When a homeowner searches “plumber near me” or “roofer in Bristol,” Google decides which three businesses appear in the map results at the top of the page. That decision is heavily influenced by your Google Business Profile. If yours is incomplete, outdated, or missing altogether, you are invisible to the people who need your services right now.
This guide walks you through every step of setting up and optimising your Google Business Profile as a tradesperson. Whether you are a sole trader just getting started or a team of six looking for more consistent leads, a properly managed GBP is the single most cost-effective thing you can do for your local visibility.
What Google Business Profile Is and Why It Matters
Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is the free listing that appears when someone searches for a local service on Google Search or Google Maps. It shows your business name, phone number, reviews, opening hours, photos, and a link to your website. For tradespeople, it is often the first impression a potential customer gets — long before they visit your site or pick up the phone.
The local pack — that cluster of three businesses shown on a map at the top of search results — drives a disproportionate share of phone calls and enquiries. Studies consistently show that businesses appearing in the local pack receive significantly more clicks than those buried in the regular organic results below. For trades like plumbing, electrical work, roofing, and landscaping, this matters enormously because most customers are searching with local intent. They want someone nearby, and they want someone now.
Getting your Google Business Profile for tradespeople right is not optional if you want to compete. It is the foundation that everything else — local SEO, citations, reviews — builds upon.
Creating Your Profile or Claiming an Existing One
If you have never set up a Google Business Profile, head to business.google.com and sign in with a Google account. You will be prompted to enter your business name and category. Follow the steps, and Google will ask you to verify your business — usually by sending a postcard to your trading address with a PIN code, though phone and email verification are sometimes offered.
Here is the part many tradespeople miss: Google may have already created a listing for your business. If customers have searched for you, left reviews, or if your details appear in a directory somewhere, an unverified listing might already exist. Search for your business name on Google Maps. If you see it, click “Claim this business” and go through the verification process. This is far better than accidentally creating a duplicate, which can cause real problems down the line.
A few practical notes on verification. The postcard method typically takes five to seven working days in the UK. Do not change your business name or address while waiting for the postcard — it can reset the process. Once you receive the PIN, log back in and enter it promptly.
Choosing the Right Primary and Secondary Categories
Your primary category is one of the most important ranking signals for Google Business Profile. It tells Google what your business does, and it directly affects which searches you appear for. Choose the most specific category that accurately describes your main trade. For example, if you are a plumber, select “Plumber” rather than “Home Improvement.” If you are an electrician, pick “Electrician” rather than “Contractor.”
Google offers a set list of categories, and new ones are added periodically. Here are some common primary categories for tradespeople:
- Plumber
- Electrician
- Roofing Contractor
- Landscape Gardener
- Painter
- Carpenter
- Heating Engineer
- Builder
You can also add secondary categories to capture additional services. A plumber who also fits bathrooms might add “Bathroom Remodeler” as a secondary category. A builder who handles extensions and loft conversions could add “General Contractor.” Be honest and specific — adding categories you do not genuinely serve will hurt more than it helps, because Google tracks user behaviour and will notice when people searching for those services do not engage with your listing.
Writing a Business Description That Helps You Rank
Your business description gives you 750 characters to explain what you do, where you work, and why someone should choose you. Google uses this text to understand your business, and potential customers read it when deciding whether to call.
Write in plain English. State your trade, the areas you cover, and what sets you apart. Avoid stuffing keywords unnaturally — Google’s guidelines explicitly prohibit this, and it reads poorly to real people. A good description for an electrician in Kent might read:
“We are a family-run electrical business based in Maidstone, covering Kent and the surrounding areas. We handle everything from full rewires and consumer unit upgrades to lighting installations and fault finding. NICEIC registered and fully insured, with over 15 years of experience working in domestic and commercial properties.”
That description is clear, includes the location naturally, mentions the trade and specific services, and highlights a trust signal (NICEIC registration). It does not try to be clever. It just tells people what they need to know.
Service Area vs Physical Location
This is one of the most common points of confusion when setting up a Google Business Profile for tradespeople. Google gives you two options: you can list a physical address where customers visit you, or you can set a service area — the region you travel to.
Most tradespeople should choose the service area option. Unless you run a showroom or a workshop that customers visit, there is no reason to display your home address publicly. When you select service area, you can specify the towns, cities, or regions you cover. Google will then show your listing to people searching within those areas.
You can list up to 20 service areas. Be realistic about the geography you actually serve. If you are a roofer working across Kent, list the towns and boroughs within Kent where you genuinely take on jobs. Setting your service area to the entire UK will not help — it dilutes your relevance for the local searches that actually convert into paying work.
One important detail: if you choose service area only (hiding your physical address), Google will still need your address during verification. It simply will not display it publicly on your listing.
Adding Your Services Correctly
Google Business Profile lets you list individual services under your chosen categories. This is an underused feature that many tradespeople skip entirely, and it is a missed opportunity.
For each service, you can add a name, a brief description, and optionally a price. Even if you do not want to show fixed prices (and most tradespeople understandably prefer to quote per job), adding the service names and descriptions helps Google understand exactly what you offer. A plumber might add services like “Boiler Installation,” “Leak Repair,” “Bathroom Fitting,” “Radiator Replacement,” and “Emergency Plumbing.”
