If you run a construction business, you do not need more “marketing”. You need the phone to ring with the right kind of work – not tyre-kickers, not postcode time-wasters, not people who want a full day’s thinking for free.
For most local construction firms, Google Business Profile is the quickest way to get visible where decisions are made: in the map pack, on mobile, with a customer stood in a driveway comparing three companies. But a lot of profiles are half-finished, inconsistent, or quietly working against the business. Google reads that as low confidence. Prospects read it as “small-time”.
This is a practical guide on how to optimise Google Business Profile so it ranks stronger locally and converts into enquiries you actually want.
Google Business Profile (GBP) is not a social profile. It is not a brochure. It is a local trust asset.
Google is trying to answer one question: “Which business should I show for this search, in this area, right now?” Your profile is a bundle of evidence: who you are, where you operate, what you do, how real your business is, and whether customers back it up.
Your job is to make that evidence unarguable – and to remove anything that confuses the algorithm or the customer.
Most profiles look “done” because they have a logo, opening hours and a few photos. That is not optimisation. That is paperwork.
Use your real-world trading name – no keyword stuffing. “Thornton & Sons Groundworks” is fine. “Best Groundworks Edinburgh Cheap” is a fast route to suspensions and a slow route to trust.
Your address and phone number must match what is on your website and anywhere else you’re listed. If you have moved yard, changed number, or have old directory listings floating about, Google sees conflicting data. Conflicting data means weaker confidence. Weaker confidence means weaker rankings.
If you serve customers at their location and do not want your address shown, set the profile as a service-area business and hide the address. Do not try to play both sides.
Your primary category is one of the strongest ranking inputs you control. Pick the category that most closely matches the core service that makes you money.
A common mistake is choosing something vague because it feels “safe”. It is not safe – it is invisible. If you specialise (say, roofing, extensions, drainage, joinery), your primary category should reflect that, with secondary categories supporting it.
It depends on your business model. If 70% of your revenue is extensions and refurbishments, do not lead with “General contractor” just because you occasionally do other work.
GBP lets you add services. This is not a place to dump every keyword you can think of. Add your real services, written in plain English a customer would recognise.
Make sure the services align with what is on the website. If your profile claims “commercial fit-outs” but the website only shows domestic bathrooms, you have a credibility gap. Customers feel it. Google picks up the mismatch.
Your business description is not a space for fluff. Use it to set expectations and qualify leads.
A strong description does three jobs: it states what you do, where you do it, and what makes you a safe choice. If you want better work, say so. If you focus on quality and professionalism, make that the tone.
Avoid fake claims like “best in Scotland” or “number one”. They do nothing for trust and they can get flagged.
Photos are not decoration. They are proof.
If your profile has three grainy jobsite shots from 2019, you look like you are barely operating. Add a steady stream of clear images that show workmanship and scale.
You want a mix that answers real buyer questions: What standard do they work to? Are they tidy? Do they do larger jobs? Are they organised? Do they have proper kit? Do they finish well?
Include:
If you have a high-value service, invest in a half-day of professional photography. It pays for itself when it stops you looking like everyone else.
Reviews are a ranking factor, but more importantly they are a conversion factor. For construction, they are also risk reduction. A commercial client is not just buying a job – they are buying a relationship, deadlines, communication and problem-solving.
“Can you leave us a review?” gets you: “Great job, thanks.” Nice, but weak.
Ask for specifics. Prompt the customer with one or two things you want mentioned, like reliability, cleanliness, communication, or sticking to the quote. The best reviews read like a mini case study.
Replying is not optional if you want to look serious. Keep it professional, personal, and brief. Thank them, mention the job type, and reinforce your standards.
For negative reviews, do not argue in public. Respond calmly, state you take it seriously, and invite them to speak offline. Sometimes the review is unfair. Sometimes it is a warning sign about your process. Either way, future customers are judging how you handle pressure.
GBP posts are not going to transform rankings on their own, but they can support freshness and improve conversion. The big win is showing you are active and showing the type of work you want more of.
Post completed projects with a short explanation: what you did, roughly where (no need for full addresses), and a practical detail that signals competence. “Drainage run replaced and rodded, access chamber installed, site left clean” beats “Another happy customer!” every time.
GBP has a Q&A section. Anyone can ask questions, and anyone can answer.
If you ignore it, you are letting the public write your sales script. Seed it with the questions you get all the time and answer them clearly. Think like a customer who is comparing options quickly:
Do you cover my area? Do you provide written quotes? Are you insured? How far ahead are you booked? Do you handle building control or structural work (if relevant)?
This is also where you can politely set boundaries. If you do not do “cash jobs” or you have minimum job sizes, you can steer expectations without sounding defensive.
If you operate across multiple towns, set your service areas. But do not add half the country because you might travel.
Google expects service areas to be realistic for your base and your trade. Overreaching can dilute relevance. Better to be dominant in the areas you truly want than mediocre everywhere.
For businesses covering Central Scotland, for example, it may make sense to focus on the patch where you can actually deliver consistently without stretching teams thin.
GBP provides performance data: calls, website clicks, direction requests, message starts. Useful, but you must interpret it properly.
Direction requests can spike from curiosity with no intent. Calls are usually stronger. Website clicks can be excellent if your website converts. The real measure is enquiry quality and job value, not raw activity.
If you are getting lots of calls but they are all price shoppers, that’s not a “lead volume” problem. It is a positioning problem. Your photos, description, services and reviews might be signalling “cheap and cheerful” even if that’s not who you are.
A few issues show up repeatedly when we audit profiles for established firms:
Keyword-stuffed business names. Wrong categories. Old phone numbers. Duplicate listings. No review replies. Photos that make a good company look average. Services that do not match the website. And the big one – a profile that has never been treated as an asset, just a set-and-forget listing.
None of this is complicated. But it does require someone senior to care about it, because it directly affects the type of work you attract.
If you are doing £1M to £5M+ turnover, your time is better spent running the business than fiddling with profiles and chasing consistency across the web.
The moment GBP becomes a lever for predictable enquiries, it needs to be managed like any other performance channel: checked, improved, measured, and aligned with the kind of contracts you want. If you want that handled by a direct-to-expert team (no account managers, no scripts), you can look at Wicked Spider®.
The most useful way to think about your Google Business Profile is this: it is often the first serious impression of your company. Make it look like the business you’ve actually built – and it will start attracting customers who respect it.
