Local Marketing Advice

If you run a service business, you might have noticed the Products section on your Google Business Profile and wondered whether you should be using it. After all, products are normally associated with physical items. If you're a plumber, electrician, landscaper, cleaner or another service provider, you might assume this feature isn't relevant to your business. But there's an important marketing principle here: your services are also products that customers buy. When available and appropriate for your business profile, the Products feature can give you another way to present what you offer, explain the benefits to customers and direct interested people towards relevant pages on your website. Used properly, it can help you create a more informative Google Business Profile and make it easier for potential customers to understand why they should choose your business. Let's look at how it works. 1. What Is the Products Section on Google Business Profile? Google Business Profile provides several ways to tell customers about your business, including categories, services, photographs, reviews and, for eligible profiles, products. A product listing can include: A photograph representing your product or service. A product name and category. A description explaining what you offer. A link to a relevant page on your website, where supported. A call-to-action button, such as Learn More, where available. Many business owners overlook this area because they assume it's only intended for businesses selling physical goods. However, where Google makes the feature available and permits the type of listing, it can offer a useful way to showcase a service. For example, a landscaping company might use a visually appealing photograph of a professionally maintained garden to demonstrate its lawn care offering. Instead of simply listing "Lawn Mowing", it can explain the experience and benefits of having someone else take care of the garden. The important distinction is that you're not just describing a service. You're presenting something that solves a customer's problem. It's worth noting that the Products feature isn't available to every business, and Google has specific policies for product listings. Service businesses should use the dedicated Services section as their primary way of listing services. 2. Connect Your Google Business Profile Categories and Services One of the most common mistakes I see when auditing Google Business Profiles is businesses that haven't properly organised their categories and services. Google allows businesses to select a primary category and, where relevant, up to nine additional categories. Imagine a plumbing business that offers: General plumbing repairs. Drainage services. Hot water cylinder installation. Gas fitting. Emergency plumbing. Rather than relying on one broad category, the business should review whether additional categories accurately describe the work it actually carries out. It should then organise its services beneath the appropriate available categories. Your categories help explain what type of business you operate, while your services describe the individual jobs you perform. For businesses with access to suitable product listings, these can provide another customer-facing opportunity to highlight important offerings. The key is consistency. Don't claim services or categories simply because Google makes them available. Select the ones that genuinely represent your business. 3. Use Product Listings to Highlight Your Most Valuable Services Not every service deserves the same level of promotion. Some services generate considerably more profit than others. Some produce ongoing work, while others attract the ideal customers you want to work with. If you're considering which offerings to feature more prominently, concentrate on services that: Generate healthy profit margins. Attract your ideal customers. Have strong local demand. Represent areas where you want to grow. Can be supported by a dedicated page on your website. For example, a gardening company might offer lawn mowing, hedge trimming, garden maintenance and complete garden tidy-ups. Instead of promoting everything equally, it might concentrate its marketing on a comprehensive garden maintenance package. This presents a more valuable offering than simply advertising an hourly lawn mowing service. And that brings us to one of the most important parts of marketing any service: how you write the description. 4. How to Write a Service Product Description That Attracts Customers When writing descriptions for services, I use a simple formula. It works because most customers aren't particularly interested in the technical details of how you do your work. They're interested in the results they will receive. My approach follows four steps: 1. The desired outcome 2. The customer's problems and frustrations 3. Your solution 4. A clear call to action Let's use a lawn mowing and gardening service to demonstrate how this works. Start With the Desired Outcome People don't necessarily want their lawns mowed. What they really want is a beautiful garden without spending their weekends maintaining it. They want time to relax, enjoy their hobbies, go fishing, watch their children play sport or simply spend quality time with their families. Your opening paragraph should connect with that desired result. Example: "Imagine enjoying your weekends without worrying about mowing lawns, trimming hedges or keeping your garden looking beautiful. Come home to a professionally maintained outdoor space and spend your free time doing the things you enjoy." That communicates the benefit rather than merely listing what the business does. Identify the Problems and Frustrations Next, explain the problems the customer wants to avoid. For gardening services, these might include: Spending hours mowing lawns. Cutting and trimming overgrown hedges. Removing garden waste. Maintaining gardening equipment. Sharpening mower blades. Finding time to keep everything looking tidy. By highlighting these frustrations, you demonstrate that you understand your customer's situation. Explain Your Solution Now introduce the service as the natural solution. For example: "Our complete garden maintenance service takes care of everything, including lawn mowing, hedge trimming, garden tidy-ups, weeding and green waste removal. We bring the equipment, complete the work and leave your outdoor areas looking their best." The customer can now see how your service removes the problems you've described. Finish With a Clear Call to Action Finally, tell the customer what to do next. Examples include: "Learn more about our complete garden maintenance service." Or: "Request your free garden maintenance assessment." Where Google provides an appropriate website link button, direct people to the relevant service page rather than sending everyone to your homepage. This helps potential customers find the information they're looking for. 5. Why Your Website Needs to Support Your Google Business Profile Your Google Business Profile and website should work together. If you're promoting drainage services through your profile, ideally you should also have a dedicated drainage service page on your website. That page should explain: The drainage problems you solve. The services you provide. The geographical areas you cover. Why customers should trust your business. How customers can contact you. Include relevant photographs, customer testimonials and examples of completed work where possible. This creates a consistent customer experience. Someone who discovers your business through Google can follow the link to your website and find more detailed information about exactly the service they're interested in. It also helps Google understand the relevance of your website to particular services, although simply adding product listings doesn't guarantee improved rankings. If you're unsure whether your profile and website contain the information they should, I've put together a Google Business Profile checklist to help you review the important areas. 6. More Visibility Is Only Half the Battle Getting your business seen on Google Maps and local search is important. But visibility doesn't automatically translate into enquiries. Think about what happens when someone searches for a local plumber. They might discover several businesses offering the same service. Before making contact, they could examine: Customer reviews and ratings. Business photographs. Services offered. Website information. How established and professional the business appears. Your aim is to make your business the natural choice. A detailed, informative Google Business Profile can help customers understand your offering and feel more confident about contacting you. Remember that your Google Business Profile doesn't charge you for organic profile clicks or calls. That makes it a valuable marketing asset worth maintaining alongside your website and any paid advertising. 7. Review Your Google Business Profile Regularly Your Google Business Profile shouldn't be something you set up once and forget about. As your business develops, your services, photographs, priorities and website content may change. Review your profile periodically to make sure it accurately reflects what you currently offer. Pay particular attention to your categories, service descriptions, website links and the services you most want to promote. If you'd like a second opinion, you can start with a free Google Business Profile audit to identify opportunities for improvement. Conclusion: Should Service Businesses Use Products on Google Business Profiles? The most important thing is to make full use of the Google Business Profile features that are available and appropriate for your particular business. Start by selecting accurate business categories, completing your Services section and making sure your website supports the work you advertise. Where suitable product-style listings are supported, they can provide another opportunity to showcase valuable offerings and communicate the benefits to potential customers. Focus on the outcome your customers want, the problems they're trying to avoid and how your business provides the solution. Because ultimately, people aren't buying a list of services. They're buying the results those services deliver.

