Google Business Profile for an Ottawa service business: the first month, step by step

For a plumber, a painter, a mover or a renovation company in Ottawa, the Google Business Profile is often the first thing a customer sees: the map pack, the reviews and the call button come before the website. Here is a practical plan for the first month of a new or neglected profile.

Week 1: claim and complete

• Claim or verify the profile with the business's own Google account, and add a second manager so access does not depend on one person.
• Choose the most specific primary category, then add secondary categories for each service you really offer.
• If you work at customers' homes and have no shop, set it up as a service-area business, hide the address and list the areas you serve.
• Write the description in plain words: what you do, for whom, in which parts of Ottawa, and since when.
• Add hours, the phone number and the website link. Use exactly the same name, address and phone as on your website.

Week 2: photos and services

• Upload photos of real jobs: before and after, the crew at work, the vehicle with the logo. Phone photos are fine.
• Fill in the services list with a short description for each service.
• If you have a request form or a quote quiz, use it as the appointment link so people can send a request straight from the profile.

Week 3: reviews

Reviews are the part most small businesses skip. Ask every customer whose job you finished this month, on the day you finish, with a direct review link sent by text. Reply to every review, the good ones and the critical ones, with a short, specific answer.

Week 4: the website and citations

The profile and the website support each other. Check that the website has a page for each service the profile lists, that the address and phone match, and that the business appears with the same details in the main Canadian directories. The method is covered in more detail in this guide to local SEO for small business.

What to check every week after that

• New reviews, and replies to them.
• Calls, direction requests and website clicks in the profile's performance view.
• Photos and questions added by the public.
• One new post with a recent job.

If your website is the weak point and you are not sure what fixing it would take, the website cost estimate from Marketing MIX, a studio in Ottawa, asks a few questions about your business and the site you need and gives a written estimate.