If you only have time to do one thing to improve your online presence, sort out your Google Business Profile. It's the single biggest source of enquiries for most tradesmen, and it's free. The problem is that most tradesmen either haven't claimed theirs or have claimed it and left it half-finished.
Claiming your profile
Go to google.com/business and sign in with a Google account. Search for your business. If it shows up, click "Claim this business" and follow the verification steps. Google will send a postcard to your address with a code.
If your business doesn't show up, you can create a new listing from scratch. Same process, just click "Add your business" instead.
Filling out every field
Once you're in, fill out everything. And I mean everything. Most tradesmen put in their name, phone number, and address, then stop. That leaves money on the table.
Business name should match what's on your van, invoices, and website.
Primary category matters more than you think. Choose the one that best matches your main service.
Services - add them individually. Each one becomes a signal for what searches you should appear in.
Business description - a straightforward paragraph about what you do, how long you've been doing it, and what areas you cover.
Photos matter more than you'd expect
Businesses with more than 100 photos get 520% more calls than the average business, according to Google's own data. You don't need 100, but you should aim for at least 20.
Take photos of your work. Before and after shots are good. Photos of you and your team are good. A photo of your van with your branding is good. Upload them with short descriptions.
Reviews are the whole game
Google reviews are one of the strongest ranking factors for local search. Not just how many you've got, but how recent they are and what they say.
After every job, send your customer a text with a direct link to your review page. Make it easy. Don't say "leave me a review if you get a chance." Say "It would really help me out if you could leave a quick review on Google."
Keep it active
Google rewards profiles that are regularly updated. Post updates once a week if you can. A photo of a recent job with a couple of sentences about what you did. That's it.
Respond to reviews too. When someone leaves you a good review, reply with a thank you. When someone leaves a bad one, respond calmly and professionally.
Do this today
If you haven't claimed your Google Business Profile, do it now. If you have claimed it, go through every field and make sure it's complete. Add photos from your last five jobs. Text your last three customers and ask for reviews.
If the whole thing feels like more than you want to deal with, get in touch with us at SEO 4 Tradesmen. Setting up and optimising Google profiles for tradesmen is one of the things we do every day.