Should you add products to your Google Business Profile? If you sell physical products, the answer is generally yes. But what if you're a service business, such as a gardener, electrician, plumber or cleaning company? This is where things get interesting. Many business owners think of products as physical items, something you can pick up, put in a box and sell. But from a marketing perspective, you can also turn a service into a clearly defined package that customers understand and want to buy. For example, rather than simply offering "gardening services", you might offer a complete lawn mowing and garden maintenance package. That's effectively productising your service. However, Google distinguishes between physical products and services. Its Product Editor is designed for physical goods, while service businesses should use the Services Editor. The important thing is making sure your potential customers understand what you offer, what problems you solve and why they should choose your business. Let's look at how to do that properly. 1. Understand the Difference Between Products and Services on Google Business Profile Your Google Business Profile allows you to provide information about what your business offers. There are two important features to understand. Google Business Profile Products If you're a retailer selling physical goods, you may be able to add individual products through Google's Product Editor. Depending on the features available to your business, product listings can include photographs, descriptions and other relevant details. For example, a garden equipment retailer might showcase lawnmowers, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers and other products. These listings help potential customers understand what the business sells. Google Business Profile Services For service businesses, Google provides a separate Services Editor. This allows you to list the services your business provides, organise them under relevant categories and add descriptions or prices where available. For example, a gardening business might offer lawn mowing, hedge trimming, garden maintenance, weed control and green waste removal. You should include the genuine services your business provides rather than attempting to disguise them as physical products. The objective is the same: make it easier for customers to understand what you offer and take the next step. 2. Get Your Google Business Profile Categories Right First Before spending time improving your service descriptions, check that you've selected the most appropriate business categories. Google allows you to have one primary category and up to nine additional categories. Your primary category should describe your main business activity. Secondary categories can help describe other relevant activities your business genuinely performs. For example, a company providing several types of property maintenance might qualify for multiple categories. However, don't simply select every category you can find. Choose the categories that accurately represent your business. Then make sure your website supports those services. If you provide lawn mowing, hedge trimming and garden maintenance, your website should explain these services clearly. For more significant services, consider creating dedicated pages rather than squeezing everything into one general page. This gives potential customers somewhere to learn more about the specific work they need. 3. Turn Your Services Into Packages Customers Want Here's where I think many service businesses miss an opportunity. They describe what they do instead of explaining what the customer actually wants. Let's take lawn mowing and garden maintenance as an example. A business might describe its service like this: "We offer lawn mowing, hedge trimming, garden maintenance and green waste removal." That's accurate, but it's not particularly compelling. What does the customer really want? They probably don't wake up on Saturday morning thinking, "I'd love to buy some lawn mowing." They want the result. They want a beautiful garden without having to spend their entire weekend maintaining it. This is where my three-part approach to writing service descriptions comes in. 4. The Three-Part Formula for Writing Better Service Descriptions When I write marketing content, I think about three things: The desired outcome, the problems and frustrations, and the solution. Then I finish with a clear call to action. Part 1: Start With the Desired Outcome Rather than immediately explaining what your business does, start by describing what the customer wants to achieve. For our gardening example, that might be: "Imagine enjoying your weekends in a beautifully maintained garden, with freshly cut lawns, neatly trimmed hedges and tidy garden beds, without having to lift a finger." That's a much more appealing picture. Your customer might want to spend their weekends fishing, playing golf, relaxing with a coffee or spending time with the children. They don't particularly want to spend hours pushing a lawnmower around. You're selling them their time back. Part 2: Address Their Problems and Frustrations Next, think about everything involved in doing the job themselves. They've got to get the lawnmower out, check it's working, cut the grass, trim the edges, tackle the weeds and deal with overgrown hedges. Then they've got to clear everything away. Perhaps the green waste bin is already full. Now they're trying to squeeze branches into it, borrow a neighbour's bin or organise a separate trip to dispose of the waste. And that's before considering lawnmower maintenance, sharpening tools and storing equipment. All those little frustrations add up. Good marketing shows customers that you understand what they're dealing with. You don't need to exaggerate the problem. Just describe the genuine hassles they're trying to avoid. Part 3: Present Your Business as the Solution Now you've established the desired outcome and demonstrated that you understand the problem. It's time to explain why your business is the solution. I sometimes call this the "Yoda section". You're the experienced guide who knows how to get the customer from where they are now to where they want to be. For example: "Our experienced garden maintenance team takes care of everything, from mowing lawns and trimming hedges to removing green waste. We arrive with the right equipment, complete the work professionally and leave your garden looking fantastic." If you have relevant qualifications, insurance, years of experience or other genuine credentials, mention them. These details help build confidence. Finish With a Clear Call to Action Don't leave customers wondering what to do next. Think about what normally happens when somebody phones your business. Do you arrange a site visit? Provide an online estimate? Book an appointment? Whatever that next step happens to be, make it clear. For example: "Request a free garden maintenance quote and we'll help you get your weekends back." The call to action should lead towards the next logical step in your sales process. 5. Use Photographs That Demonstrate Your Services Photographs are particularly important for local service businesses. If you're a gardener, show the gardens you've maintained. If you're a painter, show beautifully finished rooms. If you're a roofer, show completed roofing work. Before-and-after photographs can be particularly effective because customers can immediately see the transformation. Whenever possible, use genuine photographs from jobs you've completed locally. Smartphone photographs are perfectly acceptable, provided they're clear, well-lit and accurately represent your work. You don't need an expensive professional photography session for every service. And although smartphone photographs may contain GPS location information, Google hasn't established that geotagging photographs improves your local rankings. Choose photographs because they're useful and relevant to customers, not because you expect hidden location data to give you an SEO advantage. 6. Link Your Services to Relevant Website Pages Your Google Business Profile and website should support one another. If somebody discovers that you offer garden maintenance, they should be able to find a website page explaining what's included. For example, you might create a garden maintenance page covering lawn mowing, hedge trimming, garden clearance and regular maintenance packages. That page can contain photographs, detailed explanations, customer reviews and an enquiry form. Where your Google Business Profile provides an appropriate website link option, use a relevant landing page rather than always sending customers to your homepage. For services without a direct link option, make sure the corresponding content is easy to find through your website. If you'd like to check whether the essential areas of your profile are properly set up, my Google Business Profile checklist provides a useful starting point. 7. Keep Your Google Business Profile Accurate and Up to Date Your Business Profile isn't something you should set up once and forget about. As your business changes, review the services you offer. Add genuine new services, remove anything you no longer provide and update photographs or descriptions when necessary. Make sure your business hours, contact information and categories remain accurate. Google's local ranking system considers relevance, distance and prominence. Keeping your profile complete and accurate helps Google understand your business, although individual changes don't guarantee improved rankings. If you're unsure whether your profile is communicating everything your business offers, you can request a free Google Business Profile audi t to identify potential improvements. Conclusion: Should You Add Products to Your Google Business Profile? Yes, if you sell physical products and Google's product feature is available to your business. If you primarily sell services, concentrate on making the most of your Google Business Profile's service listings instead. But apply the same marketing principles. Don't simply list what you do. Describe the outcome your customers want, demonstrate that you understand their problems and show them why your business is the right choice. Use genuine photographs, write helpful descriptions and support your main services with relevant website pages. Most importantly, always think about what you want your prospective customer to do next. Because getting found on Google is only the first step.  The real goal is turning that visibility into enquiries, bookings and paying customers.

