Google Business Profile for trades: getting found locally

To get your trade business on Google Maps, create a free Google Business Profile at business.google.com, set it up as a service-area business with your home address hidden, verify it, and add real job photos and reviews. Use your real trading name with no extra keywords, keep your service area within about two hours' drive, and ask every happy customer for a review.

Do you show your address or hide it?

Most trades should hide it. Google's guidelines say a business that serves customers at their location, such as a plumber working from home, should remove the address and set a service area instead. You show an address only if customers visit you there during your opening hours.

How do you set up the profile?

Go to business.google.com, search for your business to see if a profile already exists, then claim it or create a new one. The whole setup takes about half an hour if you have your photos ready.

1. Check for an existing profile.

   Customers or Google may have created one. If it exists, claim it; if someone else controls it, request ownership.

2. Enter your real trading name.

   Exactly as it appears on your van and invoices. No town, no trade keywords, no phone number.

3. Pick a primary category.

   The closest match to your main work, such as Plumber, Electrician or Roofing contractor. Add a few secondary categories for other work you do.

4. Set your service area.

   Add the towns or postcodes you cover. Hide your address if customers don't visit you.

5. Add contact details.

   A local mobile or landline that you or your team answer, your website, and a WhatsApp or text chat link if offered (see below).

6. Verify.

   Follow the method Google offers you.

7. Fill in services, hours and description.

   List the jobs you do in plain words. Say which areas and what type of work in the description.

8. Add photos.

   At least three of your team at work, plus finished jobs.

How does verification work?

Google picks the methods you see, depending on your business. They include a phone call or text with a code, email, a live video call during business hours, a video recording, or a postcard. Postcard codes usually arrive within 14 days and expire after 30 days, and you shouldn't edit your name, address or category while you wait. After you finish the steps, Google says reviews take up to five business days. Your photos won't appear until the profile is verified.

What photos should you add?

Real ones, sharp and well lit, with no heavy filters or AI changes. Google asks for JPG or PNG files between 10 KB and 5 MB, recommends 720 pixels tall and wide, and suggests at least three "at work" photos showing your team providing the service plus team photos. For a trade, that means you on the tools, the finished job, and the van. Add new job photos every week or two; it's the same material as your social media posts, so ask the customer's permission first. See posting job photos.

How do you get more Google reviews?

Ask every customer, at the moment they're happiest: the day you finish. Google lets you share a review link or QR code, and customers need a Google account to post, which they can create with any email address.

Hi name, thanks again for having us to do the job. If you've got two minutes, a Google review helps a small firm like ours more than anything else: your review link. Honest feedback welcome, good or bad. Your name

Reply to every review. Keep replies short and personal, don't paste the same thank-you to everyone, and with a bad review, apologise where it's fair and never share the customer's details.

Can customers message you from your profile?

Yes, through WhatsApp or text. Google ended its own Business Profile chat on 31 July 2024. Verified profiles can now add a WhatsApp click-to-chat link or a number that receives texts, in regions where it's available: Edit profile, Contact, then Chat. If you add both, customers only see the text option. Point it at the number you watch, and make sure every message gets a quick reply; see one inbox for enquiries.

How do you know if it's working?

Check the performance page monthly. It shows calls from the profile's call button, message conversations, direction requests, website clicks, and the search terms people used to find you, updated at the start of each month. Calls only show if your profile has a phone number. If searches are high but calls are low, improve your photos, reviews and services list. If calls are high but jobs are low, work on qualifying leads.

Common questions