Write each service description in a sentence or two. Keep it factual. Mention the areas you cover if it feels natural. This extra detail gives Google more context about your business and can help your profile appear for more specific searches — the kind of searches where the customer already knows exactly what they need and is ready to book.
Photos and Videos That Build Trust
Profiles with photos receive significantly more direction requests and website clicks than those without. For tradespeople, photos are especially powerful because they show the quality of your work in a way that words cannot.
Upload photos of completed jobs — before and after shots are particularly effective. A tiler can show a freshly finished bathroom. A landscaper can show a garden transformation. A plumber in Devon can show a neatly installed boiler with tidy pipework. These images tell prospective customers that you take pride in your work and that you have nothing to hide.
Beyond job photos, add a picture of your van (branded if possible), your team, and any relevant certifications or accreditations. These humanise your business and make you feel like a real, trustworthy operation rather than a faceless listing. If you are comfortable on camera, a short video introducing yourself and your services can set you apart from competitors who have not made that effort.
Aim to upload at least ten photos when you first set up your profile, and add new ones regularly — ideally after every significant job. Google favours active profiles, and fresh photos signal that your business is alive and working.
Posting Updates and Staying Active
Google Business Profile includes a posting feature that works a bit like a simple social media feed. You can publish updates that appear directly on your listing, and these posts stay visible for six months before being archived.
Most tradespeople never post. That is an advantage for you if you do. A post does not need to be elaborate. Share a completed job with a photo and a brief description of the work. Offer a seasonal tip — how to prevent pipes freezing in winter, or when to book a boiler service before the cold weather arrives. Mention a limited-time offer if you have one.
Posting once or twice a month is enough. The goal is to show Google that your profile is actively maintained and to give potential customers fresh, relevant content when they view your listing. Each post can include a call-to-action button linking to your website or a phone number, which makes it easy for people to take the next step.
Think of posts as a gentle reminder to Google and to customers that you are still here, still working, and still worth calling.
Responding to Reviews and Questions
Reviews are the lifeblood of your Google Business Profile. They influence your ranking in the local pack, and they influence whether a customer chooses you over the next tradesperson in the list. We have written a dedicated guide on how to get more Google reviews, but the short version is this: ask every happy customer, make it easy with a direct review link, and respond to every single review you receive.
When you reply to a positive review, keep it brief and genuine. Thank the customer by name, mention the job if appropriate, and leave it at that. When you receive a negative review — and every business gets one eventually — respond calmly and professionally. Acknowledge the issue, offer to resolve it privately, and avoid getting drawn into a public argument. How you respond to criticism tells future customers more about your character than the criticism itself.
Google Business Profile also has a Q&A section where anyone can ask questions about your business. Monitor this regularly. If someone asks about your availability, pricing, or service area, a prompt and helpful answer demonstrates that you are responsive and engaged. You can also pre-emptively add your own questions and answers to cover the most common enquiries you receive.
Common Mistakes Tradespeople Make with GBP
After working with tradespeople across dozens of trades and counties, certain mistakes come up again and again. Avoiding these will put you ahead of most of your local competition.
Inconsistent business information. Your name, address, and phone number must be identical everywhere — on your GBP, your website, directory listings, and social profiles. Even small differences (like “St” vs “Street” or a missing postcode) can confuse Google and weaken your local ranking. This consistency across directories is a core part of what makes local SEO for tradespeople effective.
Choosing too-broad categories. Selecting “Contractor” when you should select “Electrician” means you are competing in a wider, less relevant pool. Be as specific as Google allows.
Ignoring the profile after setup. A Google Business Profile is not a set-and-forget asset. Profiles that are regularly updated with photos, posts, and review responses consistently outperform those that are left dormant after the initial setup.
Keyword stuffing the business name. Adding phrases like “Best Plumber London Cheap Emergency 24/7” to your business name violates Google’s guidelines and can get your listing suspended. Use your actual registered business name and nothing more.
Not verifying the listing. An unverified profile has severely limited visibility and you cannot respond to reviews or make meaningful edits. Complete verification as soon as possible.
Leaving the services section empty. As covered above, this is free real estate for telling Google exactly what you offer. Five minutes of work adding your services can make a genuine difference to the searches you appear in.
Let Localengine Handle It for You
Setting up your Google Business Profile properly takes time, and keeping it optimised month after month takes discipline. If you would rather focus on the tools and the trade while someone else handles the Google side of things, that is exactly what Localengine does.
For £300 per month, we manage your entire local SEO presence — your Google Business Profile, citations across 40+ directories, review generation, GeoGrid rank tracking, and a fully built website included at no extra cost. No setup fees, and we handle everything so you do not have to think about it. Whether you need electrician leads in Essex or landscaper visibility in Surrey, the process is the same: we build the infrastructure that gets you found, then we keep it running.
If you want to set it up yourself, this guide gives you everything you need. And if you would rather hand it off to someone who does this every day, get in touch and we will take it from there.