Should you use Google Business Profile posts to promote your business? Absolutely. They're free, relatively simple to create, and can help turn people who find your business on Google into paying customers. Yet I'm continually surprised by how many small business owners don't even realise this feature exists. Most businesses are familiar with posting on Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn. They spend hours creating content, sharing photographs and trying to increase their followers. But there's another place you should seriously consider putting that content: your Google Business Profile. In this article, I'll explain three things you need to understand about Google Business Profile posts, how they compare with social media, and how you can use seasonal offers to generate more enquiries without paying for advertising. 1. Google Business Profile Posts vs Social Media Posts Let's start with something I regularly see when talking to small business owners. They've got someone looking after their social media, posting photographs, videos and updates on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or TikTok. Sometimes it's a younger employee who's grown up using these platforms and understands how to create engaging content. And there's nothing necessarily wrong with that. But here's the question I always ask: Are those posts actually generating enquiries, phone calls and paying customers? Because there's a big difference between getting attention and getting business. Social Media Likes Don't Automatically Pay the Bills It's easy to get caught up in likes, followers and views. A business owner tells me they've got 1,000 Facebook followers, which sounds impressive. But that doesn't mean all 1,000 people see every post. Social platforms use algorithms to determine which content appears in people's feeds, and organic reach can vary considerably. If you want to reach more people, you may end up paying to boost your posts. There's also another consideration. Many of your social media followers already know your business. They're existing customers, friends, previous customers or people who've interacted with your content before. That's useful for staying in touch, but a major part of marketing is attracting people who don't already know you exist. And that's where Google becomes particularly interesting. Google Reaches People Who Are Already Searching Think about someone looking for a gutter cleaning company in Christchurch. They open Google and search for a local business offering that service. They aren't necessarily interested in following a gutter cleaning company on Facebook. They've got a problem they want solved. And if they find your Google Business Profile, there's an opportunity for them to see your latest updates, photographs or special offers. That's the important distinction. Social media can help create awareness, while Google Business Profile posts can help influence people who are already considering a business like yours. Social media posts can also appear in Google Search, so the difference isn't simply that one platform gets indexed and another doesn't. The bigger advantage of Google Business Profile posts is their placement within the business information customers may already be viewing. 2. The Three Types of Google Business Profile Posts Google provides three main types of posts, and understanding when to use each one is important. Updates: Show Customers What You Do Update posts are ideal for sharing information about your business and the services you provide. For example, if you're a painter, roofer, electrician or landscape gardener, you could publish: Before-and-after photographs of completed jobs. Examples of particular services. New products or equipment. Seasonal maintenance advice. Updates about recent projects. I particularly like before-and-after photographs because they immediately demonstrate what your business can achieve. If you're trying to attract more enquiries for a particular service, publish relevant examples of that work. You could also link to a page on your website explaining the service in more detail. This gives potential customers another reason to consider contacting you. Offers: Generate Business During Quieter Periods This is one of my favourite uses of Google Business Profile posts. Most service businesses experience quieter periods throughout the year. Rather than simply accepting a quiet month, why not create a series of special offers? For example, you could prepare four different offers, each running for seven days. Google allows you to specify start and end dates for offer posts, so customers can see when the promotion is valid. But there's something important to understand. Your offer has to be worth taking advantage of. A small discount that nobody finds particularly exciting probably won't generate much interest. You need to think about what would genuinely motivate someone to make an enquiry. Example: Gutter Cleaning and Roof Moss Treatment Imagine you operate a roof cleaning business. You've already got the equipment, ladders and staff needed to clean gutters and treat roofs. Instead of promoting each service separately, you could combine them. Week 1 offer: Book a full-price gutter cleaning service and receive 50% off a roof moss treatment. Week 2 offer: Book a roof moss treatment and receive 50% off gutter cleaning. Why might this work? Because you're already visiting the property. Your team is there, the equipment is there, and some of the travel and setup costs have already been covered. Adding the second service may cost considerably less than making an entirely separate visit. You're potentially increasing the average value of each job while giving customers a worthwhile incentive. Of course, you'll need to calculate your costs and margins to make sure the promotion is profitable. But this is the sort of offer I'd rather see than simply advertising 10% off everything. Events: Promote Something Happening on Specific Dates The third option is an event post. These are particularly useful when your business has something happening on a particular date. Examples might include an open day, product demonstration, workshop, community event or special information evening. You can include the event dates, photographs, a description and a relevant link. Event posts won't suit every service business, but when you've got something worth promoting, they're another useful option. 3. Google Business Profile Posts Are Free One of the biggest advantages is that Google doesn't charge you to publish these posts. You don't need an advertising budget. You don't need to pay to boost a post. And you don't need expensive software to create them. You can publish updates, offers and events through your Google Business Profile without a posting fee. That doesn't mean Google will automatically promote your offer to everyone searching for your services. Your post's visibility depends on where and how your Business Profile is displayed. But it does mean you can provide useful information to prospective customers without paying for each click or impression. For a small business working with a limited marketing budget, that's worth taking advantage of. How Often Should You Post on Google Business Profile? I'd suggest starting with one good-quality post each week. That could mean four posts per month, mixing useful updates with seasonal promotions. If you've got a particular service you want more enquiries for, consider creating additional posts featuring that service. For example, a roofing company might publish a before-and-after roof cleaning photograph, a seasonal moss treatment reminder, a customer project and a limited-time offer. The objective isn't simply to publish more content. It's to make sure the content is relevant to what your customers need. Google doesn't guarantee higher local rankings because you publish more frequently, so focus on quality, relevance and genuine customer value. How to Create Your First Google Business Profile Post The process is straightforward. Sign in to the Google account managing your Business Profile. Open your Google Business Profile. Select Posts, then Add post. Choose Update, Offer or Event. Add a clear description and relevant photograph. Include dates and terms where appropriate. Add a suitable website link or action button if available. Publish your post. For offers, make sure customers can easily understand what's included, how long the promotion runs and any conditions. If you're unsure whether other important parts of your profile are set up correctly, my Google Business Profile checklist covers the areas worth reviewing. Don't Just Chase Visibility — Turn It Into Customers There's one final point I want to make. Getting more visibility on Google Maps is useful, but visibility alone doesn't pay the bills. What really matters is what happens after somebody finds your business. Do they trust you? Are your reviews encouraging? Do your photographs demonstrate the quality of your work? Is it easy to contact you or make a booking? Your Google Business Profile posts can support that process by giving prospective customers more reasons to choose you. But they work best alongside an accurate profile, relevant services, strong reviews and a useful website. If you'd like to identify opportunities to improve your local visibility and enquiries, you can start with a free Google Business Profile audit . Conclusion: Should You Use Google Business Profile Posts? Yes. I would encourage most local service businesses to use them. They're free to publish, allow you to promote seasonal offers and give customers more information about what your business provides. Start by creating one useful post each week. Use before-and-after photographs, showcase the services you want more work for, and experiment with relevant seasonal offers. Most importantly, judge the results by enquiries, bookings and customers — not simply how many views a post receives. Because the real purpose of marketing isn't to collect likes and followers. It's to make the phone ring and bring more business through the door.

