Your Google Profile Has a Services Section. Is Yours Empty?
I had a look at a plumber’s Google profile the other week. A good one, based near Bingham, years in the trade, loads of reviews. And under “Services” there was one line. Just the word “Plumber”.
He does boiler servicing, leak repairs, bathroom fits, power flushing, the lot. None of it was written down. So if somebody in Nottingham searched for “boiler service”, Google had nothing to go on except the word “plumber” and a hunch.
That’s a very common mistake people make. People fill in the name, the phone number and the opening hours, tick the box, and never come back to the bit that actually tells Google (and customers) what you do.
Where to find it
Open your profile and tap Edit profile. You’ll see tabs or sections for Services and, depending on your type of business, Products. They’re easy to miss because Google doesn’t nag you about them the way it nags about bank holiday hours.
Services: the one that matters most for most of us
This is a list of the individual jobs you do. Not your category, the actual jobs. A dog groomer might add “full groom”, “puppy first groom”, “de-matting”, “nail clipping”. A bookkeeper in Radcliffe on Trent might add “VAT returns”, “payroll”, “year end accounts”, “catching up on a shoebox of receipts”.
You can give each one a short description and, for some businesses, a price. I’d say write them the way a customer would say them out loud. Nobody searches for “domestic heating system maintenance”. They search for “boiler service”. Use their words, not the trade’s words.
And be specific where you can. “Gutter cleaning” beats “exterior maintenance” every time.
Products: not just for shops
If you sell things, add them. Photos, a name, a price, a link. But I think this is also useful for businesses that sell packages. A photographer around Newark can list “mini family session” and “newborn package” as products with a starting price. A caterer can list “buffet for 20”. It gives people something concrete to click on, and a starting price saves you a pile of “how much do you charge?” messages.
If you really don’t want to publish prices, say “from” a figure, or leave the price off and say what’s included instead. Either is fine. Empty is the only bad option.
Why Google and AI tools care
Google uses this list to decide which searches to show you for. When it’s filled in properly, you can turn up for the smaller, more specific searches. “Boiler service Bottesford” rather than only “plumber near me”. Those smaller searches are often the ones where somebody’s ready to book.
And it isn’t only Google. AI assistants pull from your profile too, and they like clear, plain facts. A tidy list of what you do and roughly what it costs is exactly the sort of thing they can pick up and repeat when someone asks for a recommendation. A one-word entry gives them nothing to repeat.
A few things I’d avoid
Don’t cram in services you don’t really offer just because they get searched a lot. It confuses customers, and you’ll end up with enquiries you don’t want.
Don’t copy and paste the same sentence for every service. Write a line or two each, in your own voice, like you’d explain it to someone on the phone.
And don’t stuff every village in Nottinghamshire into the descriptions. One or two where it’s natural, such as “we cover Cropwell Bishop, Aslockton and Orston”, is plenty.
Twenty minutes, once
Sit down with a cuppa and write out every job you’ve done in the last year. That’s your list. Add the ten or so that bring in the most money, give each a line of description, and add a starting price where you’re comfortable. Then check it on your phone, because that’s where most people will see it.
Then every few months, when you start offering something new, add it. That’s the whole job.
If you’d like a second pair of eyes on yours, message me. As part of a free visibility check I’ll look at what Google, Bing and the AI tools say you do, and tell you what’s missing.
