The DIY Google Business Profile checklist for Essex businesses

You get one primary category and up to nine additional ones. The primary category tells Google what you mainly do, and it has more effect on which searches you appear in than anything else on your profile.

• Search for your main service in your town and look at the top three businesses. Note their primary categories.
• Choose the most specific category that fits. “Bathroom remodeler” beats “Contractor” if bathrooms are your main work.
• Add additional categories only for things you genuinely do.

Use your real business name, exactly as customers see it. Adding your town or a keyword (“Smith Plumbing Chelmsford”) breaks Google’s rules and can get your profile suspended.

• If customers visit you, show your full address and keep your opening hours accurate, including bank holidays.
• If you go to your customers, hide your address and set a service area instead. You can add up to 20 towns or postcodes, within about two hours’ drive of your base.

Not sure why ticking more towns doesn’t make you show up in them? I explain it in why you vanish from Google Maps five miles from home.

This is one of the most skipped sections I see, and it’s one of the most useful. It tells Google, and its AI answers, exactly what you do.

• Add every service you offer, each with a short description written the way customers would say it.
• If you sell products, add them with a photo, a short description and a price where you can. Shops often miss this completely.

Most profiles I audit have only a handful of photos. People want to see who they’re dealing with before they ring or visit.

• Outside: your shopfront or premises, so people recognise it when they arrive. For trades, your van and your team on a job.
• Inside: your shop, showroom or workspace.
• Your work: before and after, finished details, products on the shelf.
• Your people: a friendly team photo goes a long way.

Use real photos, not stock images, and add a few every month rather than twenty in one go.

Reviews help you rank and help people decide. Replying shows you care, and an unanswered review page looks like nobody’s home.

• Ask every customer, not just the ones you know are happy. Send your review link by text or put a QR code on your invoices.
• Never offer anything in return for a review. Google’s rules ban it.
• Reply to every review within a few days, good or bad. Thank people by name and mention the job where it fits naturally.

For more on getting reviews that actually help, read how to get more Google reviews.

You have 750 characters to say who you are, what you do and where. In my experience, a well-written description makes a big difference, and most of the ones I see are either a single line or stuffed with keywords.

The trick is to write it the way you’d describe your business to a customer, using the words they’d search for. If you fit composite doors and bifolds in Rayleigh and Hockley, say so in a normal sentence. Don’t just list “doors Rayleigh, windows Rayleigh, doors Hockley”.

• Lead with your main service and the area you cover.
• Name your key services in plain words, the way customers would search for them.
• Mention what makes you different: experience, guarantees, specialisms.
• Leave out links and special offers. Google doesn’t allow them in the description.
• Double-check your phone number, website and opening hours.

Open “Edit profile” and look under More. When I audit a profile, this section is almost always empty. These are the details people check before they visit or book, and they show on your profile.

• From the business: how the business identifies, for example women-owned, where it applies.
• Accessibility: wheelchair-accessible entrance, toilets and seating.
• Amenities: things like toilets, Wi-Fi or a waiting area.
• Children: whether you’re good for kids.
• Crowd: who you welcome, for example LGBTQ+ friendly.
• Parking: free, paid or on-street parking nearby.
• Planning: whether customers need an appointment.
• Service options: for example online appointments, on-site services or in-store pick-up.

The options you see depend on your category, so a café will see different ones from a plumber. Only tick what’s true.

Then add your social profiles. Under Contact, you can link your Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube and more. It shows customers you’re real and active, and ties your profile to the rest of your business online. Copy each link straight from your browser so there are no typos.

Many profiles I see haven’t had an update in months. Posts show Google and customers that you’re open, busy and active.

• Aim for one update a week or a fortnight.
• The easiest post is a recent job: a photo or a short video, what you did and the town. For example, “New composite door fitted in Hockley this week.”
• Shops can post new stock, seasonal offers and events.

Your profile and your website should back each other up. Google checks that the details match.

• Link your profile to the most relevant page on your site.
• Make sure your business name, address and phone number match exactly on both.
• If customers visit you, embed a Google map on your contact page so they can find you in one tap.