If you're wondering whether you should add all your services to your Google Business Profile, the short answer is yes. But how you organise those services can make a significant difference to how clearly Google understands your business and how easily potential customers find you. One of the most common mistakes I see when reviewing Google Business Profiles is businesses adding dozens of services without properly considering their business categories. They might have 50, 70 or even 94 services listed, but everything is grouped under one primary category. The problem isn't necessarily the number of services. It's how they're organised. Your Google Business Profile categories and services work together to describe your business. Getting that structure right can help improve your relevance for local searches and make it easier for customers to understand exactly what you offer. Let's look at the wrong way, the right way and one additional step on your website that many businesses overlook. Why Adding Services to Your Google Business Profile Matters When someone searches Google Maps for a particular service, Google tries to identify businesses that are relevant to that search. Your business categories are an important part of that process, while your listed services provide additional detail about what you offer. For example, someone searching for an electrician might be looking for a completely different service from someone searching for heat pump installation or electrical repairs. Even though one business might provide all three services, those searches can have different intentions. That's why it's worth taking the time to organise your profile correctly rather than simply adding everything to one long list. The Wrong Way to Add Google Business Profile Services When you open your Google Business Profile dashboard, you'll find an option called Edit Services . Naturally, most business owners click that button and start adding everything they do. Google may suggest services as you go, so it's easy to keep adding more. Before long, you might have 94 services sitting under a single business category. Some might be closely related to that category, while others are quite different. The result can be a rather higgledy-piggledy collection of services with very little structure. Although listing those services isn't automatically wrong, you may be missing an opportunity to describe the different parts of your business more accurately. The better approach is to look at your categories first. The Right Way: Organise Services Using Google Business Profile Categories Google allows businesses to select one primary category and up to nine additional categories. However, that doesn't mean every business should use ten categories. You should only select categories that genuinely describe what your business is and the work it provides. Step 1: Review Your Existing Services Start by looking at all the services you've already added to your profile. If you've got 94 services, don't start deleting them. Instead, copy them into a document or spreadsheet and examine how they relate to one another. You might find they fall naturally into four or five different service groups. Step 2: Use ChatGPT to Help Group Your Services One simple method is to copy your list of services into ChatGPT and ask it to suggest relevant Google Business Profile categories. For example, you could use this prompt: "Here is a list of services my business provides. Group these services into appropriate Google Business Profile categories. Suggest a primary category and relevant secondary categories, using official Google Business Profile category names available in New Zealand." This can save you considerable time. However, there's one important point: ChatGPT doesn't always get the official category names right. Sometimes Google's categories use American terminology or wording that isn't what you'd naturally use in New Zealand. Always check the suggested categories against the actual options available in your Google Business Profile. Step 3: Add the Relevant Secondary Categories Once you've identified suitable categories: Open your Google Business Profile. Select Edit Profile . Find your business category settings. Keep the most appropriate primary category. Add the relevant secondary categories. Save your changes. For example, you might end up with one primary category and four additional categories. Now you've got a more descriptive structure for your business. Step 4: Organise Your Services Under Those Categories Next, return to Edit Services and review how your services are organised. Where Google's available categories and service options allow it, group the relevant services under their corresponding business categories. You may still have those same 94 services, but they're now arranged into more meaningful groups. The categories tell Google what types of business activities you provide, while the services explain the specific work customers can contact you about. This creates a clearer picture of your business for both Google and potential customers. Don't Forget Your Website: It Needs to Support Your Google Business Profile This is the next step I regularly see businesses overlook. Once you've organised your Google Business Profile categories, you need to look at your website. Does your website clearly explain the services and business activities you've listed on Google? If not, you've got more work to do. Your website should support the information you're providing through your Google Business Profile. Create Pages Around Your Main Service Categories Imagine you've selected five Google Business Profile categories, each covering several different services. Ideally, your website should have relevant content for each of those main service areas. Depending on how your business operates, this might mean creating a dedicated page for each major service category. For example, an electrical company might have separate pages for: Residential electrical services Commercial electrical services Heat pump installation Electrical repairs and maintenance Each page should explain the work you do, who you help and which services you provide. This also helps visitors find the information they're looking for without having to search through one enormous services page. How Much Website Content Do You Need? This depends partly on how competitive your market is. In smaller cities, a well-written category page covering several closely related services may be a sensible starting point. However, in larger cities or highly competitive industries, you'll often need more detailed content. For important services, consider including a dedicated section containing a useful explanation and a relevant photograph. For your main revenue-generating services, creating individual service pages may be even better. Don't simply list 15 service names and assume that's enough. Explain what the service involves, who it's for, the problems it solves and why someone should choose your business. The aim is to create genuinely helpful website content rather than pages written solely for search engines. Keep Your Google Business Profile and Website Consistent Google may review changes to your Business Profile, and information that doesn't accurately represent your business can cause problems. That's another reason to make sure the services and categories you select genuinely reflect the work you perform. Your website, business categories and listed services should tell a consistent story. For example, if your profile says you provide commercial electrical installation, your website should ideally explain that service rather than focusing entirely on residential work. If you're unsure whether your profile is properly structured, my free Google Business Profile audit can help identify areas worth reviewing. Getting More Visibility Is Only Half the Job Organising your categories and services is an important part of improving your Google Business Profile. But there's something else to remember. Getting found on Google Maps doesn't automatically mean you're going to get more customers. You might improve your visibility and attract more people to your profile, but what happens when they get there? Do they see a business they trust? Are your reviews strong enough? Are your photographs professional and relevant? Is it obvious what you do and how customers can contact you? These things matter because visibility is only the first step. The real objective is turning that visibility into telephone calls, enquiries, appointments and paying customers. My Google Business Profile checklist covers the important areas worth checking to help make sure your profile is working effectively. Conclusion: Add Your Services, But Get the Structure Right So, should you add all your services to your Google Business Profile? Yes, provided they're services your business genuinely offers. But don't just add a long list and forget about it. Review your primary category, identify relevant secondary categories and organise your services as clearly as possible. Then make sure your website backs up what your Google Business Profile says about your business. These improvements can help Google and potential customers understand your business more clearly, although they don't guarantee higher rankings. And remember, the end goal isn't simply to appear more often on Google Maps. It's to turn that visibility into more enquiries, more bookings and ultimately more customers.  That's what makes your Google Business Profile a valuable part of your marketing.

