Google Business Profile, set up and kept right
For most trades the map listing is the first thing a customer sees, before any website. It is free, it belongs to you, and it works best when it is complete, accurate and linked to a proper site.
We set it up as part of a £650 build and keep it right on a care plan from £45 a month. This page says exactly what that covers, and what it does not.
For most trades, the map is the first thing a customer sees
Search for a plumber, a roofer or a decorator and a town, and Google usually shows a map with a short list of businesses before it shows any websites. That list comes from Google Business Profiles. It is free to be on it, and for local work it is often where the decision is made: the customer looks at the names, the star ratings, the photographs and the opening hours, and rings one.
A profile that is half filled in, has the wrong hours, sits in the wrong category or has no recent reviews is easy to pass over. A complete one that links to a proper website gives the customer everything they need in one place. The two work together, which is why we treat the profile as part of the job rather than an extra.
What a properly set up profile has
This is what we do when we set one up as part of a £650 Business build.
The right categories
The main category decides which searches you can appear for. We choose it, and the secondary ones, to match the work you want.
Your real service area
The towns you really cover, with your home address hidden if you work from home and travel to customers.
Hours and contact details
Opening hours, phone number and website link, matching what is on your site so Google sees one consistent business.
Your services, listed
Each service you offer, added in plain words, so the profile matches the more specific searches as well as the general one.
Real photographs
Your own job photographs, the van, the team. Stock images do nothing here.
Verification
Google has to confirm the business is real before the profile shows. We walk you through it, because the last step has to be done by you.
On a £395 Starter build we link your site and your map listing together and get the basics right. The full setup above is part of the £650 build. Either way the profile belongs to your business, not to us, and it stays with you whatever you do about your website.
What we do each month, by care plan
A profile drifts if nobody looks at it. This is exactly what each plan covers, and nothing beyond it.
Looked After, £45 a month
Your Google listing kept accurate: opening hours, bank holidays, services and categories. If something changes in the business, tell us once and it is corrected on the site and the listing.
Found, £85 a month
A recent job written up every month as its own page on your site and posted on your Google listing. Your own review link, a short link on your site and a QR card. Every review answered in your name, good or bad, and your rating and review count tracked in the monthly report.
Found and Growing, £150 a month
Fresh job photographs on your listing every month, a new service or area page on your site every month, and a full pass over the profile and the site every quarter: what is ranking, what is not, and what we do next.
Every plan is month to month with no minimum term. The care plans are set out in full here.
Reviews are the part only you can start
Google reviews sit on your profile and they belong to your business. They do not disappear if you change website, leave a directory or stop working with us. For a trade, a steady run of recent ones is about the most persuasive thing a new customer can see.
The asking has to come from you, because the customer knows you and not us. We never message your customers. What we do, on the Found plan, is remove the friction: a link that opens the review box directly, a short version of it on your site, and a QR card you can hand over when the job is finished. From Found up we also reply to each review in your name, which shows the next customer that somebody is paying attention.
We do not write reviews, we do not offer anything in return for them, and we do not hide the poor ones. A calm, helpful reply to a bad review usually does more good than the review does harm. Our article on how to get more Google reviews covers when and how to ask.
What local SEO means for a trade, without the jargon
Three things do most of the work, and none of them is a secret.
- A profile that is complete, accurate and kept active, as described above.
- A website with a real page for each service and each main area, saying the same name, address and phone number as the profile.
- Recent, honest reviews, answered.
That is the whole of it for most one-van and small-team trades, and it is what our builds and care plans are designed around. We do not promise positions and we do not sell a mystery monthly retainer. If your profile is not appearing at all, start with why a business does not show on Google Maps. For the longer view, read how local ranking works.
If you are paying for a directory listing as well, this comparison of Checkatrade and your own website explains how a free Google profile fits alongside it. Costs are on what a tradesman's website costs.
What trades ask us about Google Business Profile
Is a Google Business Profile free?
Yes. Google does not charge for the profile itself. What costs something is the time to set it up properly and keep it accurate, which is the part we do. Be wary of anybody who rings claiming to be from Google and asking for money to keep your listing live.
I work from home and go to customers. Can I still have a profile?
Yes. Google lets a business that travels to its customers hide its home address and show the areas it serves instead. It is the usual setup for a trade that works at the customer's address. The areas need to be the ones you really cover.
Do you ask my customers for reviews?
No, and we never will. We do not contact your customers. On the Found plan we give you your own Google review link, a short version on your site that opens the review box, and a QR card to hand over at the end of a job. You do the asking, in person or by message, and we make it a single tap for the customer. Then we answer every review in your name.
Can you get me to the top of Google Maps?
Nobody can promise a position, and we will not. Where you appear depends on how close the searcher is, how well your profile matches what they typed, and how established the business looks, which includes reviews. We can get the profile complete, accurate and active, which is the part that is in anybody's control.
Can I have you manage the profile without building me a website?
The profile work is part of our website builds and care plans rather than a separate product. If you want a wider local search campaign across several towns, that is quoted individually, so tell us what you are after and we will say honestly whether it is worth it.
Get your free preview
Your name, your business and a way to reach you. We build a real preview of your site inside 48 hours, and you see it before you pay anything.
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Get the site and the listing working together
We build a real working preview of your site in 48 hours, free. Builds from £395, with the full profile setup in the £650 build. Care plans from £45 a month, no minimum term.