Google Business Profile tips for local pros

Your Google Business Profile is the listing that shows up in Google Maps and in the map results on Google Search. It is free, and for most local service businesses it brings in more calls than anything else.

If you have not claimed your profile yet, start there. Search for your business on Google, or go to the Google Business Profile site, and follow the steps to claim and verify it. Google may ask you to verify by phone, email, video or another method. Once you are in, these are the parts worth getting right.

Your business name

Use your real business name, the one on your signs, vehicles and invoices. Do not add towns or keywords, like "Smith Painting Best Painter Carmel". It is against Google's guidelines, competitors can report it, and it can get your profile suspended. If your real registered name includes a word like "Painting", that is fine.

Categories

Your primary category tells Google what kind of business you are. Choose the one that matches your main service as closely as possible, such as "House cleaning service" or "Tree service". Then add secondary categories for the other work you do. Do not add categories for services you do not offer just to show up in more searches.

Service area and address

Most trades go to the customer rather than the customer coming to them. If that is you, set yourself up as a service-area business: list the towns or areas you serve and hide your street address if you do not see customers there. If you do have a shop or office that customers visit, show the address.

Hours

Keep your hours accurate and add special hours for holidays. If you answer the phone outside your working hours, set your hours to match when you actually pick up. Few things lose a customer faster than calling during your listed hours and getting no answer.

Services and description

Add each service you offer, with a short description in plain words. Write a business description that says what you do, where, and what makes you a good choice, such as being family-run, offering free estimates or specialising in older homes. Keep it factual. Avoid phone numbers and links in the description, and do not make claims you cannot back up.

Photos

Photos make your profile look active and real. Add:

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  A clear logo and a cover photo.

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  Before and after photos of real jobs.

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  Your team at work and your vehicles.

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  New photos every few weeks, so the profile does not look abandoned.

Use your own photos. Customers can tell when a profile is full of stock images.

Reviews and replies

Reviews show up right on your profile and strongly affect who gets the call. Ask every happy customer for a review, and send them the direct review link from your profile so it takes them seconds. Reply to every review, thank people for good ones, and answer bad ones calmly and briefly. Never pay for reviews, offer discounts in exchange for them, or only ask customers you expect to be happy. Those are all against Google's rules.

Updates

You can post short updates to your profile: a seasonal offer, a new service, a photo of a job you just finished. They are optional, but an occasional post shows people the business is active.

Your website link

Add your website so people can learn more before they call. Make sure the page you link to has your phone number at the top and clearly matches what your profile says about your services and area.

Check your performance

Your profile has a performance section that shows how many people found you, how many called from the profile, how many asked for directions and how many clicked through to your website. Look at it once a month. If calls drop, check whether your hours, categories or photos have changed.

Mistakes to avoid

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  Keywords stuffed into your business name.

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  Listing a virtual office or a mailbox as your address.

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  Creating more than one profile for the same business.

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  Wrong or outdated hours and phone number.

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  Ignoring reviews for months.

The short version

Claim it, verify it, use your real name, pick the right categories, set your service area, keep your hours accurate, add real photos and ask for reviews. Then spend ten minutes a month keeping it fresh.

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