If you’re wondering whether your Google Business Profile should match your website, the simple answer is yes — where the information represents the same facts about your business . Google uses information from a range of sources to understand who you are, what you do, where you operate and which searches your business may be relevant for. Your website and Google Business Profile are two of the most important pieces of that picture. That doesn’t mean every word on your website needs to be copied onto your Google Business Profile. It does mean that your core business information, services, locations and overall message should tell a consistent story. When they don’t, you can create confusion for potential customers — and make it harder for Google to clearly understand your business. 1. Make Sure Your Core Business Information Matches The first place to start is with the basic information about your business. When I carry out Google Business Profile audits, I regularly find simple inconsistencies between the profile and the company website. These can include: Different phone numbers Different addresses Incorrect opening hours Out-of-date holiday hours Different business names Conflicting information about where the business operates These may seem like minor details, but consider them from a customer's point of view. If your Google Business Profile says you close at 5:00 pm but your website says 5:30 pm, which one should they believe? If I’m carrying out an audit and I can't work out which information is correct, a potential customer could have exactly the same problem. Your website should reinforce the information people see on your Google Business Profile. Remember Your Special Opening Hours Another commonly overlooked area is special hours. Public holidays, regional holidays and Christmas opening hours can all affect when your business is available. Your Google Business Profile allows you to specify special hours rather than changing your normal opening hours every time a holiday occurs. Keeping this information up to date helps customers know when they can contact or visit you. Where appropriate, the information on your website should also reflect significant changes to your normal trading hours. 2. Be Clear About the Areas You Serve If you're a service-area business, your Google Business Profile allows you to specify the geographical areas you serve. Your website should support this. That doesn't mean stuffing dozens of town names into every page. Instead, make it obvious where you genuinely provide your services. You might include service areas: In your website footer On your contact page Within individual service pages On dedicated location pages where appropriate In your About or Service Areas section For example, if your Google Business Profile tells Google that you operate throughout Christchurch and surrounding areas, but your website never mentions Christchurch, there is less supporting information connecting the website to that location. The goal is consistency. Your Google Business Profile and website should both give customers a clear understanding of where you operate. 3. Match Your Categories With the Services You Actually Provide One of the biggest problems I see with Google Business Profiles is businesses adding a huge list of services while paying very little attention to their categories. Your primary category is extremely important because it helps Google understand the main type of business you operate. You can also add relevant secondary categories where they genuinely describe other important parts of the business. The mistake is choosing one broad category and then adding every imaginable service beneath it. Instead, think about the structure logically. Your Profile Should Tell a Clear Story Let's say a business offers several distinct groups of services. Its Google Business Profile categories should accurately represent those areas where suitable categories exist, while its services should describe what the business actually provides. Your website should then support those services with useful content. Ideally, someone should be able to look at your Google Business Profile and then visit your website and immediately recognise the same business. They should see the same core services, locations and overall offering. Google should be able to make the same connection. 4. Your Website Should Support What Your Profile Says Your website gives you much more space than your Google Business Profile to explain what you do. Use it. If an important service appears on your Google Business Profile, there should usually be relevant supporting information somewhere on your website. That could be a dedicated service page or a clearly defined section of another page. For example, if you're an electrician and your Google Business Profile prominently lists heat pump installation, your website should contain useful information about your heat pump installation service. The website adds context that a Google Business Profile simply doesn't have room to provide. The two work together. 5. Reviews Can Reinforce Your Services Reviews are another valuable part of the picture. A customer describing the actual service you carried out provides useful information to prospective customers who are comparing businesses. For example, a review saying: “James installed our new heat pump and explained everything clearly.” is far more informative than a review that simply says: “Great company.” Both reviews are positive, but the first tells future customers something about the service that was provided. Reviews can therefore help reinforce the services associated with your business while also giving prospective customers reassurance that other people have successfully used you for the same type of work. 6. Use Your Google Business Profile Content Consistently Your profile gives you several opportunities to reinforce what your business does. Depending on your business and what Google makes available for your category, these may include: Services Photos Updates or posts Products Reviews Business description Website links These elements should support the same overall message customers find when they reach your website. You don't need to duplicate everything word for word. In fact, you shouldn't. The objective is consistency of meaning , not identical content. If your website presents you as a specialist in one area while your Google Business Profile suggests that you primarily provide something completely different, there is a disconnect. 7. Check Your Google Business Profile Performance Once you start improving your profile and website, keep an eye on performance. Google Business Profile provides performance information showing how people interact with your listing. Depending on the information Google currently makes available, this can include actions such as: Calls Website clicks Direction requests Search activity Don't judge changes after only a couple of days. Local visibility is affected by numerous factors, including relevance, distance, competition, reviews and the searcher's location. Instead, look for trends over a longer period. The key question is whether you're gradually getting greater visibility for the right searches — and whether that visibility is turning into enquiries. A Simple Way to Check Everything There are quite a few things to check when comparing your website with your Google Business Profile. That's why I've created a Google Business Profile checklist that walks through the areas you should review. It covers both the Google Business Profile and the website, helping you identify information that is missing, inconsistent or needs improving. I've also included accompanying videos that explain the individual steps. If you'd prefer someone to look at your profile specifically and identify areas that could be improved, you can also start with a free Google Business Profile audit . Conclusion So, should your Google Business Profile match your website? For your core business information and the story you're telling customers, absolutely. Your business name, address, phone information, opening hours, service areas and key services should be consistent wherever they appear. But don't think of your website and Google Business Profile as duplicates. Think of them as two parts of the same system. Your Google Business Profile helps people discover and evaluate your business directly in Google Search and Maps. Your website gives them the deeper information they need to understand your services and decide whether you're the right business for them. When both communicate the same clear message, you're making things easier for Google — and, just as importantly, easier for your prospective customers.

