Google Business Profile for contractors

Most contractors go to the customer. Google calls that a service-area business, and its rules are clear: during setup, choose that you're a service-area business, and if you don't have a storefront where you receive customers, you must hide your business address. Your profile then shows the area you serve instead of a street address, which also keeps your home address off Google when you run the business from home.

If you have a showroom, yard or office with your sign on it, where customers come to you, you're a hybrid business: show that address and add a service area as well. A place without permanent signage should be listed as a service-area business.

• Up to 20 service areas. Add the cities, ZIP codes or other areas you serve. You can't set the area as a radius around your base.
• About two hours' drive. Google says the overall area shouldn't extend farther than about two hours of driving time from where the business is based, though a larger area may suit some businesses.
• One profile for the metro area you serve. Google warns that your account may be suspended if it finds multiple profiles for the same business in the same metropolitan area.
• No mail drops. P.O. boxes, mailboxes at remote locations and virtual offices you don't operate from aren't accepted as a business address.

Categories tell Google what your business is, and Google says they affect your local ranking. Pick a primary category that best describes the business, as specific as possible: a plumbing company is Plumber, not a broad construction category. Google's test is that a category should finish the sentence “This business IS a…”, not “This business HAS a…”.

Add secondary categories only for real parts of the business, and use as few as possible. Google's guidelines say not to pick a category for every product or service; the services section is for that. You can't create your own category: type what you do in the profile editor and pick from Google's list, and if your exact trade isn't there, pick the closest general one. Typical choices, written as Google lists them:

• Roofer: Roofing contractor. Add Gutter service only if homeowners hire you for gutter work on its own, not just gutters as part of a reroof.
• HVAC company: HVAC contractor. Add Air conditioning repair service or Furnace repair service only if repair calls are a big part of your work.
• Plumber: Plumber. Add Drainage service if drain and sewer work is its own line of business.
• Remodeler: Remodeler, or Kitchen remodeler or Bathroom remodeler if that's most of what you build.
• Other trades: Electrician, Painter, Concrete contractor, Fence contractor, Landscaper.

Services. Google gives service businesses a services list on the profile where it's available. It suggests services that fit your type of business (a plumber sees options such as “Install faucet” or “Repair toilet”), and you can add your own. Add every job you want more of: roof leak repair, storm damage inspection, tankless water heater installation, EV charger installation. A custom service name can't include prices or phone numbers. Give each service a short, plain description.

Description. Up to 750 characters, with no links or HTML and no promotions or prices. Say what you do, for whom and where, and what makes you a safe choice: licensed and insured, years in business, your warranty, the brands you install.

Phone. Use a local number that reaches your business and that you control directly. Google doesn't allow phone numbers or links that redirect people somewhere else. You can add up to two more numbers, mobile or landline.

Hours. List the hours customers can reach you. Before holidays, set special hours, and confirm them even when they're the same as usual, so customers know they're right. For a closure of a week or more, Google says to mark the business temporarily closed. List 24 hours only if someone really answers at 2 a.m.; a voicemail at night isn't 24-hour service.

Website. Enter the full address starting with https:// and point it at your own site, where people can see your work and request a quote. Make sure Google's crawler isn't blocked from the site. If you want your analytics to show which visits came from the profile, add tracking tags to the link: utm_source, utm_medium and utm_campaign.

Google lists photos and videos among its tips for local ranking, and they're what homeowners scroll through before they call. Google's specs: JPG or PNG, between 10 KB and 5 MB, at least 250 by 250 pixels (720 by 720 recommended), in focus, well lit and without heavy filters, so the picture represents reality. Videos can run up to 30 seconds and 75 MB, at 720p or higher. What to shoot:

• Before and after from the same spot: the leaning fence, then the new one.
• Your crew at work in company shirts, with their OK.
• Your trucks and equipment with your name on them.
• Close-ups that show quality: flashing details, clean solder joints, a tidy electrical panel, straight paint lines.
• A short walk-through video of a finished job.
• Your logo and a cover photo that match your website.
• No stock photos or other companies' pictures, and ask before you show a customer's face or house number.

Customers can find your profile only after it's verified. Google offers the methods available for your business: a phone call or text, email, a live video call, a postcard (most codes arrive within 14 days) or a video recording, which Google recommends when you're eligible for it. Some profiles are verified instantly, for example when the business website is already verified in Google Search Console. Verification reviews take up to 5 business days, occasionally longer.

A verification video must be one unedited, continuous recording of at least 30 seconds, filmed live and uploaded from a phone through your profile. Keep bank, tax and ID numbers, private details and other people's faces out of it. Never stage it with a borrowed truck, a sign taped up for the day or someone else's address: Google can suspend profiles that break its guidelines. For a service-area business, the video has to show three things:

• Where you're based: street signs, nearby landmarks or other identifiers at your business address, not empty land or a spot with no clear markers.
• That the business exists: the professional tools, equipment or products you use for work.
• That you run it: you doing the work or getting into business-only assets, such as your locked tool storage or work van.

Once you're verified, upkeep is what counts. Google's tips for local ranking are to keep your information complete and up to date, respond to reviews, and add photos and videos. A profile that was perfect two years ago and hasn't changed since tells a homeowner less than one with last week's job on it.

• Ask every customer for a review, with your review link or QR code. Google forbids offering anything in return and asking only the customers you expect to be happy. The full routine is in how to get more Google reviews.
• Reply to reviews promptly, briefly and personally. Google suggests using the reviewer's name, skipping the same “thank you” for everyone, and on a bad review staying polite, protecting their privacy and owning real mistakes.
• Update services and areas when you add a line of work or start covering a new town.
• Set special hours before every holiday.
• Read your performance numbers each month: calls, website clicks, direction requests and the search terms people used, which Google updates at the start of each month.
• Give edits time. Google reviews changes before they go live, and service-area edits can take up to 48 hours to show.

• Keywords or towns in the name. “Smith Roofing” is a name. “Smith Roofing – Roof Repair & Replacement Dallas” isn't. Google's guidelines don't allow service descriptions or location details in the business name.
• Fake locations. No virtual offices, P.O. boxes, a relative's address in the next city, or an extra profile for every town you serve. Use your service areas and your website's town content instead.
• Paid, filtered or staff reviews. No discounts or gifts for reviews, no asking only happy customers, no reviews from your own employees, and nothing posted on a competitor's profile to hurt it.
• Redirecting numbers and links. The phone and website on your profile should reach your business directly.
• A category for every service. Google asks for as few categories as possible; list the rest under services.
• Anyone selling a guaranteed spot on Maps. Google says there's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.