If you do nothing else for your contracting business this month, set up your Google Business Profile (GBP) properly. It’s free, it’s the highest-leverage marketing asset you have, and most contractors are using it wrong or not at all.
This is the step-by-step walkthrough. 30 minutes start to finish.
Why GBP matters more than your website
When a homeowner Googles “bathroom remodeler near me,” the first thing they see is the local pack: three businesses with photos, ratings, and a “Call” button. That’s GBP. Your website might rank below it, eventually. Your GBP shows up immediately.
Optimized profiles can lift monthly profile views by 200 to 500% and direct calls by 150 to 300%. The work to get there is mostly free and takes about half a day total.
Step 1: Create or claim your profile
Go to business.google.com and search for your business name. Three things can happen:
- Profile already exists, unclaimed: click “Claim this business.” Most likely scenario for any contractor with a few years of history.
- Profile already exists, someone else claimed it: happens occasionally with old listings. Google’s “Request Access” flow handles it; takes 7 days.
- No profile yet: click “Add your business to Google” and start fresh.
Step 2: Verify your business
Google offers verification by postcard, phone, email, or video. Postcard is the most common for contractors and takes 5 to 14 days. A code arrives in the mail; you enter it in your dashboard. Don’t skip this step. Unverified profiles don’t show up in the local pack.
Tip: while you wait for the postcard, you can still fill out everything else. Just don’t expect rankings until verification clears.
Step 3: Pick the right primary category
This is the single most-impactful field on your profile, and the place most contractors get it wrong.
Pick the most specific category that matches your main service. Examples:
- “Bathroom remodeler” beats “Remodeler” beats “Construction company”
- “HVAC contractor” beats “Heating contractor” or generic “Contractor”
- “Roofing contractor” beats “Construction company”
You can add up to 9 secondary categories. Use them for related services (e.g., a bathroom remodeler might add “Kitchen remodeler” and “General contractor”). But the primary category is what Google ranks you for, so pick it carefully.
Step 4: Service area or storefront?
Most contractors are “service-area businesses” (you go to the customer, not the other way around). Set this in the dashboard:
- Hide your address (don’t list a home address, ever)
- List the cities/zip codes you actually service. 5 to 15 is realistic. Don’t list 50 cities you don’t serve; Google will flag it.
If you have a real showroom or office customers visit, list it as a storefront with the address visible.
Step 5: Phone number, hours, website
Use a tracking number if you want call analytics, but make sure it’s listed identically everywhere your business shows up online (more on this in our NAP consistency guide).
Hours: list real hours. If you take after-hours calls, set “open 24 hours” with a note in the description that emergency calls are answered.
Step 6: Services list
Add every service you offer as a separate entry with a short description and price (or “varies” if you can’t list a real number). Don’t skip this. Google uses the services list to match you to long-tail searches like “shower install” or “tile reglaze.”
Examples for a bath remodeler: full bathroom remodel, walk-in shower install, tub-to-shower conversion, vanity install, tile work, plumbing fixture install, accessibility/aging-in-place upgrades.
Step 7: Photos (the part everyone underdoes)
Upload at least 25 photos to start. Mix:
- 5 to 10 finished-job photos (the money shots)
- 5 in-progress photos (shows you actually do the work)
- 3 to 5 team/crew photos (humanizes the business)
- 1 logo, 1 cover photo
- Truck/equipment photos (legitimacy signals)
Plan to add 2 to 5 new photos every week from job sites. Profiles that get fresh photos rank higher than profiles that don’t. We have a separate guide on how to take better job-site photos.
Step 8: Write a description
750 characters max. Write it like a contractor talking to a homeowner, not marketing copy. Cover: what you do, where you do it, how long you’ve been in business, what makes you different. Skip the buzzwords (“premier,” “leading,” “excellence”).
Step 9: Q&A (most contractors skip this)
Anyone can ask a question on your profile. If you don’t answer, the question hangs there forever, sometimes with wrong answers from random Google users.
Pre-seed your own Q&A with the questions homeowners actually ask:
- “Do you offer financing?”
- “What areas do you service?”
- “Are you licensed and insured?”
- “Do you do free estimates?”
- “How long does a typical bathroom remodel take?”
Ask the question from a personal Google account, then answer it from the business profile. Yes, it’s a little weird. Yes, every successful local business does it.
Step 10: Turn on messaging
Google now offers chat directly from the profile. Turn it on. Set up an autoresponder so customers don’t sit waiting. Even a simple “Got it, we’ll text back within 30 minutes” saves leads.
What to do after setup
The setup is one-time. The maintenance is forever:
- Weekly: add 2 to 5 new photos, post a Google Post (offer, project, tip).
- After every job: request a review. We have a guide on getting your first 50 reviews.
- Daily: check messages, answer Q&A, respond to new reviews (good and bad).
The single mistake that kills GBPs
Setting it up and forgetting it. Google’s algorithm rewards active profiles and demotes dormant ones. A profile with fresh photos, fresh posts, and recent reviews will outrank a more-established business that hasn’t touched their profile in 6 months.
30 minutes to set up. 10 minutes a week to maintain. The most underpriced marketing channel in 2026.