Search "plumber near me" on your phone and the first thing you see is not a website. It is three businesses on a map, each with a star rating, a photo and a phone number. For most local trades, that map pack is the front door - and the homepage is the hallway people only walk down if they are still unsure.
Fill in every field, then check it monthly
Categories, services, service area, hours, holiday hours, a real description written for a customer rather than for Google. Half the profiles we audit have a missing primary category or an old phone number. Google trusts a complete profile more, and so does the person deciding who to call at 7am.
Photograph the work, not the logo
Ten photos of finished jobs, your truck, and the people who show up at the door outperform a single logo tile every time. Add a few every month; profiles with recent photos get more calls and direction requests than profiles that went quiet after launch.
Post like a bulletin board, not a magazine
One short update a week is plenty: a job you just finished, a seasonal reminder, a new service area. Reply to every review, including the bad ones. The profile is part of every Growth and Partner care plan for exactly this reason - it is the highest-leverage ten minutes a local business can spend online.
