Quick answer
What should I add to my Google Business Profile?
The best profile isn't the one with the most keywords. It's the one that answers what a customer wants to know: Who are you? What do you do? Where? When can I get hold of you? Can I trust you?
The jargon
The words you'll come across, in plain English.
- Google Business Profile: your free business listing on Google Search and Google Maps.
- Service area business: a business that goes out to customers, rather than customers coming to it.
- Category: the type of business Google files you under, like Plumber. Pick the closest main one.
- Description: a short write up about your business, up to 750 characters.
- Services: the list of jobs you do, shown on your profile.
- Updates: short posts on your profile, like news or recent jobs.
Name and category
What name and category should I use?
Use the name on your van, your paperwork and your website. Pick the main category that best fits your main work, then add only the extra ones that are genuinely relevant.
Do this
Oak Electrical Ltd: its real name and the closest electrical category.
Not this
Oak Electrical Emergency Electrician Best Rewires Bristol: a list of keywords pretending to be a name.
Contact and hours
What contact details and hours should I add?
Use your main business number and your own website. Set your hours to when customers can actually get hold of you. Add bank holidays and time off.
- Ring your number from another phone
- Open your website link on your phone
- Try your enquiry form on your phone
- Check your normal and holiday hours
- Remove old booking or messaging links
Description
What should my description say?
Write it for a customer, not for Google. Say what you do, who for, where, and what makes working with you easy. No offers, no big claims you can't back up, no lists of towns. Google allows up to 750 characters, with no web links or code.
Do this
Oak Electrical does house rewires, fault finding and landlord safety checks across Bristol and nearby towns. We text before we arrive and give written quotes before any planned work.
Not this
BEST CHEAP ELECTRICIAN BRISTOL. NUMBER 1 GUARANTEED. Electrician Bath electrician Weston electrician everywhere.
Services
Which services should I list?
Add your main services, with a short line on each where it helps. Split jobs that are genuinely different, but don't invent dozens of near copies.
- Use the words customers use, like boiler service or fuse box replacement
- Say if you need to see the job before quoting
- Don't list prices you can't always stick to
- Take off work you don't do any more
- Keep any qualification or scheme claims accurate
Photos
What photos should I add?
Real photos take away the doubt. Show yourself or your team, your van, tidy finished jobs, your tools, and your premises if customers visit. Only use photos you took or have permission to use. See our photo guide.
Google asks for JPG or PNG files between 10 KB and 5 MB, ideally 720 by 720 pixels or bigger, with no heavy filters. Photos only show once your profile is verified.
- Clear, recent, well lit photos
- No customer names, addresses or paperwork in shot
- Ask before you show someone's home or face
- Never pass off stock photos as your own work
- Check how they look on a phone
Do this
A recent photo of a neat fuse box install with the labels blurred.
Not this
A stock photo, or another installer's work, passed off as yours.
Reviews and updates
Do reviews and updates matter?
Ask every customer for an honest review, and reply without giving away their details. Post an update when there's something worth saying: holiday hours, a new service, when you're booked up.
Posts, photos and replies don't guarantee you'll rank. Their job is to help a real customer decide. See How to Ask Customers for Google Reviews and How to Respond to Good and Bad Reviews.
Keep it right
How often should I check my profile?
Google can take information from customers and other places too, so look at what's actually showing. Don't assume it hasn't changed.
- Every month: test your phone, website, hours and main services
- If you move: update your base and do any checks Google asks for
- New service: update your category, services and website together
- Before a holiday: add your holiday hours
- Staff or suppliers change: check who has access
Sources
Where this guide comes from.
Checked against these official pages on 27/10/2026. Next check due 27/01/2027. Things can change sooner, so check the official page before an important decision.
FAQs
Frequently asked questions.
Should I add every category I can?
No. The closest main one, plus only the extras that really fit.
Can I put my town in my business name?
Only if it's really part of your name, everywhere you use it.
Can I put my phone number in the description?
There's no need. Your number has its own box, and Google's rules say no web links or code in the description. Use the space to say what you do.
How often should I add photos?
There's no magic number. Add good ones when you've got them.
Can I use stock photos?
Never as if they're your work. Your own photos win more trust.
Will filling everything in guarantee enquiries?
No. It helps, but distance, competition, reviews and the customer's choice all matter.
Got a question?
Send us a message and we'll point you in the right direction.
We're happy to help, even if it's not about a website.