If you're asking yourself, how do I get my Google Business Profile to rank higher? , there are several areas you need to work on. Google doesn’t rank local businesses based on one single factor. Its own guidance says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and prominence . Google Support You can’t control where every potential customer is searching from, but you can improve how relevant your business appears and how strong your local presence looks compared with competitors. In this article, I’m going to focus on three important areas: Show Google clearly what your business does Build stronger local proof through reviews Strengthen your local authority across the web These are not the only factors involved, but they are important ones to get right. 1. Show Google Clearly What Your Business Does The first thing to look at is your Google Business Profile categories and services. Your primary category should describe the main thing your business does. For example, if you are a plumber, your primary category might simply be: Plumber But many businesses stop there. Google allows one primary category and up to nine additional categories. However, Google also recommends using as few categories as possible while making sure they accurately describe your core business. So this is not about adding every category you can find. It is about choosing the additional categories that genuinely represent important parts of your business. For example, a plumbing business might also genuinely provide services connected with: Gas fitting Drainage Hot-water systems Water filtration Other specialist plumbing work The categories you select can affect your local ranking, so they matter. Add the Services You Actually Provide The next step is to look at your services. Your service list gives Google more detail about the actual work you carry out. For example, rather than simply saying you are a plumber, your services might include: Hot-water cylinder installation Leak repairs Drain clearing Gas fitting Water softener installation Only add services you genuinely provide. Google can also use information from your website and other online sources when building its understanding of your business. That means your website should support what you are saying on your Google Business Profile. If you claim an important secondary category or service, ideally there should be relevant information about that area on your website too. The clearer and more consistent this information is, the easier it is for Google to understand what searches your business may be relevant to. 2. Build Strong Local Proof Through Reviews The second area is reviews. Reviews do two jobs. They help potential customers decide whether they trust you, and they also contribute to Google's understanding of how prominent your business is locally. Google specifically says that more reviews and positive ratings can help local ranking. That is why a steady flow of genuine reviews is so valuable. Make Asking for Reviews Part of Your Process Nowadays, there are plenty of ways to make review requests part of your normal customer follow-up. You can ask through: Email Text message Your invoice process Your email signature A QR code A direct Google review link Google actively recommends reminding customers to leave reviews, provided the reviews reflect a genuine experience and you are not offering incentives. The important thing is consistency. Rather than getting a lot of reviews in one month and then nothing for six months, build review requests into your normal process. Detailed Reviews Are More Useful to Customers A review that simply says: “Great service.” is useful. But a review such as: “They installed our new water softener, explained everything clearly and left the place clean and tidy.” gives a future customer much more useful information. Google can also ask service-business customers what type of work was carried out, using information from your service list, website and other authoritative sources. That reinforces the importance of keeping your services accurate. You should also respond to reviews. Google encourages businesses to reply because it shows customers that their feedback matters. If you want a structured way to check the important areas of your profile, my Google Business Profile Checklist can help you work through them step by step. 3. Strengthen Your Local Authority The third area is local prominence. Google describes prominence as how well-known a business is, and says it can be influenced by things such as reviews and links from other websites. This is where your wider online presence becomes important. Your business may appear on: Local business directories Industry directories Trade association websites Local supplier websites School websites Charity websites Sports club websites Community organisations Traditionally, directory listings containing your business name, address and phone number are often called citations . The key thing is that the information should be accurate and consistent. Look for Genuine Local Mentions Some of the strongest local signals can come from genuine local relationships. For example, perhaps you: Sponsor a local sports team Support a charity Help a school Work with a local community organisation Belong to a local trade association If those organisations mention your business on their websites, that can create valuable local links and references. The important thing is that these relationships should be real. You should not be trying to manufacture links purely for SEO. Instead, think about the organisations your business already works with or genuinely wants to support. A local plumber might sponsor a junior football team. A builder might support a school fundraiser. A local service business might provide discounted or free help to a charity they genuinely care about. If that organisation then acknowledges the support on its website, that gives Google another external reference to the business. Keep Your Business Information Accurate Weak or inconsistent information can also make it harder for Google to understand your business. Make sure things such as these are correct: Business name Address Phone number Website Opening hours Special hours Categories Services Google says complete, detailed and up-to-date information can help a business appear in relevant local results. Google Support If your website says you close at 5pm but your profile says 6pm, fix it. If your phone number changed two years ago and some directories still show the old one, update them. If you have holiday or special opening hours, keep those current too. Don’t Chase One Ranking Trick The biggest mistake is looking for one magic tactic that will suddenly push your Google Business Profile to the top. That isn’t how local ranking works. Think instead about the three broad factors Google talks about: Relevance — how closely your business matches the search. Distance — how far away you are from the person searching. Prominence — how established and well-known your business appears. Google Support You can’t control distance. But you can improve relevance and prominence. You can make your profile clearer. You can improve your reviews. You can strengthen your website. You can build genuine local mentions and links. And you can make sure your business information is consistent everywhere. Those improvements work together. What Should You Do Next? Start by looking at the businesses that consistently rank above you. Compare: Their categories Their services Their reviews Their website Their local links Their directory presence Their overall profile completeness Then compare that with your own business. You’re looking for the gaps. You don’t have to fix everything at once. Start with the biggest weaknesses and improve them one by one. If you want a more detailed walkthrough, I’ve also created a free Google Business Profile masterclass that goes through the wider optimisation process and shows you what else to look at.

