BullishResources · Local search · 7 min read
The Google Business Profile playbook.
For most home-service companies, the Google Business Profile brings in more calls than the website. Here is how to set it up right and keep it working.
By Ted Bullard, founder of Bullish Marketing · Updated October 2026- Pick the right primary category. It matters more than almost anything else.
- Fill in every service, your service area, real photos and accurate hours.
- Post weekly, ask every happy customer for a review, and answer every review.
When someone searches "junk removal near me" or "plumber Mooresville", the map pack shows up before any website. Those three listings get a huge share of the calls, and they come from Google Business Profiles. It is free, and most contractors leave half of it blank.
Setup: get the foundation right
Primary category
Choose the single category that best describes your main service ("Roofing contractor", not "Contractor"). Add secondary categories for other real services, but do not stuff in ones you rarely do.
Service area
If you go to customers, set a service-area business and list the towns you actually serve. Hide your home address if you do not have a storefront.
Services and descriptions
Add every service as its own item with a plain description and a starting price where you can. This is text Google and AI assistants read.
Photos
Real photos of your crew, trucks and finished jobs beat stock every time. Add a few every month. Before-and-after shots are gold.
Hours, phone and website
Use the phone number that is on your website. Link to your homepage or the most relevant service page. Keep holiday hours updated.
The weekly habit (20 minutes)
- Post once. A recent job, a seasonal offer or a tip, with a real photo.
- Add photos from the week's jobs.
- Answer every new review, by name, mentioning the service.
- Check questions people asked on your profile and answer them.
Reviews: the engine
Review count, recency and what reviews say all affect where you show up and whether people call. The simplest system that works: send a review link by text right after the job, while the customer is happy. Ask them to mention the service and the town. Never pay for reviews or offer discounts for them; it breaks Google's rules.
Mistakes that cost contractors calls
- Keyword-stuffed business names ("Best Roofing Charlotte Cheap"). It can get the profile suspended.
- A different phone number than the website and other listings.
- Going silent. No posts, no new photos and no review replies for months.
- Ignoring bad reviews. A calm, specific reply often wins more trust than the review cost.
- Duplicate profiles for the same location. Merge or remove them.
How it connects to your website
Google checks that your profile and your website agree: same name, phone, services and towns. A website with a page for each service and each town backs up your profile and helps it rank in more places. That pairing is the core of everything we build for home-service companies. See how we build for trades, or run the free check on your current site.
Sources
Google: Tips to improve your local ranking
Google: Guidelines for representing your business
Google: Prohibited and restricted content (reviews)