Google Business Profile Checklist for NZ Tradies

Your Google Business Profile is the free listing that shows up on Google Maps and on the right-hand side of Google when someone searches your business name. For most tradies, it brings in more calls than their website does. And for most tradies, it's half filled in.

Grab your phone, open your profile and work through this checklist. Most of it takes a few minutes, and every box you tick gives Google more reason to show you to locals.

01The basics

Start with the stuff that needs to be perfect:

• Your business name exactly as it appears on your signage and invoices, with no extra keywords stuffed in
• A local phone number or mobile that someone actually answers
• Your website address, pointing to the most relevant page
• Opening hours that are accurate, including public holidays
• Your service area set to the towns and suburbs you actually travel to

That bit about the business name is important. It's tempting to change "Smith Electrical" to "Smith Electrical Best Electrician Auckland", but it breaks Google's guidelines and can get your profile suspended. It's not worth it.

02Categories

Categories are one of the biggest factors in what searches you show up for, and they're where a lot of tradies go wrong.

• Pick the most specific primary category that matches your main work, like "Roofing contractor" rather than "Contractor"
• Add secondary categories for the other main services you offer
• Don't add categories for work you don't really do, as it can hurt more than help
• Check what categories your top-ranking competitors use for ideas

03Services and products

The services section lets you list every type of job you do, and each one can have a short description. Fill this in properly. If you're a builder, list decks, extensions, renovations, new builds, bathrooms, kitchens and anything else you want to get calls for.

Use the words your customers would use. "Heat pump installation" rather than "HVAC solutions". "Leaky roof repairs" rather than "Remedial roofing works".

04Your description

You get 750 characters to describe your business. Use them. Explain what you do, where you do it, how long you've been at it, and what makes you different. Write it like you'd explain it to someone at a barbecue, not like an ad.

Mention your main services and areas naturally, but don't just list keywords. People read this.

05Photos

Photos make a big difference to how many people click through to call you. Profiles with plenty of real photos tend to look more trustworthy, and Google seems to favour active profiles with fresh images.

• Add your logo and a strong cover photo
• Upload photos of real finished jobs, ideally a few every week or two
• Include photos of your team, your vans and your workshop or yard
• Skip the stock photos entirely

06Reviews

Reviews are huge, both for ranking and for convincing people to call. The checklist here is simple:

• Get a short link to your review page from your profile dashboard
• Ask every happy customer for a review, ideally right when you finish the job
• Reply to every review, good and bad, politely and personally
• Never buy reviews or offer anything in exchange for them

There's a full guide on this in how to get more Google reviews.

07Posts and updates

Google lets you post updates to your profile, a bit like a social media post. Most tradies never use it. Posting a photo of a recent job with a line or two about it every week or two keeps your profile looking active and gives people more reasons to choose you.

08Questions and answers

People can ask questions on your profile, and anyone can answer them, including random members of the public. Keep an eye on this section and answer questions yourself. You can even add common questions and answers yourself, like "Do you offer free quotes?" or "Do you work in Papamoa?"

09Messaging and bookings

If you turn on messaging, make sure someone actually checks it. Slow replies look worse than no messaging at all. The same goes for any booking links. If you can't respond quickly, it's better to push people to call.

10Track what it brings in

Your profile dashboard shows how many people called, visited your website or asked for directions. Check it monthly. If you add UTM tracking to your website link, you can also see in Google Analytics exactly how many enquiries came through from your profile.

11Keep it up

A Google Business Profile isn't a set-and-forget thing. The tradies who dominate the map in their area are almost always the ones posting regularly, collecting reviews every week and keeping everything up to date.

If you'd rather we took care of it, it's a core part of our local SEO service. You can also read the bigger picture in local SEO for tradies: how to rank on Google Maps.