Google Business Profile for builders: a complete setup guide

For most trades, the Google Business Profile brings in more enquiries than the website does. It is also free, and roughly half the profiles we audit are half-finished.

Here is the full setup, in order.

Claiming and verifying

Search your business name in Google. If a listing already exists, claim it rather than creating a duplicate. Duplicates split your reviews and can get you suspended.

Verification is usually by video, postcard or phone. Video verification is now common for trades: you will be asked to film your van with signage, your tools, and some evidence of your location. Have that ready and it takes ten minutes.

Address or service area?

This trips up more builders than anything else.

If clients do not visit you, hide your address and set service areas instead. A home address showing publicly looks unprofessional and is unnecessary. If you have a yard or office clients do visit, show it.

Set service areas to towns you genuinely work in. Google recommends no more than about twenty, and a huge radius makes you less relevant everywhere rather than more relevant somewhere.

Choosing categories

The primary category carries the most weight. Be specific. "Roofing contractor" not "Contractor". "Kitchen remodeller" not "General contractor".

Then add secondary categories for each genuine service line. Do not stuff in categories for work you do not do; it dilutes relevance and can trigger a suspension.

Filling in the details properly

• Business description: 750 characters. Write what you do, where, and what makes you different. Not keyword soup
• Services: add each one separately with its own description. Most trades list three and stop
• Opening hours: accurate, including whether you take emergency calls
• Attributes: tick everything true. "Online estimates", "Onsite services", accessibility options
• Website link: point it at your homepage, and point service links at the matching service page
• Photos: twenty minimum. Real jobs, your van, your team. No stock imagery

Getting reviews without nagging

Get your short review link from the profile and send it by text the day the job signs off. Not by email, and not a week later.

Never offer anything in exchange; it breaches Google's policies and can cost you the reviews you already have. Reply to every review within a few days. For a negative one, reply once, briefly, factually, and offer to take it offline. Future clients judge the reply far more than the complaint.

Posts, and why they matter

A post every fortnight is enough. A photo of a finished job with two lines of text does the work. Posts signal that the business is active, and active profiles hold their position better.

Using the Q&A section

Anyone can ask a question on your profile, and anyone can answer, which is a risk if you ignore it. Post the five questions you get asked most and answer them yourself. It fills the space usefully and helps people decide.

What gets profiles suspended?

• Keywords stuffed into the business name
• A fake or virtual office address
• Categories for services you do not provide
• Duplicate listings for the same business
• Incentivised or purchased reviews

The business name field should contain your business name and nothing else. "Smith Building Ltd" is fine. "Smith Building Ltd | Extensions Loft Conversions Manchester" is asking for trouble.

How to maintain it

Fifteen minutes a fortnight covers it: one post, new photos from a recent job, reply to any reviews, check the details are still right. That is the whole job, and it consistently outperforms firms who set it up once and never return.