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The Google Business Profile checklist every trades business should run

Enrico Glingani · Updated 2 October 2026 · 5 min read

Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is the single most important thing you control for local traffic. But in my audits, most trades profiles are missing at least two of these. Each missing field is a search you are quietly not winning.

1. The right primary category

This is the biggest relevance signal on the profile. A plumber choosing "Plumber" as primary, rather than a vague general "Contractor", tells Google exactly which searches to rank you for. Choose the category that matches the work that pays the most.

2. Every relevant secondary category

Most trades only add one. If you fit bathrooms, repair boilers and do emergency callouts, each of those should be a secondary category. Every one is a different search intent you can show up for.

3. A full services list

Google asks about each of your services. List what you actually do, spelled the way customers search. "Emergency plumber", "boiler repair", "leak detection". Vague profiles lose to specific competitors.

4. A local phone number

Use a local area code number rather than a national call-centre number. Local numbers signal to Google and to customers that you are genuinely based nearby.

5. Matching NAP everywhere

Your name, address and phone number must match your website and directories exactly. Even "Road" vs "Rd" creates a mismatch Google has to resolve. Consistency builds trust, and trust ranks.

6. Photos updated regularly

Profiles with fresh photos of real recent jobs get more engagement, and engagement feeds prominence. Show the van, the team, the work. Businesses that look real get clicked.

Run this checklist every quarter

Your business changes, and so does the competition. A ten minute quarterly check that every field is still complete and consistent keeps you ahead of businesses that set it once and forgot it.