Why Most Businesses Ignore Their Best Data Source
Your Google Business Profile is sitting there, packed with information about how people find you, what they look at, and what they actually do when they arrive. Yet most double glazing companies barely glance at it. They're too busy posting the occasional photo or responding to reviews when they remember.
That's a mistake. The insights Google gives you for free are often more useful than data you'd pay hundreds for from other platforms.
What Google Business Profile Insights Actually Shows You
When you log into your Google Business Profile (assuming you've claimed and verified it), you'll find a section called Insights. It tracks several things worth paying attention to.
First, there's how people search for you. Google tells you the exact words customers typed into Google Maps or local search before they found your profile. For a double glazing business, you might see people searching "uPVC windows near me" or "emergency window repair [your town]". That's direct feedback about what language your customers actually use.
Then there's traffic sources. Are people finding you because they searched for you by name? Through a local search? Via Google Maps? Each source tells a different story. A spike in branded searches means your reputation is spreading. High local search traffic means your Google optimisation is working.
You also get information about customer actions. How many people called you from your profile? How many requested directions? How many visited your website? How many asked for a quote? These numbers reveal which channels are actually converting and which ones are just vanity metrics.
The Number That Most Matters
If you only look at one metric, make it customer actions. This is where intention meets behaviour. Someone who clicks "request a quote" from your Google profile is further along the decision journey than someone who just viewed your photos.
For double glazing companies, tracking quote requests through your profile tells you whether your profile content and pricing information are compelling enough to generate genuine interest. If you're getting 100 profile views a month but only 2 quote requests, your profile isn't converting. You need to look at what's missing. Are your prices clearly listed? Do your photos show actual installations? Is your description answering common questions?
Using Search Terms to Shape Your Content
Those search terms Google gives you aren't just for curiosity. They're a roadmap for your content strategy.
Say your insights show that 15% of people searching for you used the term "double glazing costs". That's a signal. These people care about price before they contact you. Your profile description and website might need a clearer section about pricing or what factors affect cost. Your blog should have posts about "how much does double glazing cost in [your region]".
If you see searches for "window condensation problems" or "fogged windows repair", you know potential customers are facing specific problems. That's content you should be creating. A simple blog post explaining condensation and how new windows solve it can capture that traffic.
The key is acting on patterns, not individual searches. Look at what appears consistently over a month or quarter, then build content around those themes.
Understanding Your Traffic Sources Breakdown
Google breaks down where your profile views come from. Google Search, Google Maps, and other sources each get their own number.
A double glazing company getting 60% of traffic from Google Maps might focus on keeping their map listing optimised, photos updated, and reviews flowing. One getting more traffic from Google Search might invest in blog content since people are finding them through search rather than maps.
If your traffic source distribution suddenly shifts, something has changed. Maybe a competitor moved away. Maybe you improved your search ranking. Maybe you've fallen off the first page. Noticing these shifts early lets you respond before you lose momentum.
The Question Your Insights Can't Answer
Here's the honest part. Google Business Profile Insights tells you what people do on your profile, not why they do it. It won't tell you why someone called but didn't book. Or why someone visited your website but didn't return.
You need to combine Google Insights with other tools. Use Google Analytics to see where people go after leaving your profile. Use call tracking to understand which pages or ads generated phone calls. Use your CRM to track whether profile visitors actually became customers or just enquiries.
Google Insights is the starting point, not the whole picture.
A Practical Monthly Check
You don't need to stare at these numbers constantly. A simple monthly review works better.
Spend 15 minutes the first Monday of each month checking your insights. Write down your top 3 search terms, your traffic source breakdown, and your customer action numbers. Compare them to the previous month. Note anything unusual. Then use those observations to adjust one thing. Maybe you'll improve your profile photos. Maybe you'll write a blog post about your most common search term. Maybe you'll test a different call-to-action in your description.
Small, consistent changes based on actual data beat guessing every time.
The Real Value Here
Google Business Profile Insights aren't complex to understand. You're just watching what your customers actually do and adjusting based on that behaviour. No mystery. No complicated analytics degrees needed.
For double glazing companies competing in a local market where every pound spent on marketing matters, that's exactly the kind of practical information you need. Your Google profile is already there. The data is already being collected. Using it properly is just a matter of looking at it regularly and being willing to act on what you see.
