If you run a trade in Westmoreland County, your Google Business Profile is doing more selling than your website. When someone in North Huntingdon searches “furnace repair near me” at nine at night, the three businesses that show up in the map box get the calls. The website matters, but the profile is what gets you into that box. Most tradesmen set it up once, years ago, and never open it again. Here is how to do it properly.
Claim it, then verify it, even if that means waiting for a postcard
Search your business name on Google Maps. If a listing exists, claim it. If it does not, create one at business.google.com. Verification is usually a postcard, sometimes a video call where you show your truck and your tools. Do not skip it and do not pay anyone who says they can do it for you faster. An unverified profile cannot be edited and does not rank.
Pick the primary category like it matters, because it does
The primary category is the single biggest lever in the whole profile. “HVAC contractor” and “Heating contractor” are different categories and they rank for different searches. A roofer should be “Roofing contractor,” not “Contractor.” An electrician who does mostly residential service is “Electrician,” not “Electrical installation service.” Pick the one that matches what most of your calls are for. Add two or three secondary categories for the rest, and stop there.
Decide if you are a storefront or a service area business
If customers come to you, show the address. If you go to them, which is most trades, set it up as a service area business and hide the address. Google will still know where you are based. Then list the places you actually work. For most of the county that means Hempfield Township, Greensburg, Latrobe, Murrysville, North Huntingdon, Penn Township, Lower Burrell and New Kensington. Do not list Pittsburgh if you will not drive there on a Tuesday. Google notices when your reviews all come from one place and your service area claims another.
Fill in the services, one line each
There is a services section most people never open. Put every service in it as a short line, the way a customer would say it. “Furnace repair.” “AC installation.” “Water heater replacement.” “Panel upgrade.” You can add a rough price to each one. Most contractors leave that blank and that is fine, but a service call fee listed there stops a lot of tire kickers before they ring.
Photos of your work, your truck and your face
Stock photos are worse than no photos. Google can tell, and so can a homeowner in Murrysville deciding whether to let you in. Post the real truck, the real crew, a finished job with the homeowner’s permission, and one photo of you. Then keep adding one or two a month. A profile with recent photos outperforms one that has not changed since 2019.
Hours, including the honest version of emergency hours
If you answer at two in the morning for no heat in January, say so under “more hours” and in the description. If you do not, do not claim it. The fastest way to earn a one star review is to advertise 24 hour service and then send a call to voicemail.
Reviews: ask at the right moment and answer every one
The right moment is when the job is done and the homeowner is standing there relieved. Not a week later by email. Have the review link ready as a QR code on the invoice or a text you send from the driveway. Then reply to every review, the good and the bad, in one or two plain sentences. People read the replies to see who they are dealing with.
Never buy reviews and never trade them with other contractors. Google’s filters for that got much better this year, and the penalty is a suspended profile, which for a service business is the same as being closed.
Do not put keywords in your business name
“Smith Plumbing” is your name. “Smith Plumbing Greensburg Emergency Plumber Water Heater” is a guideline violation. It works for a while, then somebody reports it and the profile gets suspended. Use your real name as it appears on the truck.
Post something once a month
Google Posts are short updates that sit on the profile. Nobody reads them like a blog, but an active profile ranks better than a dormant one. A photo of a job and two sentences is enough. Set a reminder for the first of the month.
Make the website agree with the profile
Name, address and phone number on the website must match the profile exactly. Same phone format, same suite number, same spelling. Then make sure the website says what the profile says. If the profile is “Roofing contractor” serving Latrobe and Greensburg, the website should have a page that says the same thing in plain language, because Google reads both and trusts them more when they agree.
That is the whole setup. It takes an afternoon the first time and about twenty minutes a month afterwards. If you would rather have someone do the afternoon and hand you the twenty minute routine, that is a normal part of how we set up a site.