Google Business Profile management is the ongoing work of keeping your Google listing accurate, active and answered. Setting up the profile is a one-off job. Managing it is the weekly bit most busy tradies don't get to. Here's what it involves, how long it takes, and the three ways to get it done.
- Managing a profile means asking for reviews, replying to them, posting, adding photos, keeping your details right and keeping an eye on competitors.
- Done by hand, it's roughly an hour or two a week for a small business. Little and often beats a big catch-up.
- You can do it yourself, pay an agency or use an app. Each has trade-offs.
- Whatever you choose, nobody can guarantee where you'll rank on Google.
What Google Business Profile management involves
Here's the weekly work, in rough order of importance.
Reviews
Review management is the biggest part. It has two halves: getting new reviews and replying to them.
Getting reviews means asking every customer after the job, the same way, with a direct link. Google's rules don't allow offering anything in return, or only asking the customers you think are happy. Our guide on how to get more Google reviews has the details.
Replies
Every review deserves a reply. Thank happy customers by name and mention the job. For a bad review, stay calm, don't argue the details and invite them to get in touch. Good Google review management means no review sits unanswered for weeks. See how to respond to Google reviews for templates.
Posts
Posts show up as "Updates" on your profile. A short post every week or two, with a job photo and a line about it, shows you're busy and active.
Photos
Add real job photos regularly. Before-and-after shots work well. Leave out customers' faces, house numbers and anything private.
Keeping your details right
Check your hours (especially around public holidays), phone, website, services and description every so often. Google also lets the public suggest edits to your profile, so it's worth checking nothing has been changed without you noticing.
Watching competitors
Once a month, search your main service on Google Maps from a few spots in your area. Who's in the top three? Are they getting more reviews than you? Our Google Maps competitor analysis guide shows how to compare.
How long does it take?
For a small trade business, a rough guide:
| Task | How often | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Ask customers for reviews | After every job | A minute each |
| Reply to reviews | As they come in | A few minutes each |
| Write a post | Every week or two | 10 minutes |
| Add photos | Every week or two | 5 minutes |
| Check details | Monthly | 10 minutes |
| Check competitors | Monthly | 20 to 30 minutes |
That's not a lot on paper. The problem is it's always the thing that gets pushed to "tonight" or "the weekend", and then it doesn't happen.
Your three options
1. Do it yourself
Good: free, and nobody knows your work better than you.
Not so good: it relies on you remembering, at the end of a long day. Most people start strong and drift off after a few weeks.
Pick the same ten minutes each week, like Friday arvo before you knock off. Reply to reviews, add a photo, write a post. Done.
2. Pay an agency
Good: someone else does the work, and a good agency will also help with your website and wider marketing.
Not so good: it's usually the dearest option. Pricing is quote-based and varies a lot, so ask exactly what's included each month. Check who writes your review replies and how quickly. Be wary of anyone who promises a guaranteed ranking, because nobody can.
3. Use an app
Good: much cheaper than an agency, and it does the repetitive parts for you, so the work actually gets done.
Not so good: an app can't take your photos for you, and you still need to check what it writes now and then.
Let your Google profile look after itself
ReviewRank asks for reviews, writes your replies and keeps your profile active, for $29 a month. Try it free for 14 days.
How ReviewRank's auto-pilot manages your profile
ReviewRank is an app made in Adelaide for Australian tradies. It handles the weekly jobs above, and auto-pilot is one switch that lets it do the safe ones on its own.
What ReviewRank does for you:
- Asks for reviews. Tap Job done, add the customer's first name and mobile, and they get a short text with a link straight to your Google review box. One polite reminder goes 3 days later, unless they've already reviewed or replied STOP. Customers must have agreed to be contacted.
- Writes your replies. Every new review gets a reply written for you that thanks the customer by first name and mentions the job and suburb where the review gives them.
- Alerts you. You get a notification for every new review, and a text for any 1 to 3 star review.
- Posts weekly. A short post written from your latest job photo, using the suburb only, never the customer's name.
- Checks your profile and competitors. A monthly check-up of your profile, and a weekly check of where you show up on Google Maps and who's beating you.
With auto-pilot on, ReviewRank also:
- thanks every 4 and 5 star reviewer straight away
- keeps your description and services up to date after each monthly check-up
- posts so your profile never looks quiet
What it never does on its own:
- reply to 1 to 3 star reviews (those wait for you, with a calm reply drafted)
- change your phone, website, hours or categories
Every change auto-pilot makes is listed with an Undo button, so you can see what was done and reverse anything you don't like.
The honest limits
ReviewRank needs a Google Business Profile to work. It doesn't build websites, run ads, or buy or filter reviews. Google doesn't let apps add photos or set service areas, so those stay with you. And like any honest tool or agency, it can't guarantee a ranking or a number of calls. What it can do is make sure the weekly work actually happens.
Frequently asked questions
The ongoing work of keeping your Google listing accurate and active: asking for and replying to reviews, posting, adding photos, keeping your details right and watching competitors.
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Rhys builds and looks after every Reactive Web website himself, from Redwood Park in Adelaide, for local service businesses that want more calls, bookings and enquiries.
