How to Get More Work From Your Google Business Profile

Your Google Business Profile is the single most powerful free marketing tool available to a UK tradesperson — and most tradespeople are using it at about 20% of its potential. A basic claimed profile with a phone number and a handful of reviews is a start. But there's a significant gap between a profile that exists and a profile that actively wins you work.

This guide covers exactly what to do to get more enquiries from your Google Business Profile in 2026 — specific, actionable steps rather than generic advice.

Why Google Business Profile Matters More Than Ever

When a homeowner searches "electrician near me" or "plumber [town name]", the first thing they see — above the organic website results, and often above paid ads — is the local map pack. Three Google Business Profile listings showing a map, star rating, phone number, and brief description. Those three spots get the vast majority of clicks for local trade searches.

Google determines which three profiles appear based on a combination of factors — proximity to the searcher, relevance of the profile to the search term, and prominence signals including review count, review quality, how complete the profile is, and how active it is. All of these are things you can directly influence.

The tradespeople who appear consistently in the map pack for local searches are not necessarily the best in their area. They're the ones who've put the work into their profile.

Step 1 — Claim and Verify Your Profile

This sounds obvious but a significant number of UK tradespeople are still operating on an unclaimed profile — Google created one for them based on online mentions, but they've never taken ownership of it. An unclaimed profile can't be fully optimised and doesn't signal activity to Google.

Go to business.google.com, search for your business name, and claim it if it exists. If it doesn't, create one from scratch. Verification is typically done by postcard to your business address — allow up to two weeks. Once verified, you have full control over all the information Google displays about your business.

Step 2 — Complete Every Section Fully

Google explicitly rewards complete profiles with better visibility. Most tradespeople fill in the basics — business name, phone number, address or service area — and stop there. Everything beyond that is an opportunity competitors are missing.

Make sure these sections are fully completed:

• Business category — choose the most specific primary category that describes your main trade. Add secondary categories for other services you offer. "Electrician" is a category. So is "Solar Energy Equipment Supplier" and "EV Charging Station".
• Service area — list every town and postcode area you serve. This determines where your profile appears in map pack results. Be thorough — if you serve 15 towns, list all 15.
• Services — use the services section to list every specific service you offer. Not just "plumbing" but "boiler installation", "bathroom fitting", "leak detection", "drain unblocking". Google uses these to match your profile to specific searches.
• Business description — 750 characters to describe who you are, what you do, where you work, and what makes you worth calling. Include your main trade keywords and location naturally. Don't keyword stuff — write for customers first.
• Opening hours — including whether you offer emergency callouts outside standard hours. If you offer 24/7 emergency cover, say so explicitly.
• Website link — if you have a website, link it. If you don't, this is another reason to get one.

Step 3 — Build Your Review Count Systematically

Reviews are the single biggest factor in both how prominently your profile appears and how often customers actually call you. A tradesperson with 50 four and five star reviews will appear above a competitor with 5 reviews in almost every case — regardless of how long either has been in business.

The tradespeople who build strong review counts aren't doing anything magical. They ask every satisfied customer for a review, they make it easy, and they do it consistently.

The practical process:

• After every completed job, send a follow-up message — text or WhatsApp works better than email for most customers — thanking them and including a direct link to your Google review page
• The link format is: g.page/[your-business-name]/review — Google can also generate a short review link from within your Business Profile dashboard
• If a customer compliments your work in person or by message, ask them directly: "It would really help me if you could leave that as a Google review — I'll send you the link now"
• Don't ask for reviews in bulk at the end of the year — Google's algorithm can flag this as suspicious. Ask after each job as a consistent habit.

Target 20 reviews as your first milestone. At that point your profile starts to rank meaningfully for local searches. At 50+ you'll be competing for the top map pack spot in most areas.

Step 4 — Respond to Every Review

Most tradespeople don't respond to their Google reviews at all. This is a missed opportunity. Google considers owner responses as an activity signal — a profile with regular responses looks more active and engaged than one that ignores feedback. Customers also read responses before calling, particularly if there are any negative reviews.

For positive reviews: thank the customer by name, mention the specific job if you can, and reinforce your service area or trade — this adds relevant keywords naturally. Keep it genuine rather than formulaic.

For negative reviews: respond calmly, acknowledge the concern, and offer to resolve it offline. Never argue publicly. A professional response to a negative review often converts undecided customers more effectively than ten positive ones — it shows how you handle problems.

Step 5 — Add Photos Regularly

Google Business Profiles with photos receive significantly more clicks than those without. For a tradesperson, photos of completed work are your most powerful conversion tool — they show customers exactly what quality of work to expect before they call.

What to upload:

• Before and after photos of completed jobs — these get more engagement than finished-only shots
• Photos of your van and tools — helps customers identify you when you arrive and builds familiarity
• Accreditation and certification logos — Gas Safe, NICEIC, MCS certification displayed visually
• Team photos if you have staff — people buy from people

Add new photos regularly — at least a couple per month. Recent photo activity signals to Google that your business is active. Old profiles with photos from three years ago look stale and get deprioritised.

Step 6 — Use Google Posts

Most tradespeople have never used Google Posts — the update feature within the Business Profile dashboard. This is a genuine competitive advantage because so few competitors use it.

Google Posts appear directly on your Business Profile in search results — visible to anyone who finds your listing. You can use them to:

• Announce availability — "We have availability for electrical jobs in the Glasgow area this month"
• Promote seasonal offers — "Free boiler health check with any heating service booked in April"
• Share completed job highlights — "Just completed a full bathroom renovation in Paisley — photos in our gallery"
• Create urgency around grant deadlines — "The £7,500 heat pump grant runs until 2028 — book your free survey now"

Posts expire after seven days so aim to add one per week. It takes five minutes and signals active business activity to Google's ranking algorithm.

Step 7 — Answer Questions in the Q&A Section

The Questions and Answers section on your Business Profile is often ignored entirely. Customers can ask questions publicly — and if you don't answer them, anyone can, including competitors. More importantly, you can seed your own questions and answers — ask and answer the questions customers most commonly ask you by phone.

Good questions to add and answer yourself:

• "Do you offer emergency callouts?" — yes, available 24/7 for electrical emergencies
• "Are you Gas Safe registered?" — yes, registration number XXXXXX
• "What areas do you cover?" — list your service towns
• "Do you provide free quotes?" — yes, free no-obligation quotes for all jobs

These answers appear prominently on your profile and reduce the friction between a customer finding you and calling you.

Keeping Jobs Organised Once the Enquiries Come In

A well-optimised Google Business Profile generates more enquiries — but enquiries only convert to revenue if you follow up quickly and manage jobs properly. A customer who called at 9am and didn't hear back by 10am has already called someone else.

Tradify lets you log every new enquiry, track where it came from, convert it to a quote, and follow up automatically if the quote hasn't been accepted. When your Google profile starts generating consistent enquiry volume, having that system in place is what turns the marketing investment into actual booked work.

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The Bottom Line

Most tradespeople are leaving significant work on the table by not fully optimising their Google Business Profile. Complete every section, build reviews consistently, respond to all feedback, add photos regularly, and use Google Posts weekly. Done properly, this is the highest-return marketing activity available to a UK tradesperson — and it costs nothing beyond your time.

For more on building your online presence, read our guides on whether you need a website as a UK tradesperson, how to get more 5-star reviews, and how to get more customers as a tradesperson.

Affiliate disclosure: Some links on this page are affiliate links. If you sign up through them we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. We only recommend tools we'd genuinely point a tradesperson towards.