Search for any local service and the first thing on the page is the map with three businesses on it. Landing in that box is worth more than any ad, and it is free. Most businesses claim their profile, fill in the name and phone, and stop. That is like building a store and never turning the lights on.
Get the fundamentals exactly right
Start with the category. Google gives you one primary category and it carries most of the weight, so pick the most specific one that fits: ‘HVAC contractor’ beats ‘Contractor’, ‘Family law attorney’ beats ‘Lawyer’. Add secondary categories for everything else you do. Then fill in every field they give you: hours, services with descriptions, service area, appointment link, and a business description written for a person, not stuffed with keywords.
Your name, address and phone number must match your website and every other directory you are listed on, character for character. If your site says ‘Suite 100’ and your profile says ‘Ste. 100’, that is a mismatch. It sounds petty, but consistency is how Google decides which listings to trust.
Feed it every month
A profile that never changes slowly sinks. Add a handful of real photos each month: the truck, the crew, a finished job, the front of the building. Post a short update when you have a seasonal offer or a new service. Ask every happy customer for a review and reply to every single one, especially the negative ones, calmly and briefly. Reviews with replies rank better and convert better.
Ten or more real photos, refreshed monthly
Reply to every review within a few days
A short post whenever something changes
Connect it to the right pages
Link the profile to the page that matches what people are searching for. If your primary category is AC repair, the website link should go to your AC repair page, not the homepage. Each service in your profile can link to its own page too. This is where a well-structured website and a well-built profile start to work together and reinforce each other.
Set aside twenty minutes a month for this and you will out-rank competitors who spent thousands on ads. If you would rather have someone else handle it, it is part of every care plan we offer.
Related: our SEO and performance service. Want us to look at your site? Get a free audit and we will tell you exactly what we would change, whether or not you hire us.
