Google Business Profile for Builders: Setup Checklist

Most builders set a profile up once, years ago, then forget about it until it stops bringing work in. Fix the name, the category, the verification and the reviews in that order, and the rest sorts itself out.

Claim your profile with your real name and address

Go to Google Business Profile, sign in with an account you'll keep hold of, and search for your business. If it's not there, add it. Use your actual trading name here, because Google checks it against your website and your invoices.

If you're a sole trader, you can trade under your own name or a trading name, but that name can't include words like limited, Ltd, LLP or plc, can't be offensive, and can't be too close to someone else's trademarked name, and the same name needs to go on your invoices and letters too, says GOV.UK. A sole trader can absolutely have a Business Profile: you don't need to be a limited company.

If you work from a home office or a van and don't want your home address public, choose the setting that hides your address and shows a service area instead. Add the towns you actually cover for double garage conversions rather than the whole region, because a tight, honest area helps Google match you to the right searches. Your mobile number is fine on the profile, in fact it's better than a landline you'll never answer stood on a roof, so long as it's the number you'll actually pick up.

Pick a category that covers what you actually do

Under the primary category field, choose the single option that matches most of your enquiries, not the one that sounds most impressive. If garage conversions are your bread and butter, pick the closest match to that rather than a vague builder category, and use the secondary category field to add other work you take on, such as loft conversions or extensions.

A general builder juggling several trades should resist adding every category going. Google uses this field to decide who to show you to, so stacking it with categories you rarely work in just means you turn up for searches you don't want and dilute the ones you do.

Verify it properly, and don't touch it while you wait

Once your details are in, Google will ask you to verify. For a trade business without a shopfront, postcard verification is usually what you'll be offered: Google posts a code to your business address.

Most codes arrive within 14 days, and the code expires after 30 days, so don't let it sit in a drawer, says Google's verification help page. While you're waiting, leave your name, address and category alone: editing any of them resets the clock and the code you've already got stops working.

Until you verify, your profile won't show its full features and tends to sit well down the results, if it shows at all. It's not a box to tick and forget: it's the thing that switches the whole profile on.

Upload photos that do the selling for you

Homeowners comparing you to an extension want to see real double garage conversions before they pick up the phone, not a stock photo of a hammer. Upload photos of finished jobs, the build in progress, and the team on site, ideally with your van and company name visible somewhere in the shot.

Add a handful of fresh photos after every job rather than dumping a big batch at once and forgetting about it for a year. A profile that visibly updates tells both Google and the homeowner scrolling on a Sunday night that you're still working and still good.

Ask for reviews the right way

You're allowed to ask a happy customer for a review, but you can't offer money, a discount or free work in exchange for one, or ask someone to edit or remove a review, which breaches Google's content policy and risks the whole profile being suspended.

You also can't pressure your team to chase a set number of reviews or tell customers exactly what to write, under the same Google policy. Here's a simple message you can send after a job: Glad you're happy with the new garage space. If you've got a couple of minutes, a Google review would really help other people find us, and here's the link to leave one. Send it once, by text or email, and leave it there.

If chasing anything without sounding desperate makes you wince, the same thinking applies to quotes: see how to chase a quote without being pushy.

Reply to every review within a day

Reply to every review, good or bad, and do it quickly. A short, polite reply to a bad review shows the next homeowner reading it that you took it seriously, even if the original reviewer never comes back.

For a good review, a genuine thank you that mentions the job, the double garage, the home office, whatever it was, does more for you than it looks like it should, because it confirms to anyone reading that the review is real and recent.

If a review is wrong, unfair, or clearly not even your customer, reply calmly and factually rather than arguing in public, then use Google's flag or report option on the review itself.