Your Google Business Profile is verified, the address and hours are right, and the phone number works. Then you open the editing screen again and notice the sections you skipped: services, products, posts, photos. They look optional, and in a sense they are. But they are also where a stranger decides whether you do the thing they need.
This post is about filling those sections in well. If you have not set the profile up yet, start with how to set up a Google Business Profile, which covers creating, verifying and completing the basics. Here we pick up after that.
What each section is actually for
It helps to know what job each part does before writing anything.
- Services tell people, in your words, what work you take on. Google may offer a list of standard services that match your category, and you can usually add your own.
- Products show individual items you sell, with a name, a photo, a short description and, if you choose, a price. They suit shops, bakeries, nurseries, showrooms and anyone selling physical things.
- Posts are short updates that appear on your profile: news, an offer, an event, a change to how you work.
- Photos show the premises, the team and, most usefully, the work itself.
Not every business sees every option. Which sections appear can depend on your business category and the country you are in, and Google changes the layout from time to time. If something described here is missing from your screen, that is usually why, not a fault in your profile.
Writing service descriptions people can use
The common mistake is to treat the services list as a place to repeat search phrases. You will see profiles with entries like “best AC repair, AC repair near me, cheap AC repair, AC service” one after another. It reads badly to a customer, and Google’s guidelines for business information ask for accurate, honest content rather than keyword lists. It is not worth the risk to a profile you rely on.
A better approach is to write each service the way you would explain it on the phone.
- Name it the way customers say it. “Split AC gas refill” is clearer than “Refrigerant replenishment solutions”.
- Say what is included. One or two sentences: what you do, what you bring, roughly how the job goes.
- Mention the limits. If you only do residential work, or do not handle a particular brand, say so. It saves you calls you cannot take.
- Add a price only if it is real. A “from” price you actually charge is useful. A price you never honour leads to awkward calls and poor reviews.
A plain example: “Kitchen tap replacement. We remove the old tap, fit a new one you have bought or one we supply, and check for leaks before leaving. Most jobs are done in a single visit.” No adjectives, no keyword stacking, and the reader knows what happens.
Keep the services list in step with your website. If the profile offers a service that your site never mentions, or the other way round, people notice. The same goes for names: a service called one thing on the profile and something else on your services page makes you look less organised than you are.
Products, if you sell things
For a shop, the products section works like a small window display. You do not need your whole stock in it. Pick the items people most often ask about, the ones that bring them through the door, and a few that show your range.
For each product:
- Use a clear photo you took yourself, on a plain background if you can. A real photo of the item on your shelf is better than the manufacturer’s picture that every other seller uses.
- Give it the name customers use, plus a size, colour or variety if it matters.
- Write a sentence or two on what it is and who it suits.
- Only show a price you will keep up to date. If prices change often, it may be better to leave the price off and say “ask in store”.
If you run an online shop as well, link products to the matching page on your website where the option is offered. Someone who has seen the item on your profile should land on that item, not on your homepage.
Posts, updates and offers
Posts are the part of the profile most likely to be ignored after the first week. They are also the easiest way to show a customer that the business is open and active right now.
Good reasons to post:
- A genuine offer, with its real end date and any conditions in plain words.
- New stock, a new service or a new area you cover.
- A finished job you are proud of, with a photo and a line about what was done.
- Practical news: a temporary change of hours, a new phone line, a move.
- An event, such as an open day, a workshop or a stall at a local fair.
Keep posts short and specific. Use a real photo. Add a button or link only if it goes somewhere useful, such as the matching page on your website or your contact page.
Avoid offers that are not true, invented urgency (“today only!” every week) or posts that are nothing but a phone number. Google has content rules for posts, and posts that break them can be removed. More to the point, customers learn to ignore them.
There is no magic posting schedule. Posting when you have something real to say is better than a forced weekly post that says nothing. If you want a routine, tie it to something that already happens, such as photographing a finished job before you leave the site.
Photos of the work itself
People choosing a local business want to see what they will get. For most trades and services, the most persuasive photos are of finished work: the fitted kitchen, the cleaned sofa, the repaired wall, the cake on the counter.
- Take them on your phone, in good light. Daylight is kinder than a single ceiling bulb.
- Show the outside of the premises if customers visit, so they recognise it when they arrive.
- Include the team if they are comfortable with it. Ask first.
- Ask customers before photographing their homes and leave out anything that identifies them, such as house numbers or faces.
- Skip stock images. They tell the viewer nothing about you.
Customers can add photos to your profile too, and you cannot control all of them. The best answer to an unflattering customer photo is a steady supply of good, recent ones of your own.
Keeping it current
A profile drifts out of date quietly. A service you stopped offering stays listed. A product sells out for good. An offer from last season is still the newest post. None of these break anything, but each makes the profile a little less trustworthy.
A simple habit helps. Once a month, open the profile and check:
- Is every listed service still something you do?
- Are product prices and availability still right?
- Is the newest post recent and still true?
- Have customers added photos, and do you need to add better ones of your own?
- Has anyone proposed a change to your details? If so, see what to do about suggested edits.
While you are there, compare the profile with your website. The name, address, phone number and services should agree in both places. Name, address and phone consistency explains why that matters and how to find mismatches elsewhere online.
These sections are one part of a wider picture: being found, being chosen and being easy to contact. Getting local customers online sets out how they fit together.
If you would rather not do it yourself
Filling these sections in properly takes an afternoon, and keeping them fresh takes a few minutes a month. Most owners can do it. If you would rather hand it over, our Google Business Profile setup service covers writing services and products, adding photos and planning posts, alongside the basic setup.
Next in this series: Reading Google Business Profile Performance Numbers