If you're asking yourself, how do I get my business higher on Google Maps? , there are several areas you need to look at. Google doesn't rank local businesses based on one single factor. Instead, local results are mainly influenced by relevance, distance and prominence. You can't control where the person searching is located, but you can improve how clearly Google understands your business and how strong your business appears compared with local competitors. In this article, we'll look at three areas that can help: Make your business more relevant Build more trust Strengthen your local authority These won't guarantee a particular Maps position, but they can help improve the signals Google uses when deciding which businesses to show in local search results. 1. Make Your Business More Relevant One of the first things to look at is your Google Business Profile categories. Many businesses set up their profile, choose one category and never look at it again. For example, a plumbing company might choose: Plumber That may be exactly the right primary category. However, the business may also genuinely operate in other areas that Google provides separate categories for. Depending on the company, those could include services connected with gas fitting, drainage or other specialist work. Google allows one primary category and additional categories, but the important thing isn't to add as many as possible. The categories should genuinely describe what the business is. Google specifically recommends choosing a small number of categories that accurately represent the business rather than adding a category for every individual service. Add the Services You Actually Provide Your services are another useful way of giving Google more information about what your business does. If you're a plumber, for example, you might provide services involving: Hot-water systems Drainage Gas fitting Water filtration Leak repairs Only include services you genuinely provide. The aim is to make your Google Business Profile as accurate and complete as possible. Your website should also support what you're saying on your profile. If you have an additional business category or important service on your Google Business Profile, ideally there should be relevant information about that area on your website as well. Google uses information from Business Profiles, websites and other sources when building its understanding of a local business. The clearer and more consistent that information is, the easier it is for Google to understand which searches your business may be relevant to. 2. Build More Local Trust The second area is trust. Reviews are one of the most visible trust signals on a Google Business Profile. Google says that the number of reviews and positive ratings can contribute to local prominence, which is one of the main factors used in local rankings. Reviews also matter enormously to potential customers. Imagine somebody is comparing three local plumbers. One has only a handful of old reviews. Another has a steady stream of recent feedback from customers talking about specific jobs they've completed. That can make the second business look far more established and credible. Encourage Genuine Customer Feedback The best reviews often include useful detail. For example: "Great service." is useful. But something like: "They installed our new water softener, explained how everything worked and left the area tidy." gives a potential customer much more information. It helps confirm what kind of work the business actually carries out. You shouldn't tell customers exactly what to write or offer incentives for positive feedback. Instead, make asking for genuine reviews part of your normal follow-up process. Consistency matters. A regular flow of customer feedback is generally more useful than getting a burst of reviews and then nothing for months. You should also reply to reviews naturally and helpfully. Google specifically recommends responding to reviews because it shows customers that you value their feedback. If you're not sure which areas of your profile need attention, my Google Business Profile Checklist gives you a useful starting point. Keep Your Business Information Accurate Trust also comes from getting the basics right. Your business hours should be accurate. Your special hours should be updated for holidays and other changes. Your phone number, website and business details should all be current. Google says complete and accurate Business Profile information makes a business more likely to appear in relevant local search results. This is one of the simplest things to check, yet it's surprisingly common to find profiles with outdated opening times, incorrect website links or missing information. 3. Strengthen Your Local Authority The third area is local authority, or what Google calls prominence . Prominence is Google's way of assessing how well-known a business is. Google says this can be influenced by information it finds around the web, including links to the business and customer reviews. This is where your broader online presence becomes important. Your business may appear on: Local directories Industry directories Trade organisations Local business websites Supplier websites Community websites These mentions can help reinforce information about your business. Traditionally, these listings are often referred to as citations , especially when they include your business name, address and phone number. The most important thing is accuracy. If your business details appear across several websites, make sure they're consistent and current. Add Useful Photos and Videos Photographs and videos are also valuable parts of your Google Business Profile. Google recommends adding photos and videos that show your storefront, products and services because they help customers understand what your business offers. For a local service business, useful examples could include: Before-and-after photographs Recently completed jobs Your team Your vehicles Your premises Tools and equipment Different services you provide Before-and-after photos can be particularly effective because they quickly show the transformation you've achieved for a customer. If you're repairing a roof, laying tiles or renovating a bathroom, the finished result can often communicate far more quickly than a long description. Video can work well too. You might briefly explain: What problem you found What work you're carrying out Why you've chosen that solution What the finished result looks like This type of content is valuable primarily because it gives prospective customers useful evidence of the work you do. Don't Chase One Ranking Trick If you want to get your business higher on Google Maps, don't concentrate on finding one clever trick. Google's own guidance points back to three broad factors: Relevance — how closely your business matches the search. Distance — how far the business is from the person searching. Prominence — how well-known and established the business appears. You can't control all three. You can't change the searcher's location. But you can improve your relevance and prominence by giving Google better information and building a stronger overall local presence. What Should You Do Next? Start by comparing your Google Business Profile with the businesses that regularly appear above you. Look at: Their categories Their services Their reviews Their photographs Their website Their wider online presence Then look for the gaps in your own profile. You don't necessarily need to change everything at once. A series of small improvements can gradually make your business easier for Google to understand and more convincing to the customers who find you. If you'd like a more structured way to work through your profile, you can start with my FREE Google Business Profile Audit . It can help identify the areas that may be holding back your local visibility 

If you're asking yourself, how do I get more calls from my Google Business Profile? , one of the first things to understand is that simply creating a profile isn't enough. A lot of businesses set up their Google Business Profile, add their basic information and then do very little with it. Months later, they wonder why they aren't getting as many calls and enquiries as they expected. Your Google Business Profile can be one of th e most valuable ways to generate local enquiries, but it needs to give Google enough information to understand what your business does and give potential customers enough confidence to contact you. There are three main areas I'd focus on: Increasing your visibility for relevant local searches Building trust through genuine customer reviews Making it easier for people to contact you There are also a few additional things you can do to keep your profile current and give potential customers more reasons to choose your business. 1. Make Sure You're Using the Right Business Categories One of the first areas to check is your Google Business Profile categories. When many businesses create their profile, they choose one obvious category and stop there. For example, a plumber might choose: Plumber That's a sensible primary category if plumbing is the main part of the business. But that same plumber might genuinely provide other types of work that have relevant Google Business Profile categories available. Depending on the business, that could include areas such as gas fitting, drainage or other specialist services. The important thing is that the categories you select should accurately represent what your business actually does. Don't add categories simply because you want to appear for more searches. Why Additional Categories Can Matter Categories help Google understand what type of business you are. If Google only has information about one part of your business, it may have less context about the other services you provide. Adding genuinely relevant categories can therefore help Google understand more about your business and the types of searches your profile may be relevant to. Your website should support this information as well. For example, if you say you provide a particular type of specialist service, ideally your website should contain useful information about that service. You're giving Google a consistent picture of what you do. More relevant visibility creates more opportunities to appear in front of local customers — and ultimately more opportunities to generate calls. 