For most service businesses, Google Business Profile generates more leads than any other channel. More than your website. More than paid ads. More than Yelp, Nextdoor, or Angi combined.
When someone searches "[service] near me," Google shows three listings before anything else. If you're in that top three, you get the call. If not, your competitor does.
1. Are all your services listed?
Go to your profile → Edit → Services.
Most contractors list 3–5 services and never touch it again. But Google uses your listed services to match you with searches. If you do slab leak repair but it's not listed, you won't show up when someone searches "slab leak repair near me."
What to do: List every service you perform. Be specific. Don't just put "plumbing" — put water heater installation, drain cleaning, slab leak detection, repiping, garbage disposal repair. Each one is a search query someone is typing right now.
Takes 10 minutes. Does more for your visibility than a month of social media.
2. When was your last review?
Scroll to your reviews. Look at the date of the most recent one.
If it's been more than two weeks, you have a recency problem. Google weights recent reviews heavily. 150 reviews from last year ranks lower than 80 reviews with 2–3 new ones every week.
What to do: After every completed job, send a text with a direct link to your Google review page. Not email — text. Conversion rate on text-based review requests is 3–5x higher than email.
The formula: finish the job → same-day text → "Thanks for choosing us. If you have a minute, a Google review helps us a lot: [link]."
3. Are your photos recent and real?
Click on your profile photos. How many? When uploaded? Real work or stock images?
Google rewards profiles with recent, original photos. Profiles with 100+ photos get 520% more calls than profiles with fewer than 5, according to Google's own data. That's not a typo.
What to do: Take a photo of every job before you leave. Upload 2–3/week. Real photos build trust. Stock photos scream "we're hiding something."
4. Is your business description doing any work?
Most descriptions: "Family-owned business serving Orange County for 20 years. We pride ourselves on quality work and customer satisfaction." That tells the searcher nothing.
What to do: Write it like you're talking to a homeowner who just had a pipe burst:
Include your city, your main services, and one thing that makes you different.
5. Are you responding to anything?
Google tracks responsiveness. Businesses that respond to reviews, answer questions, and reply to messages signal they're active.
What to do:
- Reply to every review — even 5-star ones. "Thanks, [name] — glad we could help" takes 10 seconds.
- Answer every Q&A. Unanswered = Google might pull an answer from elsewhere.
- If messages are on, respond within a few hours. If you can't commit, turn them off.
The 5-minute audit
If you checked all five, your profile is in better shape than 90% of your competitors. If you missed two or more, you're probably losing calls every week without knowing.
The good news: every one of these is fixable in a single afternoon.
Want us to do a full audit of your Google listing — including where you rank vs. competitors in the map pack? Book a 30-minute call. We'll pull it up live and show you where you stand.
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