When a homeowner searches for a roofer, a plumber, or a fence company in their town, the first thing they usually see is not a website. It is a short list of businesses next to a map. Each of those listings is a Google Business Profile.
For a lot of small contractors, that profile does more work than the website does. People call straight from it, read the reviews on it, and look at the photos before they ever click through. It is free, and most of it can be filled in during one evening.
Here is how to set it up so it is complete and accurate, field by field, and what to leave alone.
Use your real business name, and nothing else
Your business name on the profile should match the name on your truck, your invoices, and your license. That is it.
It is tempting to write “Smith Roofing Best Roofer in Plano Roof Repair” because you have seen competitors do it. Google’s own guidelines say the name should reflect your real-world business name, and adding extra keywords can get a profile suspended. A suspended profile is a much bigger problem than a plain name.
If you want a service or a town in your name, it has to actually be your legal or branded name, used everywhere.
Pick the primary category carefully
The primary category tells Google what kind of business you are. It is one of the most important choices on the whole profile.
Choose the category that matches the work you most want to be found for. If you are a remodeler who also does some painting, “Remodeler” or “General contractor” is probably the right primary, not “Painter.”
You can add secondary categories for the other work you do. Keep them honest. Only add a category if you actually do that work regularly and would be happy to get calls for it.
Decide whether to show your address
Most contractors go to the customer. Google treats that as a service-area business. If you work out of your home or a shop where customers do not visit, you can hide your address and list the areas you serve instead.
If you do have a showroom or office where customers come in during posted hours, showing the address makes sense.
Do not use a virtual office or a mailbox address to look local in a town you are not actually in. That is another common reason profiles get suspended.
Set your service areas to where you really work
You can list the cities, towns, or zip codes you serve. List the places you actually drive to and want jobs in.
Listing a huge area does not make you show up everywhere in it. Searchers who are close to a business that is closer and more relevant will still see that business first. A tight, accurate service area also keeps you from getting calls you will turn down anyway.
If you have service area pages on your website, the towns on your profile and the towns on your site should line up.
Fill in hours you will actually answer the phone
Your hours tell people when they can reach you. If you list 7 to 7 and then send every call to voicemail after 4, people notice.
List the hours someone will pick up the phone or call back quickly. If you offer emergency service, say so in the description and only if it is true.
Update your hours for holidays. Google lets you set special hours so you do not have to change your regular ones.
Write the description like you are talking to a homeowner
The description is a short paragraph about your business. Write it in plain words:
- What you do, in the terms a homeowner uses (“we replace roofs and fix leaks,” not “full-service exterior envelope solutions”)
- Where you work
- What makes working with you easier (written estimates, cleanup, warranty, whatever is true for you)
- How long you have been doing it, if that is something you are proud of
Skip the list of every town and every keyword. It reads badly and does not help.
Add your services with short, clear names
The services section lets you list the specific jobs you do. Use the words customers would say: “Water heater replacement,” “Deck repair,” “Gutter cleaning.”
If you are comfortable sharing a starting price for some services, you can add it. If not, leave it blank. Either way is fine.
Upload real photos of your work
Photos are one of the easiest things to get right and one of the most often skipped. Add:
- Finished jobs, taken in good light
- Before-and-after pairs, if you have them
- Your truck with your name on it
- You and your crew, if you are comfortable with that
Use your own photos. Stock photos of a smiling worker in a clean hard hat do not tell anyone anything about you.
Add a few new photos every month or two as you finish jobs. It keeps the profile looking active and gives people more to look at.
Turn on the ways people can reach you
Make sure your phone number is a number someone actually answers. If you use a call tracking number, put it as the primary number and your main business line as an additional number, so the profile stays consistent with the rest of the web.
Add your website link. If you have a page built for booking estimates, link there rather than to a page that makes people hunt for the phone number.
If you turn on messaging, only do it if someone will reply. An unanswered message is worse than no message button.
Ask for reviews, and answer every one
Reviews show up right on the profile, and people read them. The simplest way to get more is to ask every happy customer, the day you finish the job, with a direct link to leave a review. Your profile gives you a short link you can text.
Reply to every review, good or bad. Keep replies short and specific. Thank the person, mention the job if you can, and for a bad review, stay calm and offer to make it right offline. Future customers read your replies as much as the reviews.
Never pay for reviews or write them for yourself. It breaks Google’s rules and it is usually obvious.
What to leave alone
A few things are not worth your time when you are getting started:
- Posting updates every day. An occasional post about a finished job or a seasonal reminder is plenty.
- Changing your name, category, or address over and over. Frequent edits can trigger a re-verification.
- Buying a “profile optimization” package that promises rankings. Nobody can promise where you show up.
A simple checklist
If you want to knock this out in one sitting, here is the short version:
- Business name matches your truck and license
- Primary category is the work you most want
- Address shown or hidden, based on whether customers visit you
- Service areas are towns you actually work in
- Hours are hours you actually answer
- Description is plain and written for homeowners
- Services are listed in customer words
- At least a handful of real job photos
- Phone and website link go somewhere that gets answered
- A review link saved on your phone, ready to text after every job
Get those right and your profile will be in better shape than a lot of the listings it sits next to. Then the job is simple: keep doing good work, keep adding photos, and keep asking for reviews.
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