Google Business Profile vs Website for UK Tradespeople

What does a Google Business Profile do for a tradesperson?

It decides whether you appear when someone nearby searches for a plumber, an electrician or a mobile mechanic. In its Business Profile help, Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity (the page later calls the third factor prominence). Relevance is how well a profile matches the search. Distance is how far the business is from the person searching. Prominence is how well known the business is.

Google's help page gives the owner two levers. The first is completeness: it says businesses with complete and accurate information are more likely to show up in local results. The second is reviews: it says more reviews and positive ratings can help a business's local ranking, and that helpful replies help it stand out.

Google states on the same page that there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. Anyone selling you a guaranteed position in the map results is selling something Google says does not exist.

What can a website do that a profile cannot?

Google's ranking page mentions websites in one place: prominence draws on signals such as how many websites link to a business. That tells you a site supports your standing. It does not tell you the site is where the customer decides. A profile has a short description and a handful of photos. A website can hold the detail a worried homeowner wants before letting a stranger in.

• A page for each job you want more of, such as boiler servicing, consumer unit replacement or mobile brake repair, written in the words customers use.
• The towns and postcode areas you cover, listed plainly.
• Photos of your own finished work, with a line about what the job was.
• Your accreditations and insurance, stated with the registration details a customer can check.
• A short quote form that records the enquiry somewhere you control.

How should a home-based tradesperson set up the address?

Google's guidelines for representing a business say that a service-area business should hide its address from customers, and they use a plumber working from home as the example. The guidelines add that a service area should not extend farther than about two hours of driving time from the base, although some businesses may justify a larger area.

The same guidelines set rules that a website helps you meet:

• The business name should match the real-world name used on signage, website and stationery. Taglines, phone numbers, URLs and service details do not belong in it.
• Give a phone number tied to your business, or a website that represents it. Google says the number must be under the direct control of the business and prefers a local number to a call centre line.
• Do not use numbers or URLs that redirect customers to a different business.

Use the same name, number and service area on the profile, the website and any directory listing. A mismatch is the easiest mistake to avoid and the hardest to spot after a few years.