Google Business Profile for trades

Most contractors set up a Google profile once and never touch it again. To a customer scrolling past, a listing with no new posts, no recent photos and unanswered reviews can look like a business that has stopped trading. This guide is how to optimize your Google Business Profile and keep it earning its place. Google Business Profile used to be called Google My Business, and plenty of people still search for it that way.

Get the basics right

Start with the things Google and customers both rely on:

• Business name exactly as it appears on your truck, invoices and website.
• One main category, then a few secondary ones that match work you really do.
• Phone number, website and opening hours, including emergency or after-hours cover if you offer it.
• A short description in plain words: what you do, where, and how long you have been doing it.
• Services listed individually, with a line on each.

A complete, accurate profile is where everything else starts. Skip this and the weekly posts do less.

Service area, not storefront

Most contractors work out of a home or a shop and travel to the job. If customers do not come to you, set up a service area business and hide your street address. List the cities and counties you actually cover, and be honest about the edges. A profile that claims 40 towns you never visit does not help anyone.

Verification and suspensions

Google may ask you to verify the business before the profile goes live, often with a video or a code. Follow the steps exactly as shown and use your real business details. Name stuffing, like adding 'Best Cheap Plumber Near Me' to your business name, can get a profile suspended.

Photos beat words

Real photos of real jobs, your truck, and the crew do more than stock images. Add new ones regularly. A before-and-after pair from this week tells a customer you are busy now. Photos taken at the truck after the job take a minute and you were going to take them anyway.

Post like you are open

A profile with a post from last week looks busy. One whose last post was two years ago looks shut. Posting each finished job is the simplest fix. You do not need clever content. A photo and a line about the job is plenty if it keeps coming, for example a water heater swap in Tampa, what was done, and one detail the customer cared about.

Answer every review

Replying to reviews, good and bad, shows the next customer you are paying attention. Thank people by first name and mention the work. Keep replies to bad reviews short and calm. Reviews and your profile are tied together: the more recent reviews you have, the more complete the picture looks. The guide to getting more Google reviews covers the asking side.

Keep the details consistent

Your name, address (or service area) and phone number should match across your website, your Google profile and the directories you are on, such as Yelp, Angi, Nextdoor and the BBB. Mismatches confuse customers. It is dull work, which is why it gets skipped, so put a reminder on the calendar twice a year.

A weekly routine that takes ten minutes

Once the profile is set up, the upkeep is small. On a Friday, when the week's jobs are fresh, add the best photos, post one job, and reply to any new reviews. If you run more than one crew or service, post the job that best shows the work you want more of. A contractor who wants more re-roofs should lead with roofs, not the odd gutter repair. Check once a month that your hours are right, especially around holidays, and that your phone number still rings through. Customers who find a closed listing on a Saturday call the next name down.

Questions and answers are worth a glance too. Anyone can ask a question on your listing, so look in now and then and answer the ones that come up repeatedly, like whether you do weekend calls or work in a particular county.