getmitch home
Start free trial
Google Business Profile for trades

Google Business Profile optimisation checklist for tradesmen

A step by step checklist for getting a Google Business Profile found and trusted, written for plumbers, electricians, roofers and other UK trades working from a van.

The getmitch team 11 min read

To optimise a Google Business Profile, get the basics exactly right (name, categories, service area, hours and contact details), fill in every section Google offers, add real photos of your work, collect reviews and answer them, then post regularly. Do it in that order. A profile with the wrong category and a hidden-address mistake will not be rescued by weekly posts.

This checklist is written for UK tradesmen: plumbers, heating engineers, electricians, roofers, builders and kitchen fitters who work out of a van and rely on "near me" searches. Work through it once, then keep up the weekly bits.

Jump to:

How Google decides who shows up

Google's help page on local ranking says results are based mainly on three things.

  • Relevance: how well your profile matches what the person searched for. A complete, detailed profile helps Google understand what you do.
  • Distance: how far you are from the searcher, or from the location they typed in. You cannot change it.
  • Prominence: how well known you are, based on things like links from websites, the number of reviews and your ratings.

Google is also clear that there is no way to ask for or pay for a better local ranking. Everything below works on relevance and prominence, the two you can influence. If you want to go further on ranking itself, read how to rank higher on Google Maps.

Part 1: Get the foundations right

These are the details that cause trouble if they are wrong. Fix them before you do anything else.

Business name

Use the name on your van, invoices and website. Google's guidelines say not to add marketing taglines, service descriptions, location details, phone numbers, URLs or hours. They also say not to use legal suffixes like Ltd unless they appear consistently on your real-world signage or documents.

Good and bad names

Good: Dale's Plumbing Good: Dan's Electrical Ltd (if that is what your van and invoices say) Bad: Dale's Plumbing - Emergency Plumber Leeds 24/7 Bad: Best Cheap Roofer Manchester

Stuffing the name with your town and trade can get a profile suspended. If your profile is already named like that, read our guide on what to do when your Google Business Profile is suspended.

Address and service area

Decide whether customers visit you.

  • If they do (a trade counter, a showroom, a workshop with signage), show the address. Google expects permanent signage with the business name at an address you show.
  • If they do not (you go to them), set up a service-area business and hide the address. Google says service-area businesses such as a home-based plumber should hide their address.

You cannot use a P.O. box or a virtual office, and Google says remote mailboxes do not count. Where a suite or unit number is needed, put the street in Address Line 1 and the unit in Line 2.

For your service area, list the towns and areas you genuinely cover. Google says a service area should generally not stretch beyond about two hours' driving time from your base. Fewer places that are true beats a whole county that is not.

Primary and secondary categories

Your primary category is the strongest relevance signal on the profile. Pick the most specific one that matches the main job, such as Plumber, Electrician, Roofing contractor, or Heating contractor. Google tells you to keep the list short, make each category as specific as possible, and describe what the business is rather than what it sells or has.

Add a secondary category only for work you really do every month. A plumber who also does bathroom fitting can add a bathroom-related category. A plumber who occasionally helps a mate with tiling should not add Tiler. Our guide to the best categories for trades covers the common ones.

Phone and website

Use a number you answer and own, ideally a local number or a mobile that you pick up. Google says numbers and websites must represent the individual business and be under your control. Do not use a number that redirects elsewhere or a lead platform's tracking line as your main number.

Link your own website, not a profile on a directory, and make sure the page it opens shows the same business name and phone number as your profile.

Verification

Google verifies profiles before they show fully. Depending on the business, you may be offered a live video call, a phone code or text, email or a postcard. Google decides which methods you get. If you choose postcard, codes usually arrive within 14 days and expire after 30 days. Do not change your name, address or category while you wait, and do not request a new code, because that invalidates the first one. See Google Business Profile verification: what to expect.

If you have not yet created a profile at all, start with how to add your business to Google.

Part 2: Fill in every section

Once the foundations are right, complete every field Google gives you. A profile with gaps looks less trustworthy to customers and gives Google less to match against searches.

Opening hours

Enter the hours you actually answer the phone. If you do emergency call-outs, say so in the description and use special hours for bank holidays. Update them before Christmas and Easter, not after you have missed calls.

