do solar panels cost UK")
- Email capture, quote forms, FAQ pages
- The ability to track exactly where customers come from with Google Analytics
What a website costs: £999–£15,000+ to build, plus £99–£200/month to host and maintain. We broke this down in how much does a website cost for a local business?.
Who calls from your website: Considered buyers. Comparison shoppers who've opened your tab plus two competitors. Higher intent, higher quality, bigger jobs.
The actual data on where calls come from
Across the Presencly client base of UK renewable installers, the typical split for monthly enquiries is roughly:
- 40% from Google Business Profile direct (call button in search results)
- 35% from website organic traffic (Google → website → call/form)
- 15% from Google Maps directions (someone driving past, looking up the address)
- 10% from referrals and other sources (Facebook, word of mouth, paid ads)
That 35% from website organic is your highest-quality enquiries — they've spent 3+ minutes on your site, read the FAQ, looked at your work, and decided to call. Those convert into bigger jobs and longer relationships. The GBP direct calls convert too, but they're often smaller jobs or price-shoppers.
Bottom line: GBP volume, website quality. You want both for the same reason you want both a shopfront and a salesperson — they serve different customers.
If you can only do one first
Do GBP. It's free, it takes a day, and most small businesses haven't claimed theirs.
The minimum-viable GBP setup: 1. Claim and verify the profile 2. Choose the right primary category (the most specific one that fits) 3. Fill every field — services, hours, opening days, attributes 4. Add 10+ photos of real jobs (use phone photos, not stock) 5. Write a 750-character business description that includes your top 3 keywords 6. Ask 5 customers for Google reviews this week 7. Post one update per week (new install photo + 2 sentences) — Google treats GBP posts like content
This alone, done properly, gets most UK local businesses into the Maps three-pack inside 60 days. Even without a great website.
Why you still need a website (eventually)
GBP alone caps your growth. Three reasons:
1. Comparison shoppers always check the website. If you only have a GBP and no website, you lose to any competitor who has both. 2. You don't own GBP. Google can suspend your profile, change the algorithm, or move the Maps three-pack. A website is yours. 3. Content ranks too. A website with 10 useful pages ranks for 10× more queries than a GBP-only setup. Each one is a customer touchpoint you'd otherwise miss.
The compounding effect is real. Installers who run both well see 3× the enquiry volume of installers who run only GBP.
What "running both well" looks like
- GBP fully filled, 30+ reviews at 4.5+, weekly posts, photos of every recent install
- Website that loads in under 3 seconds, has 6+ real install photos on the homepage, embeds 3 recent Google reviews, has a phone number tap-to-dial on every page
- The two are linked: GBP points to the website, website footer links back to GBP for reviews
If you'd rather have someone set both up properly, Presencly handles GBP optimisation as part of every build — claim, verify, fill, photo upload, weekly post template, review playbook — alongside the website itself. For UK renewable installers only, £999 build + £99/month hosting.
Or request a free audit and we'll tell you which of your two assets is the weaker one, in 24 hours.