What is a Google Business Profile?

A Google Business Profile is the box that appears when somebody searches your firm by name, and the set of three firms on a small map when somebody searches for a roofer near them. It is free, you claim it yourself, and it is the single most valuable free thing a local trade can own.

What it actually controls

Your profile holds your name, your phone number, your opening hours, your service area, your services, your photos and your reviews. It is what feeds the map pack, and Google explains how it decides who shows up in its own guidance on local ranking, which comes down to relevance, distance and prominence.

It is a separate thing from your website, but the two pull together. The profile sends people to the site, and a clear site backs up what the profile claims.

A worked example

A builder covering Wakefield had a profile with the name, a mobile number and two photos. He filled it out properly over a fortnight: every service described in his own words, the areas he actually works, opening hours, and a steady flow of job photos with the town named.

The change people notice first is not the ranking, it is the calls that come straight from the listing without anybody opening the website at all. Those calls were always available. The listing just was not saying enough to earn them.

Getting it right

Fill every field. Describe every service you offer, down to the smaller ones. Add photos regularly, of your own work, not stock. Keep the hours honest. Answer the questions people post. Reply to every review, good or bad. It is a slow, steady job rather than a one afternoon fix.

Common questions