Business description

Write a plain description of who you are, what you do and where. Google says to describe services accurately and honestly, and not to include promotions, prices or links.

Description template

Dale's Plumbing is a family-run plumbing and heating business based in Leeds. We fit and repair boilers, bathrooms and central heating, and cover emergency leaks and blocked drains across LS6, LS7 and LS8. Gas Safe registered. Fully insured. Call or message for a quote.

Only write "Gas Safe registered" or "NICEIC approved" if it is true, and keep your registration number to hand in case anyone asks. Mitch does not check licences or certifications you mention in a job note, so that claim is yours alone.

Services

Add each service you offer with a short description. For a plumber that might be boiler servicing, boiler replacement, leak repair, bathroom installation and power flushing. These feed relevance without you having to stuff keywords into the name.

Attributes

Tick the attributes that apply: online estimates, wheelchair accessible entrance if you have a premises, and so on. Do not tick things that are not true.

Add an appointment or quote link if you use one. If you turn on messaging, make sure someone answers, because a message sitting unread for two days costs you the job.

Products

Google's product feature is for retail businesses and not for tradesmen. Ignore it unless you also run a shop.

Part 3: Photos that win jobs

Photos tell customers you are real. Google's photo guidance says to use JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, with a recommended size of 720 by 720 pixels and a minimum of 250 by 250. Images should be sharp and well lit, with no heavy filters or significant alterations. Photos appear only after the profile is verified.

What to upload:

  • Logo and cover photo. Your logo as it appears on the van, and a clear cover photo of you, your van or a finished job.
  • Before and after shots. A boiler before and after, a new bathroom, a re-pointed wall. Take them in the same spot so the change is obvious.
  • The van. A clean photo of the van with the name visible helps people recognise you when you turn up.
  • You and the team. People hire people. One decent photo of the person who will knock on the door beats a stock image of a toolbox.
  • Work in progress. Safe, tidy sites show you are careful.

Take the photos on the job, from your phone, before you pack up. Dictating a note about the job is faster than writing one, and the photo is already in your camera roll. Never use stock images on a trade profile.

Check you have permission before posting photos of a customer's home. Avoid anything that shows a house number, a postcode on a delivery box or a person's face.

Part 4: Reviews

Reviews feed prominence, and Google lists the number of reviews and the ratings as signals of how well known a business is. They also decide whether a customer rings you or the next name down.

Ask every customer

Do it the same day, while the customer is pleased. Send the Google review link by text or WhatsApp straight after the job. Our free review link generator makes the link and a QR code with no sign-up. A QR code on a van sticker or an invoice makes the ask easier.

Review request text

Hi Sarah, thanks for having us out today. A quick Google review about how it went would really help a small business like ours: [link]. No worries if not. Dale

Google's policies are strict here. Offering a discount, a free service or any other incentive for a review is banned. So is review gating, meaning only asking customers you think will be positive, or discouraging negative reviews. Ask everyone, ask plainly, and accept what comes.

Reply to every review

Google's advice is to keep replies short, professional and personal, and to add something useful rather than a copy-paste thank-you. For a bad review, acknowledge the issue, apologise where it is warranted and invite the person to carry on offline by phone or email. Do not share the reviewer's private details or argue in public. Replying promptly gives you a chance of the reviewer updating the rating.

Reply to a happy review

Thanks Sarah. Glad the new boiler is running well. If anything seems off over the winter, give us a ring. Dale

Reply to a bad review

Hi Mark, I am sorry the engineer arrived later than we agreed. That should not have happened and I would like to put it right. Please ring me on [number] so I can find out what went wrong. Dale

More on getting these going in our reviews guides.

Part 5: Posts and updates

Google lets you add three kinds of post: updates, offers and events. Updates share news with an optional photo and a button. Offers need a title and dates. Events need a title and start and end dates. Posts that include a phone number may be rejected, and posts older than six months are archived unless you set a date range.

For a trade, the update is the one to use. Post a finished job: what it was, where, a photo and a line for the customer who will search the same problem next month. We cover what works in what to post on your Google Business Profile.

