Google Business Profile for Tradies: Setup Guide

How to Set Up Your Google Business Profile as a Tradie (and Actually Get Calls From It)

When someone's hot water dies at 7am, they don't scroll Instagram. They grab their phone, type "plumber near me" and ring one of the first three businesses in the map results.

Those three spots come from Google Business Profile. It's free, it takes an afternoon to set up properly, and for most trade businesses it brings in more calls than their website does.

The catch is that most tradies set it up once, half finish it, and never touch it again. Here's how to do it properly, step by step, so it actually makes the phone ring.

Step 1: Claim or create your profile

Head to business.google.com and sign in with a Google account you'll keep for the long haul. Use a business account, not your personal Gmail or your nephew's account. We've seen plenty of tradies locked out of their own profile because "the young bloke who did the website" owns it.

Search for your business name first. If a profile already exists (Google sometimes creates them automatically), claim it rather than making a duplicate.

A few rules for your business name:

• Use your real trading name, exactly as it appears on your van and invoices
• Don't stuff keywords in, like "Dave's Plumbing Best Emergency Plumber Sydney"
• Keyword stuffing breaks Google's guidelines and can get your profile suspended

Step 2: Choose the right categories

Categories are one of the biggest factors in which searches you show up for, so take your time here.

Your primary category should describe your main trade, the one that pays the bills. Think "Electrician", "Plumber", "Landscaper" or "Roofing contractor".

Then add secondary categories for the other work you genuinely do. A plumber might add "Gas fitter" and "Drainage service". A builder might add "Bathroom remodeler" and "Deck builder". You can add up to nine extras.

A quick tip: search your main service in Google Maps and click on the top competitors. Their primary category shows under their name. If they're all using "Air conditioning contractor" and you've picked "HVAC contractor", that's worth knowing.

Step 3: Hide your home address and set service areas

Most tradies work from home or a small yard, and you don't want customers rocking up at your front door. Google calls this a service area business.

During setup, Google asks whether you have a location customers can visit. Choose No. If you've already set up with an address showing, go to your profile, click Edit profile, then Location, and clear the business address so it's hidden.

You'll still need to give Google your real address for verification. It just won't appear publicly.

Next, add your service areas. You can list up to 20 suburbs, towns or regions. Be realistic. Listing all of Greater Sydney when you only want work on the Northern Beaches won't help you rank, and it'll fill your phone with jobs you don't want to drive to.

Step 4: Verify your profile

Google needs to confirm you're a real business before your profile goes fully live. These days that's often a short video showing your signage, your vehicle, your tools and proof you manage the business. Sometimes it's a phone call, text or email code.

If you're asked for video, film your signwritten ute, your tools and a business document in one continuous take. Keep it simple and don't edit it.

Step 5: Fill in every single section

This is where most profiles fall short. A complete profile looks more trustworthy to customers and gives Google more to work with. Make sure you've filled in:

• Phone number: one that's actually answered, ideally your mobile
• Website: your homepage or a dedicated service page
• Hours: including whether you do after hours or emergency call outs
• Services: list each one individually, like "Switchboard upgrades", "Smoke alarm installation", "EV charger installation"
• Business description: 750 characters about who you are, what you do, where you work and why people should call you. Write it like you'd explain it to a mate, not a robot
• Opening date and attributes: things like "Online estimates" or "Onsite services" if they apply

Step 6: Add photos from real jobs

People hire tradies they can see. Stock photos of smiling models in hard hats do nothing for you.

Upload:

• Your logo and a cover photo (your van or team works well)
• Before and after shots of real jobs
• You and your crew on site, in uniform
• Finished work you're proud of: a tidy switchboard, a new deck, a freshly tiled bathroom

Make it a habit. Snap two or three photos at the end of every job, and upload a few each week. Fresh photos signal an active business, and they give customers a reason to pick you over the bloke with three blurry shots from 2019.

Step 7: Get reviews, and reply to all of them

Reviews are the single biggest reason a customer picks one tradie over another in the map results. They also help you rank.

In your profile, find Ask for reviews to grab your short review link. Then:

• Text the link to every happy customer the same day you finish the job
• Add it to your invoice and email signature
• Put a QR code on the back of your business card

Ask while they're still admiring the new kitchen, not three weeks later when they've forgotten your name.

Then reply to every review. Thank people by name and mention the job ("Thanks Sarah, glad the new downlights are making the living room feel bigger"). For negative reviews, stay calm, keep it short, and offer to sort it out offline. Future customers read your replies as much as the reviews themselves.

Step 8: Post updates regularly

Google Business Profile has a posts feature that most tradies ignore. Posts show up on your profile and tell Google you're active.

Aim for one post a week. Ideas that work well:

• A recent job with a before and after photo
• A seasonal reminder: "Book your aircon service before summer"
• An offer: "$50 off switchboard upgrades this month"
• A quick tip: "Three signs your hot water system is on the way out"

Add a Call now button to each post so it's one tap to ring you.

A real world example

Take a sparky working out of Dee Why. He had a profile, but it listed his home address, had four photos, eleven reviews and no posts. His primary category was "Electrical installation service" while the top local competitors used "Electrician".

We switched his category, hid his address, set service areas across the Northern Beaches only, listed every service individually and got him texting his review link after each job. He started uploading job photos every Friday and posting once a week.

Within a few months he was showing up in the map pack for searches he'd never appeared in before, and the calls coming through were from suburbs he actually wanted to work in. No ad spend, just a properly looked after profile.

Your Google Business Profile checklist

• [ ] Profile claimed using a business Google account you own
• [ ] Business name matches your real trading name
• [ ] Primary category matches your main trade
• [ ] Relevant secondary categories added
• [ ] Home address hidden, service areas set (up to 20)
• [ ] Profile verified
• [ ] Phone, website, hours and description complete
• [ ] Every service listed individually
• [ ] Logo, cover photo and real job photos uploaded
• [ ] Review link saved and sent after every job
• [ ] Every review replied to
• [ ] One post a week with a call button

Want a hand getting the phone ringing?

Setting up a Google Business Profile for tradies isn't hard, but keeping it active week after week is where most busy business owners drop off. You're on the tools, not on your laptop, and that's fair enough.

If you'd like someone to set it up properly, keep the photos and posts ticking over, and tie it in with your social media and Google ads, we'd love to chat. Start the conversation and tell us a bit about your business.