When someone nearby searches for a plumber, an electrician, a cleaning company or a repair shop, the first thing they often see is not a website. It is a map with a few businesses, each with a phone number, opening hours and a star rating. A Google Business Profile is the free listing behind that result. For a small local service company it is one of the cheapest ways to be found, and one of the easiest to neglect.
Most problems are not technical. The profile was created years ago by someone who has left, the opening hours are wrong, and a review from three months ago has no reply. This article gives a short routine: what to fill in, what to post, and who checks it.
Start with ownership
Before touching any field, decide who owns the profile. Two things usually go wrong without an answer:
- The profile is tied to one person's private account. If that person leaves, nobody can edit it. Make sure the profile is managed from an account the company controls, and that at least two people have access.
- Nobody feels responsible. Name one owner and one deputy. The owner does the monthly check below. The deputy covers holidays and absence.
If you are not sure whether your company already has a profile, search for the company name and phone number on Google Maps. Google explains how to add or claim a Business Profile if one exists but nobody manages it.
What to fill in
Google's own guidelines for representing your business are short and worth reading once, because a profile that breaks them can be suspended. In practice, fill in these items in this order:
- Business name. Use the name customers know, exactly as on your van, invoice and website. Do not add keywords such as "cheap plumber your town". It is against the guidelines and looks careless.
- Primary category. Choose the one that best describes your main service. Add secondary categories only for services you really offer.
- Service area or address. If customers come to you, show the address. If you travel to them, set the area you really serve instead of listing every town nearby.
- Phone number and website. Use a number that is answered during opening hours. Link to the page that best matches a visitor's need, usually the contact page or the main service page.
- Opening hours. Include holidays and seasonal changes. Wrong hours are the most common complaint about local listings.
- Services. List your main services in plain words, each with one sentence. Price ranges are optional; add them only if you can keep them current.
- Photos. Add real photos: the team, the vehicle, finished work, the premises. Google has content rules for photos, videos and posts, including that images should represent your actual business.
Google also publishes tips to improve your local ranking. They come down to three ideas: relevance (does the profile match the search), distance (how close you are) and prominence (how well known you are). You cannot change distance, but a complete, accurate profile helps the other two.
What to post
Posts are short updates that appear on the profile. A small company does not need a content calendar. A realistic rhythm is one or two posts a month, chosen from a short list:
- A finished job with a photo and two sentences about what was done (with the customer's permission, and no address or personal details).
- A seasonal reminder, such as heating checks before autumn.
- A change in availability, such as holiday closure or a new service.
- A short answer to a question customers ask often.
Keep each post plain and specific. If nothing happened this month, skip the post. An old but accurate profile is better than a busy one that says nothing.
Reviews: reply, do not argue
Reviews are visible to everyone and affect who calls. Two habits are enough:
- Ask after the job. When a job is finished and the customer is satisfied, send a short message with the review link. Google explains how to get more reviews, including that you should not offer incentives for them. For the wider routine of asking and reading feedback, see collecting customer feedback in three questions.
- Reply to every review within a few working days. Thank the positive ones in one sentence. For a negative review, state the facts calmly, apologise for what went wrong if it did, and offer a phone number or an email address to resolve it. Do not discuss private details in public.
A reply is read by future customers more than by the reviewer. A calm answer to a complaint often does more good than five-star reviews.
Connect the profile to your enquiry routine
A profile brings calls and messages, and they are only worth something if somebody answers. Use the same rule as for the website: a named person, a reply within one working day. The article on handling website enquiries in one working day describes a routine that works for calls from the map as well. Make sure the website page you link to has a clear next step, as described in a website contact form that gets answered.
A ten-minute monthly check
Put a recurring item in the owner's calendar, on the same day each month. The check has six questions:
- Are the name, address or area, phone number and website still correct?
- Are the opening hours right for the coming month, including holidays?
- Is there a new review, and has it been answered?
- Has anyone suggested an edit or added a photo that should not be there?
- Is there one post or photo to add this month?
- Do the services still match what the company really offers?
If the answer to any question is "no", fix it on the spot or write down who will. The deputy repeats the check when the owner is away.
Common mistakes
- Keyword stuffing in the business name. It can lead to suspension and does not help customers.
- Wrong hours or an old phone number. Customers who cannot reach you do not come back.
- Ignoring negative reviews. Silence reads as indifference.
- Posting daily for two weeks and then stopping. A rhythm you can keep is better than a burst.
- No second person with access. A single account holder is a single point of failure.
A first step
This week, search for your company on Google Maps. Write down every item that is wrong or missing, give the list to the person who will own the profile, and fix the hours and phone number first. Then book the first monthly check. That is usually enough to make the profile accurate and to keep it that way.
Sources
- Google Business Profile Help, Get started with Google Business Profile
- Google Business Profile Help, Add or claim your Business Profile
- Google Business Profile Help, Guidelines for representing your business on Google
- Google Business Profile Help, Tips to improve your local ranking on Google
- Google Business Profile Help, Tips to get more reviews
- Google Business Profile Help, Photos, videos and posts content policy
- This article is a planning aid. Google's features and rules change, so check the linked pages before acting. No client results are claimed.
