Guide
How to add your business to Google Maps: a complete Google Business Profile for plumbers, heating engineers and electricians
How to get your business on Google Maps, and what a complete listing needs. Every part of it, what Google allows in each, and a ten-minute monthly check that keeps it right.
To add your business to Google Maps, you create a free Google Business Profile and verify it. A complete profile is the part of local search that a plumber, heating engineer or electrician controls. airstad local sets up and manages Google Business Profiles for trades in Surrey, Hampshire, West Sussex and London. This guide covers how to add your business, what a complete listing has, what gets a listing suspended and a ten-minute monthly check.
How do you add your business to Google Maps?
You add your business to Google Maps by creating a Google Business Profile at business.google.com/add (opens in a new tab) and verifying it. Google says adding or claiming a profile is free, in its page on how to add or claim your Business Profile (opens in a new tab) .
- Go to business.google.com/add, choose to add your business, and enter the details Google asks for.
- If customers do not come to you, hide your address and list the areas you cover (opens in a new tab) instead.
- Choose a verification option and follow Google’s steps. A verified profile is more likely to show up (opens in a new tab) in search.
Why does your Google Business Profile matter for local search?
Google chooses which local businesses to show mainly using three things: relevance, distance and popularity. That comes from Google’s page on how to improve your local ranking (opens in a new tab) .
- Google says complete and accurate information makes a profile more likely to show up.
- Google also says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.
- You cannot move your van closer to the customer, so the listing is where your time counts.
What does a complete Google Business Profile for a trade business include?
A complete profile has nine things. Each one below follows Google’s own guidance, and the sources are linked at the foot of the page.
- Verification. Google says a verified profile is more likely to show up (opens in a new tab) in search.
- Your real business name, which is the name on your van, invoices and website. Adding a town or a service, such as “Emergency Plumber Guildford”, can get the listing suspended (opens in a new tab) .
- The right main category, which is the one that finishes the sentence “this business is a”. Plumber and Electrician are examples, and a second category is only for a real part of the business.
- The areas you cover. If customers do not come to you, remove the address and list up to 20 areas (opens in a new tab) , such as Guildford, Woking and Farnham, within about two hours’ drive.
- A phone number that reaches you or whoever takes your calls, and a link to your own website rather than a directory page.
- Hours that are true this week, with special hours (opens in a new tab) set before bank holidays and your own time off.
- Each service you want calls for, in the words a customer would search. That means boiler servicing for plumbers and heating engineers and an EICR or a consumer unit replacement for electricians .
- A description of what you do and where. It can run to 750 characters. Google does not allow links in it (opens in a new tab) , and asks you to keep it about the business rather than prices or offers.
- Photos of your own work, such as finished jobs, your van and your team. Google asks for photos that are in focus, well lit and not heavily filtered (opens in a new tab) .
Which mistakes get a Google Business Profile suspended?
Three mistakes can get a listing suspended: keywords in the name, an address nobody works at, and more than one listing for one business. All three come from Google’s guidelines for representing your business (opens in a new tab) .
| Mistake | Why it breaks Google’s rules | What to do instead |
|---|---|---|
| Keywords in the name | Anything added to the real business name, including towns, services and phone numbers, is not allowed. | Use the name on your van and invoices. |
| An address nobody works at | Showing an address is only allowed if it is staffed during the hours on the listing. | If you work from home and travel to customers, hide the address. |
| More than one listing | Google allows one profile per business. A second listing for another town, with no premises there, breaks the rules. | Keep one profile and list the towns you cover as service areas. |
Google explains what happens when it removes a profile on its page about fixing suspended or disabled profiles (opens in a new tab) .
- The public cannot go to the profile.
- The owner cannot act on it, only appeal to have it reinstated.
- Every day that takes is a day of calls going to someone else.
What should you check on your Google Business Profile each month?
Check four things once a month: your hours, your photos, your reviews and any changes made without you. Ten minutes is enough.
- Look ahead to the next bank holiday or week off and set special hours for it before it arrives.
- Add two or three photos from recent jobs, so anyone looking can see the business is working now.
- Reply to every new review, as set out in our guide to getting reviews within the rules .
- Put back anything that changed without you. Anyone can suggest an edit, and Google can apply some without asking you first (opens in a new tab) , so check the phone number, hours and website.
How do you check your Google Business Profile today?
Search for your business on Google Maps the way a customer would, then check the name, hours and phone number against what is on your van. If any of them is wrong, fix that before anything else on this list.
If you would rather hand the listing over, our Google Business Profile service sets it up and keeps it up to date for trades across Surrey, Hampshire, West Sussex and London. We post from your job photos every month.
Sources
- Google: add or claim your Business Profile (opens in a new tab)
- Google: how to improve your local ranking (opens in a new tab)
- Google: guidelines for representing your business (opens in a new tab)
- Google: manage your service areas (opens in a new tab)
- Google: edit your Business Profile (opens in a new tab)
- Google: photo guidelines (opens in a new tab)
- Google: fix suspended or disabled profiles (opens in a new tab)
- Google: understand Google updates on your Business Profile (opens in a new tab)
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