Job update post

Replaced a leaking cylinder and rewired the immersion controls at a house in Headingley today. Same-day job, old unit taken away. Need a hot water cylinder replaced in Leeds? Call Dale's Plumbing for a quote.

Part 6: Keep it alive every week

A profile does not stay optimised. Reviews arrive, hours change, a competitor posts their fortieth job this month. The weekly routine is short:

  1. Add one post about a finished job, with a photo.
  2. Upload two or three new photos.
  3. Reply to any new reviews.
  4. Ask the last few customers for a review if you have not yet.
  5. Check your hours and any special hours.

The difficulty is that this is the job that gets dropped when the van is busy. Evening admin is where it dies. That is the gap Mitch fills. On the Local plan you send in the finished job from the van, Mitch writes a Google post about a minute later, and drafts a reply to every review. Nothing is posted until you approve it, and you can dictate the job note instead of typing. Review requests go out 24 to 72 hours after the job, and need the customer's mobile number and a consent tick.

Plan: On the Local plan

Local adds Google Business Profile posts, review requests 24 to 72 hours after the job, and AI-drafted replies to your reviews that you can edit before they post. It does not set up your profile, choose categories, handle verification or fix suspensions. That part is on this checklist. Local is £149 a month with a 14-day free trial, no card.

The one-page checklist

Copy this list and tick it off.

Foundations

  • Business name matches the van and invoices, with no extras
  • Address correct, or hidden for a service-area business
  • Service areas set to places you actually cover
  • One specific primary category, secondary categories only if real
  • Local phone number you answer
  • Website linked, with matching name and number
  • Profile verified

Completeness

  • Hours set, plus special hours for bank holidays
  • Description written in plain English
  • Services listed with short descriptions
  • Attributes ticked honestly
  • Booking or quote link added

Photos

  • Logo and cover photo uploaded
  • Fresh job photos at least weekly
  • Van and team photos
  • No stock images

Reviews

  • Review link or QR code saved on your phone
  • Everyone asked after the job, with no incentives
  • Every review answered

Activity

  • One job post a week
  • Offers or events only when you really have one

More in this guide series

See also the Google Business Profile hub and how Mitch handles your profile.

Sources

Checked 9 October 2026. Google changes its tools often, so use the labels on screen if they differ from the steps above.

Finish the job, skip the profile admin

Mitch turns each finished job into a Google post and drafts your review replies. You approve everything. Try it free for 14 days, no card needed.

Start free trial
14 days free. No card. Cancel any time.

Keep reading

What to post on your Google Business Profile (with job examples)

Ideas and copy-and-paste templates for Google Business Profile posts, written for UK plumbers, electricians, roofers and builders. Includes what Google allows and what gets rejected.

Review management for trades: what you need and what you don't

Most one-van firms don't need review management software at the price of a rep. What the job actually involves, and what to look for if you buy a tool.

Why buying Google reviews backfires

Buying Google reviews breaks Google's rules, can break UK consumer law, and tends to leave a profile looking worse than before. What to do instead.

Questions answered

How long does it take to optimise a Google Business Profile?
The first pass takes an afternoon. Cover the name, categories, service area, hours, description, services and a batch of photos. After that it is a few minutes a week for posts, photos and review replies.
What matters most for ranking in the map results?
Google says local results rely mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. You cannot change distance. You can improve relevance with a complete, accurate profile and prominence with reviews, ratings and links to your website.
Should I put my town in my business name?
No. Google says to use your real-world name and not to add taglines, service descriptions or location details. Adding them can get the profile suspended.
Should I show my home address?
If you work from home and customers do not visit, set the profile up as a service-area business and hide the address. Google's guidelines say service-area businesses should hide their address.
How often should I post to my profile?
Google gives no required rate. Posts older than six months are archived unless you set a date range, so regular posting keeps your profile showing recent work. Weekly is a sensible target for a working trade.
Can Mitch optimise my profile for me?
Mitch does not manage suspensions, categories or verification, so you set those up yourself using this checklist. On the Local plan it posts finished jobs to your profile after you approve them and drafts replies to your reviews.

Try it on your next job.

Start the trial, take a photo when you finish tomorrow's job, and see what Mitch does with it.

Start free trial
14 days free. No card. Cancel any time.