As you are setting up the tools for your contract service business, you want it to go as smoothly as possible.

By knowing how to set up your Google My Business and what information you need to include, you can avoid having to go back and fill in the gaps of information.

At Blue Trade Media, we have talked with contract service business owners that have been tricked into thinking maintaining a Google My Business profile is a large endeavor and warrants agency support - it doesn't, you can manage it all on your own.

In this article, we will cover the steps to take when creating a Google My Business profile and what type of information it will request you include.

1. Create a Business Gmail Account

To start, you will want to create a business gmail account. The reason you will want to start out with an email account is because this will be the base of each of your primary business accounts like YouTube, Google My Business, Google Search Console, and Google Analytics.

Think of this email as a universal account that you could let an in-house marketer on your team use to manage your systems. You can also use it as your primary contact email on your website, but eventually as your team expands, you may want to create separate accounts like:

• Marketing@YourBusinessName.com

• Contact@YourBusinessName.com

• Support@YourBusinessName.com

• Finance@YourBusinessName.com

• Sales@YourBusinessName.com

The reason you may want to create your email accounts by department rather than individual accounts like Steve.Martin@YourBusinessName.com is if you want to limit how often you have to change email accounts in a Google Workspace. If you choose to have email addresses personalized to your business, you may pay $6, $12, or $18 per user, per month (generally making it less cost effective as you go past 10-20 users).

When you create your generic business gmail account to manage each of your Google tools, you will start by going to Google.com and clicking “Sign In” in the top right hand corner.

This will pull up a screen that gives you an option to sign in, but to create an account for your business, you will start by clicking the “Create Account” option in the bottom left.

When you select this, it might ask you what you intend on using the account for. When this option shows up, select “For work or my business.”

Once you fill in your general information, you will press “Next” and then it will ask you for information like your birthday, your gender, your phone number, and a recovery email address.

After you put your phone number in, it will request you verify your phone number by getting a code texted to your phone. After that, it will walk you through terms and agreements and then have you press “I agree” before signing up.

2. Compile Information You Need to Create Your Google My Business Profile

Before you go to set up your Google My Business profile, you should have the following information compiled and ready to input:

• Business name

• Business type (online retail, local store, or service business)

• Business category

• Where you serve your customers (service area)

• Contact details (phone number and website)

• Mailing address (this can’t be a P.O. box)

• Services (you can include multiple here)

• Business hours

• Business description

• Photos of your work

Once you have gathered all of this information, you’re ready to start setting up your Google My Business profile.

3. Start Setting Up Your Google My Business Profile

To start creating your Google My Business profile, log into the email that you want to associate the account with and then type in “google.com/business” in the search bar.

It will first prompt you to enter in your business name. This should be your exact business name so that customers can recognize your business easily.

Next, it will prompt you to enter your business category. This is your overarching service category. For instance, if you do irrigation, hedge trimming, and lawn cutting, you will want to go with something all-encompassing, like “Landscaping Services.”

After you select your main service category, it will ask you where you serve customers. You can enter multiple cities here, but you should start with the primary service area you serve and then the secondary, and so on.

Next, it will want you to input your phone number and your website. These are both great things to include on your Google My Business profile because they enable customers to get more information about how you can help them directly, either through learning more on your website or calling you.

Next, you will enter your mailing address. This address needs to be a physical address where you can receive mail and cannot be a P.O. box. If you don’t have a physical location for your business, this would be the address of your primary residence.

After you have entered your address, you will be prompted to add more specifics about the services you provide. In this section, you can select the types of services you provide like irrigation services, hedge trimming, and lawn cutting (if you are a landscaper).

Next, you will add your business hours. These should be the hours that you are available by phone and provide services.

Once you enter your business hours, the Google My Business set up will ask you if you would like to add messaging. This is a free service through Google that allows you to receive messages on your Google My Business profile.

However, you may want to opt out of this option if you do not want to manage Google messaging in addition to answering your main business phone.

Your description should tell your customers about the services you offer (how you can help them), the general area you service (whether you help customers in their area), and any other details that answer questions that someone might have if they are looking for the type of services you offer.

After you add the description of your business, it will request you add photos of your work. You should add at least 2-3 photos of your because it will help you gain the trust of potential customers visiting your profile.

Google may also ask you if you would like to get a custom domain while you are setting up your Google My Business profile if you do not put in a website URL. If you haven’t decided on a domain and you like one of the options they provide, you certainly can do it.

However, we typically recommend that you get your website launched before you start setting up your Google tools, so you should aim to have already selected your domain before this step (preferably one that ends in “.com” rather than .co or .net).

After you complete these steps, it will allow you to create the profile and check and see if you are missing any information. If you are not, you are ready to select “Verify.”

Google may have you verify by phone, mail, photos, or a video. If they have you verify by mail, they will send you a letter with information you will input into the verification screen. Otherwise, they may have you take pictures of your business (like your equipment, work truck, etc.).

Set Up a Google My Business Profile For Your Contract Service Company

Setting up your Google My Business profile is pretty straightforward and is a great thing to knock out very soon after you launch your contract service business website.

Creating a Google My Business profile helps with local optimization and provides a space for your customers to leave positive reviews about your business.

After you have created your Google My Business profile, you should get your Google Search Console set up. For more information on how to do this, check out our article “3 Steps To Set Up Google Search Console for Your Contract Service Business.”

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