Google Business Profile for tradies: a setup that gets you on the map

Is your trade business a service-area business?

Google Business Profile is the free listing on Google Maps and beside search results. A service-area business, in Google's definition, visits or delivers to customers but doesn't serve them at its own address. Google's own example is a plumber. If you drive to jobs and nobody comes to your place, that is you.

Google's service-area page says that if you don't serve customers at your address, remove it from the profile, and its guidelines say a service-area business should hide its address. Hiding doesn't delete it: you still enter the address so Google can verify you, but the public profile shows your service area instead. The switch is under Edit profile, then Location: turn off Show business address to customers.

A workshop with a trade counter that also sends vans out is what Google calls a hybrid. It can show its address and set a service area, but Google wants the location staffed and open to customers during its stated hours, with permanent signage. Without permanent on-site signage, Google says to list the business as service-area.

• A service-area business gets one profile for the whole area it serves.
• When we set up our own Business Profile, AENETWORKS registered as a service-area business with the address hidden, because clients don't visit us either.

Set the service area to the suburbs you actually cover

You can add up to 20 service areas, each a city, town, suburb, postcode or similar region. A radius around your base is no longer allowed; old ones must be replaced with named areas. Google's guideline is that the overall boundary shouldn't be more than about 2 hours of driving time from where the business is based, and that you should be as specific and accurate as you can.

For a tradie that is simple: list the suburbs or postcodes you'll quote for and leave out the ones you'd turn down. Google says approved changes can take up to 48 hours to show. For the record, our own service area is Australia, because we work remotely with clients anywhere in the country. Google allows that larger areas suit some businesses. A business that drives to the job isn't one of them.

Pick the category that says what you are

Categories tell Google and customers what the business does, and Google says they affect your local ranking. You choose one primary category and can add others. Google's advice is the most specific category that describes the whole business; its example is Nail salon rather than Salon. For a trade that usually means the category that names it, such as Electrician or Plumber.

The test in Google's guidelines is that a category completes the sentence "This business IS a", not "This business HAS a". Categories aren't keywords and aren't a list of your services. Google says not to add one for every product or service. The profile has a separate services list for the jobs you do.

On our own profile we chose Website designer as the primary category and added Software company and Internet marketing service, because each describes something the business is. One warning from Google's category page: adding or editing a category can trigger a request to verify again, so settle your categories before you verify.

Hours, phone number and website

Google's guidelines ask for your regular customer-facing hours, and say businesses that operate only by appointment shouldn't provide hours at all. For a tradie, the honest version is the hours you answer the phone and book work. There is a 24 hours option; only use it if someone will pick up at 3am. We set opening hours on our own profile: the hours someone will answer.

The phone number must connect to your business and be under its direct control. Numbers that redirect callers elsewhere aren't allowed, nor are premium-rate numbers. For the website, enter the full address including https://. Google says it must represent the business itself, not redirect elsewhere, and that includes social media pages. If you don't have a website yet, our guide to what a tradie's website needs covers it.

Google's guidelines also ask you to represent the business as it's consistently recognised in the real world, across signage, stationery and branding. Two things to check against your website:

• Name. The real-world name of the business, as on your website and invoices. Google says adding taglines, service descriptions, suburbs, phone numbers or web addresses isn't permitted and can get the profile suspended. Legal terms such as Pty Ltd need real-world proof that they're part of the name.
• Address. Hidden on the profile, but the one on your paperwork, because Google checks it at verification.

Photos of real work, your logo and the description

Photos only show after the profile is verified, and Google says they can take 24 to 48 hours to appear. Its standards: JPG or PNG, 10 KB to 5 MB, ideally 720 by 720 pixels, in focus and well lit, with no significant alterations or heavy filters. In Google's words, the image should represent reality.

Google's photo tips include a type it calls photos at work: at least three photos representative of the services you offer, showing your team on different kinds of job. For a tradie that means finished boards, tidy installs, the van and the people, not stock images. Add a logo so people recognise you on Google, and a cover photo. On our own profile we uploaded the logo and photos.

The business description appears in the From the business section. Google's guidance is to say what you offer, what makes you different and how long you've been in business, in up to 750 characters, with no links or HTML and no focus on promotions or prices.

Verification: what Google asks for and how long it takes

You need to verify before you can edit the profile or reply to customers. Google decides which methods you're offered, based on the business. The options can include a video recording, a live video call, a phone call or text, an email or a postcard, and sometimes Google asks for more than one. Where video recording is offered, Google recommends it, and it suits a business with no shopfront.

Google's requirements for a service-area business: show where you operate, with street signs or landmarks near your address (if you work from home, record the signs and landmarks in your immediate neighbourhood); show that the business exists, with your tools, equipment, workspace, business cards or branded clothing; and show that you run it, by doing a job, unlocking a van with your branding, or showing an invoice or utility bill in the business's name. Record it live from your phone through your Business Profile, unedited and at least 30 seconds long, with no bank, tax or ID numbers and no other people's faces.

• Google says review takes up to 5 business days, rarely longer, and you get a confirmation email when it's done.
• Postcard codes mostly arrive within 14 days and expire after 30. Don't edit the name, address or category while you wait, or the code stops working.
• Google will never ask for your verification code. Don't share it with anyone.
• Our own profile is verified. Nothing else, photos included, shows until yours is.

Reviews: what Google's policy allows, and what it doesn't

Google's content policy governs reviews, and it is strict. You may ask customers for reviews: Google says merchants can encourage genuine reviews as long as they offer no incentive and don't try to influence the rating or the wording. The profile gives you a review link and QR code under Read reviews, then Get more reviews, and Google suggests putting them on receipts and in thank-you emails.

Replying needs a verified profile. Each reply is checked against Google's policies, then appears publicly under the review as the business, without your personal name, and the customer is notified. Google's advice: keep it short, professional and not a sales pitch. For a negative review, keep the customer's details private, acknowledge any mistake and apologise where it's warranted. We reply to every review on our own profile as the business, because the next person reading it is deciding whether to call.

Breaking the rules below gets reviews removed, and Google says account consequences range from suspended privileges to termination. Under Google's policy you must not:

• Offer anything for a review, or for changing or removing a bad one: not payment, not a discount, not free work. Google calls this strictly prohibited.
• Discourage negative reviews, or ask only the customers you know were happy.
• Pressure a customer to review while you're still on site, or tell them what to write.
• Review your own business, or have staff, family or a mate in the trade do it. Google treats a review based on a conflict of interest, including current or former employment and family ties, as rating manipulation and removes it.
• Ask staff to collect a set number of reviews.

Common questions

Do I have to put my home address on my Google Business Profile?

You enter it so Google can verify the business, but you don't have to show it. Google's guidance for a service-area business is to hide the address, and the public profile then shows your service area instead. If you verify by video from home, Google says to film the signs and landmarks in your immediate neighbourhood rather than your front door.

Can I give customers a discount for leaving a Google review?

No. Google's policy calls incentives for posting, changing or removing reviews strictly prohibited, and the reviews are removed. Asking is fine. Paying in any form, including free work or a discount, is not.

Can my apprentice or my partner review the business?

Google's policy treats reviews based on a conflict of interest, including current or former employment and family relationships, as rating manipulation, and removes them. Reviews have to come from customers.

How long does Google Business Profile verification take?

Once you've completed the steps, Google says the review takes up to 5 business days, and only rarely longer. If you're offered a postcard, allow up to 14 days for it to arrive, and don't edit the name, address or category while you wait, because the code stops working if you do.