2. Get Reviews More Consistently The second area to focus on is reviews. Visibility gets people to your profile. Reviews can help give them the confidence to contact you. When somebody is comparing several businesses, there's a good chance they'll look at the reviews before making their decision. Imagine somebody needs a plumber. They find three businesses nearby offering the service they need. One has very few recent reviews. Another has plenty of recent reviews from real customers describing the work they've had completed. Which business is likely to give the potential customer greater confidence? That's why I often describe Google reviews as your digital word of mouth . Your previous customers are effectively helping future customers decide whether they should contact you. The Content of Your Reviews Matters Too The number of reviews is important, but what customers actually say can be valuable as well. Compare these two reviews: "Great service." And: "James repaired our leaking hot-water cylinder, arrived when he said he would and left everything clean and tidy." The second review gives a potential customer much more information. It confirms the type of service provided and describes the customer's experience. You shouldn't tell customers exactly what to write, and you shouldn't offer incentives in return for positive reviews. Instead, build a simple process for asking genuine customers to leave feedback after you've completed their work. The key is consistency. Rather than collecting ten reviews and then doing nothing for a year, make requesting reviews part of your normal customer follow-up process. If you're not sure what else needs checking on your profile, my Google Business Profile Checklist can help you work through the main areas step by step. 3. Make It Easier for People to Contact You The third thing is making it as easy as possible for someone to get in touch. Different customers prefer different ways of communicating. Some people want to call. Others prefer to send a message. Some customers use WhatsApp. Others would rather click through to your website and complete an enquiry or booking. The fewer barriers you place between somebody finding your business and contacting you, the better. Check the contact options available on your Google Business Profile and make sure the ones that are relevant to your business are properly configured. Make sure your telephone number is correct. Add messaging options where they're available and appropriate. If you use appointment or booking links, make sure they send the customer somewhere useful. For example, if you have a specific booking or enquiry page, it's usually better to send someone directly there rather than making them search through your website trying to work out what to do next. Make the next step obvious. 4. Keep Your Google Business Profile Up to Date There's also another simple principle worth following: Keep your profile current. Your basic business information should always be correct, including: Business hours Special opening hours Telephone number Website Services Business information You should also consider regularly adding genuine photographs showing what's happening inside your business. That could include: Recently completed jobs Before-and-after photographs Your team Company vehicles Your premises Equipment Examples of different services These images help prospective customers get a better feel for your business before they contact you. If somebody has never dealt with your company before, they're looking for reasons to trust you. Good photographs, strong reviews and complete business information can all help build that confidence. Use Google Business Profile Posts Google Business Profile posts can also be useful for keeping customers informed about what's happening. You could use posts to show recently completed work, share a business update or promote an appropriate seasonal offer. For example, a roofing company might show before-and-after photographs from a recently completed roof clean. A plumber might highlight a particular service. A local service business might promote an offer during a traditionally quieter part of the year. You're giving customers more useful information when they're considering whether to contact you. More Calls Usually Come From Improving the Whole Profile There isn't normally one magic change that suddenly doubles the number of calls coming from your Google Business Profile. It's about improving several areas that work together. Make sure Google understands exactly what your business does. Use the most appropriate categories. Build a consistent collection of genuine customer reviews. Make it easy for customers to contact you. Keep your business information accurate. Add useful photographs and updates. When these things work together, you create a stronger Google Business Profile. And importantly, you may already have people finding your business. The opportunity might not simply be getting more visibility. It may be doing a better job of turning the visibility you already have into more calls and enquiries. What Should You Do Next? Take a look at your Google Business Profile alongside some of your strongest local competitors. Compare the categories they're using, the quality and consistency of their reviews, their photographs, their services and how easy they make it for someone to contact them. Then ask yourself one simple question: If I were the customer looking at these businesses, would my profile give me enough confidence to make the call? If you're not sure where the gaps are, you can start with a FREE Google Business Profile Audit . I'll look at your profile and identify areas that could be holding back the number of local calls and enquiries you're generating.

Getting more views on your Google Business Profile is useful, but views alone don't necessarily turn into phone calls, enquiries or customers. You can have hundreds or even thousands of people seeing your business on Google Search and Maps, but if your profile doesn't give Google enough information about what you do—or doesn't give potential customers enough confidence to contact you—you may be wasting a lot of that visibility. The good news is that you don't necessarily need more visibility to generate more leads. Sometimes, improving what you've already got can produce better results. In this article, we'll look at three areas to focus on: Getting found for more of the right searches Building greater trust with Google and potential customers Giving people a stronger reason to contact you Let's start with the first. 1. Get Found for More of the Right Searches One of the first things I look at when reviewing a Google Business Profile is its categories and services. Your primary business category tells Google what type of business you are. You can then add other relevant categories where they genuinely describe additional parts of your business. But categories are only part of the picture. Your services can provide more detail about exactly what you do. Imagine a boat repair company. "Boat repair" covers a very wide range of potential work. One business might predominantly repair motorboats, while another specialises in sailing boats and rigging. If you simply tell Google that you're a boat repair business, there isn't much context. However, when you add the individual services you genuinely provide—such as sailing rigging repairs—you start giving Google a clearer picture of the searches your business may be relevant to. The same principle applies to almost any local service business. An electrician doesn't necessarily provide every electrical service. A roofer may specialise in some types of roofing work and not others. A mechanic might specialise in particular vehicles or repairs. The more accurately your profile reflects what you actually do, the easier it is for both Google and prospective customers to understand your business. If you're unsure whether you've covered the important areas of your profile, my Google Business Profile Checklist can help you work through them systematically. 2. Build Trust With Google and Your Customers Getting found is only the first part of the job. Once somebody discovers your business, they need to feel confident enough to contact you. One of the most powerful ways of building that confidence is through customer reviews. Let's return to the boat repair example. If someone is searching for sailing rigging repairs and they discover a company claiming to provide that service, that's useful. But imagine they then read several genuine reviews from previous customers talking about the sailing or rigging work that company completed. That's much more convincing. Rather than simply telling people what you do, your previous customers are providing evidence of the work you've carried out. This is why the content of your reviews can be so valuable. You shouldn't tell customers exactly what to write, and you should never offer incentives in exchange for reviews. However, you can make it easy for genuine customers to leave feedback about their experience. Your website should then reinforce the same message. If your Google Business Profile says you provide a particular service, somebody clicking through to your website should be able to find information about that service. Ideally, everything supports everything else: Your categories → your services → your reviews → your website That creates a much clearer picture of what your business does and gives potential customers more confidence that they've found the right company. 3. Give People a Reason to Contact You The third area is one many businesses overlook. You've been found. The customer trusts you. But why should they contact you now? Google Business Profile posts can be useful here because they allow you to publish updates, events and offers directly on your profile. This becomes particularly interesting if your business has predictable quiet periods. Most established businesses know roughly when their busy and quiet months occur. Instead of simply accepting those quiet periods, consider creating an offer around a service you'd particularly like to promote. For example, imagine you provide roof moss treatment. During a quieter period, you might create an offer around moss treatment and combine it with discounted gutter cleaning. That does two things. First, it gives somebody a reason to make a decision now rather than putting the job off. Second, once you've won the initial job, there may be logical additional services you can provide. It's the same principle McDonald's has used for decades: "Would you like fries with that?" If you're already on someone's roof completing moss treatment and their gutters also need cleaning, it makes sense to discuss that while you're there. The aim isn't simply to discount everything you sell. The aim is to create a compelling initial reason for someone to make contact and then identify related services that genuinely make sense for that customer. Small Improvements Can Compound The important thing to understand is that generating more leads from your Google Business Profile usually isn't about finding one secret trick. It's about improving several connected areas. Make your categories and services more accurate. Build genuine customer reviews. Make sure your website backs up what your profile says. Use posts and offers when they're appropriate. Give visitors clear reasons to contact you. Each improvement might seem relatively small on its own, but together they can make a significant difference. And importantly, some businesses may be able to generate more enquiries from the visibility they already have rather than concentrating entirely on getting more views. What Should You Do Next? Start by looking at your Google Business Profile from the perspective of someone who has never heard of your business before. Can they quickly understand exactly what you do? Can they find evidence that you've successfully carried out that type of work before? And is there a clear reason for them to contact you rather than continue looking through your competitors? If you'd like to work through this in more detail, I've created a free Google Business Profile masterclass that takes you step by step through the areas you can improve. It expands on the three points covered here and shows you how to start putting them into practice on your own profile.