Your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is the single most valuable digital asset most small UK businesses own. For tradespeople in particular, a properly optimised GBP drives more direct enquiries than the website itself. And yet most profiles we audit are missing 60–80% of what they should have. This is the field-by-field checklist we use to rebuild them properly.
1. Primary category
The primary category is the single most important field on your entire profile. Pick the most specific category that describes what you do. "Plumber" not "Contractor". "Electrician" not "Handyman". "Roofer" not "Building services". The category structures your entire ranking eligibility — get it wrong and you can't rank for the searches you want, no matter what else you do.
Use Google's category-search tool to find the most specific match. If your business genuinely covers multiple categories (e.g. plumber + gas engineer), pick the one that matches your highest-priority commercial searches as primary, and add the others as secondary categories.
2. Secondary categories
Add every secondary category that's truly relevant. A plumber who also does bathroom installations should add "Bathroom Remodeller". An electrician who installs EV chargers should add "Electric Vehicle Charging Station". Each accurate secondary category unlocks a whole new set of search results you can appear in.
Don't stuff irrelevant categories — Google's spam filter will catch it and it can suppress your overall ranking. Only add what's true.
3. Business name
Use your real, registered business name. Don't keyword-stuff it ("AAA Best Plumber Leicester Cheap 24 Hour" — yes, we've seen it). Google's policy is clear: keyword stuffing in the business name is a violation, and it can get your profile suspended entirely.
4. Address vs. service-area business
If customers visit your premises (a salon, a clinic, a shop), set your profile up as a storefront with a public address. If you serve customers at their location (almost all trades), set it up as a service-area business — your address is hidden, but you specify the towns and postcodes you cover.
Pick wrong and you can't fix it without re-verifying the profile, which takes weeks. Get this right at setup.
5. Service area
Add up to 20 specific towns or postcodes you cover. Don't list "the whole UK" if you only realistically work in a 30-mile radius — Google will down-weight your profile across the entire claimed area.
Be honest about where you actually work, and prioritise the towns where the highest-value work comes from. You can update this list any time as your business grows.
6. Opening hours and special hours
Set accurate opening hours and keep them current. If you offer 24-hour emergency service, set the hours to 24 hours and tick the "open 24 hours" attribute — this is what makes you eligible for the "open now" filter when customers search at 2am for an emergency plumber.
Add special hours for bank holidays, your annual two-week shutdown, and any other variations. Customers absolutely notice when they call a business showing as open and reach voicemail.
7. Phone number
Use a single, consistent phone number across your GBP, your website, and every other listing of your business. Google reads inconsistent phone numbers as a signal the business may not be reliable, which suppresses your ranking.
If you use a tracking number on your website (which we recommend for lead attribution), make sure your GBP shows your real direct number — call tracking numbers can sometimes be flagged by Google.
8. Website URL
Link to your homepage as the primary website URL. If you're optimising your profile for a specific town or service, you can link the GBP for that location to a town-specific landing page on your site (e.g. /locations/loughborough) — this gives Google a stronger relevance signal.
9. Description
750 characters maximum. Lead with what you do, where you do it, and what makes you different. Include 2–3 of your most important keyword phrases naturally — don't stuff them. Mention your trade body certifications (Gas Safe, NICEIC, NAPIT, FMB) where relevant.
10. Services list
This is one of the most under-used fields on the entire profile. List every individual service you offer with a 200-character description for each. Use the exact wording your customers search for. "Boiler installation" not "Heating system upgrades". "EICR for landlords" not "Electrical reports".
Each service entry creates additional ranking eligibility for the related search terms. We've seen profiles double their visibility in two weeks just from properly populating this field.
11. Products
If you sell products (boilers, EV chargers, paving, fencing, kitchens), use the Products section to showcase them with photos and prices. This is increasingly visible in search results and gives you another lever for ranking.
12. Photos and videos
Upload at least 30 photos at setup — exterior, interior (if relevant), team, vehicles, real jobs in progress, finished work, before-and-afters. Add fresh photos weekly. Geo-tag them where possible (most modern phones do this automatically). Profiles with regular photo activity rank meaningfully higher in the local map pack.
13. Google Posts
Schedule a Google Post every week. These are short updates (similar to social media posts) that appear directly on your profile. Each post can include a photo, a 1500-character caption, and a CTA button. Use them to feature recent jobs, share offers, or answer common questions.
Active posting is a direct ranking signal — Google rewards profiles that appear regularly maintained.
14. Q&A seeding
Customers can ask public questions on your profile. Get ahead by seeding the top dozen questions yourself ("do you offer same-day boiler repair?", "are you Gas Safe registered?", "what areas do you cover?") and answering them with the keywords your customers actually use.
Set notifications so you respond to new questions within 24 hours — Google flags slow-response profiles.
15. Reviews and review responses
Aim for 30–50% review request conversion via a simple two-touch system. Respond to every review — positive and negative — within 24 hours. The response itself is read by Google's algorithm and influences rank, so include relevant keywords naturally without obviously stuffing them.
16. Insights and tracking
Check your GBP insights monthly: profile views, search queries, calls, direction requests, website clicks. This data tells you what's working. Look for the search terms driving the most calls — those are the searches to deepen with content on your website.
Final word
If you do nothing else for your local visibility this year, do this checklist. A properly optimised GBP is the highest-ROI single asset most small UK businesses can own. Set aside a focused half-day, work through every field, and you'll see ranking and call volume movement within 30 days. If you'd rather not do it yourself, our Google Business Profile Optimisation service does exactly this — book a free audit and we'll tell you what's missing on yours.