The bare necessities

It's the box that pops up on the right side of Google when someone searches your business name — with your phone, hours, photos, reviews, and directions.

For most local businesses this is the #1 source of new customer calls. If it's missing or wrong, people call the next business on the list.

• Claim it (search your business on Google → 'Own this business?').
• Fill in every field: hours, services, service area, website, phone.
• Add 5–10 real photos (storefront, team, work you've done).
• Post an update once a month so it looks alive.

Star ratings and written reviews on Google, Facebook, Yelp, and industry sites (Houzz, Angi, etc.). People read them before they call.

A jump from 3.5 to 4.5 stars can double the calls you get from the same number of searches. Recency matters — reviews from 2 years ago don't count for much.

• Ask every happy customer, in person or by text, right when the work is done.
• Send them a direct link (Google gives you one from your profile).
• Reply to every review — even the bad ones. A calm reply tells future customers how you handle problems.

A basic website with who you are, what you do, where you work, how to reach you, and a few photos. It doesn't need to be fancy.

It's the only place online where you fully control the message. Google also uses it to decide whether to show you in local search.

• Make sure your phone number is at the top of every page and clickable on mobile.
• List the towns/neighborhoods you serve by name.
• Add a short 'About' with a real photo — not a stock one.
• Include a contact form that emails you (don't rely only on the phone).

Over 70% of local searches happen on a phone. If your site is squished, slow, or you have to pinch to zoom, people leave.

Google explicitly ranks slow and non-mobile sites lower. And every extra second of load time roughly cuts calls in half.

• Open your site on your own phone. Can you tap the phone number without zooming? Can you read the text?
• Compress big photos before uploading (free tools: tinypng.com).
• Avoid auto-playing video on the home page.

SEO = Search Engine Optimization. For local businesses it's mostly three things: a complete Google profile, consistent name/address/phone across the web, and reviews.

The top 3 results in the Google map pack get roughly 75% of all clicks. Being on page 2 is close to being invisible.

• Make sure your business name, address, and phone are identical everywhere (website, Google, Facebook, Yelp).
• Add your service area to your Google profile.
• Get one new review a month, minimum.
• Write short pages for each main service you offer — one page per service beats one page listing everything.

Before/after shots, finished jobs, your team on-site, your truck, your storefront.

Photos are the #1 thing people look at on a Google profile. Listings with 10+ photos get roughly twice the calls of listings with none.

• Take 3 phone photos on every job (before, during, after).
• Upload them to your Google profile monthly.
• Ask for permission if the customer or their house is visible.

The average customer calls 2–3 businesses. Whoever picks up first (or replies to a form within an hour) usually wins.

You can rank #1 on Google and still lose every job if calls go to voicemail during the day.

• Turn on 'Messages' in your Google Business Profile if you can reply within a few hours.
• Set up a simple text auto-reply: 'Got your message, I'll call back within 2 hours.'
• Check your website contact form once a day — not once a week.

For most trades and local services, that's Facebook or Instagram. Pick the one your customers actually use.

A dormant social page (last post from 2022) actively hurts trust. Better to have none than a dead one.

• Post once a week: a finished job, a tip, a team photo. Doesn't need to be polished.
• Cross-post the same content to Google Business Profile posts.
• If you can't commit to weekly, delete or hide the page.

An email list, a text list, or even just a spreadsheet of past customers you check in with 2–3 times a year.

It costs roughly 5x more to get a new customer than to bring an old one back. Repeat and referral work is the cheapest work you'll ever do.

• Save every customer's email + phone in one place.
• Send a short seasonal check-in (spring tune-up, holiday hours, etc.).
• Ask for a referral in that email — most people will help if you ask.

License number, insurance, years in business, badges from real associations, a physical address, a photo of a real human.

Home services and B2B customers are cautious. A generic-looking site with no proof triggers 'is this real?' — and they call the next result.

• Put your license/insurance info in the footer of every page.
• Add a headshot on the About page.
• If you're on BBB, Angi, or an industry association, add the logo.