The services list is the part of a Google Business Profile most owners fill in once and never look at again. It is also one of the clearest ways to say what you actually do. Google reads it. People read it. A list that matches real jobs brings you the calls you want, and a bloated list brings you the calls you dread.
Start with the category, then the services
Your primary category does the heavy lifting. Google's own help pages say to choose the category that best describes the core of your business, not every category you could argue for. Services sit underneath that. They add detail. They do not replace the category.
So set the primary category first. Add an extra category only if you truly run that line of work. Then build your services list under them.
In our experience across 2,300+ profiles, the owners who get this backwards pick ten categories and two services. The profile ends up looking like a business that does everything and is best at nothing.
Name each service the way a customer would say it
Google suggests a set of services based on your category. Those suggestions are a fine starting point. They are written for everyone, though, not for your town and not for your phone.
Think about the words that come out of a customer's mouth. Nobody calls and asks for hydro jetting remediation. They say the kitchen drain is backing up. Where Google lets you add your own service, use the plain words.
- Write what the job is called, not what the industry calls it.
- Keep each name short enough to read at a glance.
- Skip the slogans. Fast and friendly is not a service.
- Put no phone numbers or web addresses in a service name.
Cut the services you do not actually want
This is the part that feels wrong and works. Every line on that list is an invitation. If you list the job you hate, or the one you only do as a favour for a neighbour, you will get called for it.
Google's guidelines are also clear that your profile has to represent your real business. Listing work you do not do puts the listing itself at risk. It puts your week at risk too.
Go down the list and ask two questions about each line. Do I do this? Do I want more of it? If either answer is no, take it off.
Add a short description to the ones that pay the bills
You can add a description to a service. Most owners leave every one of them blank. Fill in the three or four services that make you the most money and leave the rest alone.
Keep it to a couple of plain sentences. What the job includes. Roughly how long it takes. The one thing every customer asks about before they book. That is enough, and it answers the question before someone has to call to ask it.
Do not promise anything you cannot deliver every time. A description is a quiet promise, and the review you get afterwards is the receipt.
Let your reviews and photos back up the list
This is where the Local Guide Method does the work for you. Your services list is you telling Google what you do. A review that says they replaced our water heater in one afternoon is a customer telling Google the same thing, in their own words, without you writing a line. That is your customers doing your SEO for you.
So line the two up. When somebody books one of your main services, ask them for a review and ask them to mention the job itself. Then add a photo of that job to your profile the same week. Over a few months your profile starts saying the same thing in three places at once: the service name, the photos, and the words of real customers.
If you are not sure what your profile is telling Google right now, a free profile audit will show you what is in there and what is missing.
Do this in the next twenty minutes
- Open your profile from Google Search or Maps, choose Edit profile, and find the services section.
- Check that your primary category is the one thing you want to be known for.
- Delete every service you do not do or do not want more of.
- Rename anything written in industry language.
- Write two plain sentences for your top three money makers.
- Pick one of those three and ask this week's customer for a review that names it.
Twenty minutes today. Then look again in ninety days and see which calls changed.
Idea spark: Chris Koerner and guest Frey Chu on The Koerner Office podcast.
Quick answers
- Do services change which searches I show up in?
- Your primary category does most of that work. Services add detail and help the right customer recognise the job they need, but they do not replace a correct category, real reviews and current photos.
- How many services should I list?
- List the ones you really do and want more of. Ten clear services beat sixty vague ones, and a shorter list makes your main work obvious.
- What if the service I do is not in Google's suggested list?
- Most categories let you add your own service. Add it using the plain words a customer would say on the phone.
- Should I write a description for every service?
- No. Write one for the three or four services that make you the most money and leave the rest blank.