Google Business Profile for trades

Plenty of tradies still call it "Google My Business" or "the GMB". The name changed years ago, but the listing is the same thing: the box with your name, stars and phone number that shows when someone searches your trade and suburb. This page walks through it in the order you will need it, and links to the single-topic posts.

Not on Google yet, or not showing

Start here if a search for your own business name finds nothing, or finds someone else's.

• How to add your business to Google covers the set-up.
• Verification is the step that trips people. Google may ask for a video of your ute, tools and signage rather than a postcard.
• Why is my business not showing up on Google is the checklist when it is live but invisible.
• Already had one? Edit, transfer or delete a profile, which matters if a previous owner or an old web guy set it up.

Use the legal or trading name your customers see on the ute and invoice, the same as on your ABN lookup if you trade under it. Do not add "Cheap Emergency Plumber Brisbane" to the name field. Keyword-stuffed names are one of the common reasons profiles get suspended, and the post on a suspended profile explains what to do when that happens.

Service area, because you work out of a shed

Most tradies work from home or a yard in the suburbs. If customers do not come to you, set it up as a service-area business and hide the home address. List the suburbs you really cover: Ipswich, Springfield and Redbank Plains, say, rather than "all of South East Queensland". A tight and honest list tends to read better than a stretched one.

Pick your categories carefully. One main category for the work you are hired for most, and secondary ones for jobs you really do. Plumber and Gas Fitter are fine together if you hold both licences. A licensing note: whatever trade you list, make sure your own state licence covers it, and check with your state regulator (QBCC, NSW Fair Trading, Consumer Affairs Victoria and so on) for what has to appear in advertising in your state. Best categories for trades goes through them.

The things customers look at

1. Photos. Real ones. A tidy switchboard, a finished deck, the ute at the kerb. New ones every few weeks.
2. Reviews and replies. Rating, count and how recent. See the reviews overview.
3. Posts. Short updates with a photo. What to post has job examples.
4. Hours. Public holidays and the Christmas to New Year shutdown are where this goes wrong. A customer who rings a dead number on Boxing Day does not try twice.
5. Services. One line each, in plain words.

The full list of fixes is in the optimisation checklist. A free GBP audit tool is coming soon. In the meantime, the free Google review QR code tool makes the link and printable code for your review form.

Moving up the map

Three things carry most of the weight: how close you are to the searcher, how well your categories match what they typed, and your reviews. You cannot move your yard, but you can get the other two right. How to rank higher on Google Maps sets out what is in your control.

Keeping details the same everywhere

Your name, phone number and service area should match your website, True Local, Yellow Pages, hipages and Oneflare. If one lists the old mobile, correct it. If a platform shows its own number on your profile there, make sure the number on your Google listing is the one that rings your phone. Local citations lists which directories are worth the ten minutes.

A Friday routine

When the week is fresh: add the best two photos, post one job, answer the new reviews, glance at the hours. That is about ten minutes. Pick the job that shows the work you want more of. An air con installer in late October should be posting split-system installs, not a bathroom exhaust fan.