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Lesson 2: your Google Business Profile in one hour
Yesterday you found out how many calls you miss. Today you fix the place many of those calls come from. Set a timer for one hour and work through the profile top to bottom.
By Umair Nawaz, Lirevon. Published October 2026. Part of the free 7-lesson course.
Why your profile matters so much
When a homeowner searches "tree removal near me," the first thing they usually see is a map with a few companies under it. Those are Google Business Profiles. Many people call straight from there. They never visit a website. They look at the stars, the photos, the hours and the phone number, and they tap call.
That means your profile does two jobs. It helps decide whether you show up at all, and it decides whether the person calls you or the next company. You cannot control how Google ranks you, and nobody honest can promise a spot on the map. What you can control is that your profile is complete, true and easy to act on. That is today's job.
Before you start, open the free Google Business Profile builder in another tab. It helps you write your description and service list, so you are not staring at a blank box.
The one-hour plan
Work through these in order. The times are a guide. If one step takes longer, that is fine; finish the rest tomorrow.
Minutes 0 to 5
Sign in and check you own it
Search for your company name on Google while signed in to the account that manages the profile. You should see an edit panel for your business. If you cannot find it, or someone else set it up years ago, sort out access first. That is your whole task today if it comes to that, and it is worth it.
Minutes 5 to 10
Name, phone and website
Your name should be your real business name, the one on your truck and your invoices. Do not add words like "best tree removal" to it; that goes against Google's guidelines and can get a profile suspended. Check the phone number is the one you want customers to call, and that the website link works and goes to your homepage or your main service page.
Minutes 10 to 20
Categories
The primary category matters most. For most tree companies that is the tree service category. If most of your income is a different kind of work, choose the category that fits your main income, not the one you hope to grow into. Then add a few secondary categories only for work you really do. Fewer, accurate categories beat a long list.
Minutes 20 to 25
Service area and address
Most tree companies go to the customer. If customers do not visit your address, set a service area by cities, counties or ZIP codes and hide the street address. Keep the area to places you actually drive to. Google's rules on this change from time to time, so check the current guidelines; this is a short explanation, not legal advice.
Minutes 25 to 30
Hours, including special hours
Set the hours you can really answer or reply. If you take emergency calls at night, say so only if it is true and someone will respond. Add special hours for holidays. Wrong hours lead to angry callers and bad reviews.
Minutes 30 to 40
Services
List each service you offer as its own item: tree removal, tree trimming, stump grinding, storm cleanup, land clearing, cabling and anything else you do. Add a one or two sentence plain description to each. Leave out prices unless you are sure they hold, because a tree job price depends on the tree.
Minutes 40 to 45
Business description
You get up to 750 characters. Say what you do, the area you serve, and what makes working with you easy, such as insured crews or written estimates, but only what is true. Write it for a homeowner, not for a search engine. No links, no prices and no claims you cannot back up.
Minutes 45 to 55
Photos
Add real photos of your own work, your crew in safety gear, your trucks with your name on them and a before and after or two. Real, recent photos help people trust you. Do not use stock photos or other people's work. Plan to add a few more every month.
Minutes 55 to 60
One post and a last look
Write one short update post, such as your fall schedule or a recent job in your area. Then search for your company on your phone, logged out, and look at the profile the way a homeowner would. Fix anything that looks odd.
The phone number is the whole point
Go back to your numbers from lesson 1. Every missed call you counted came to a number like the one on this profile. A perfect profile that sends people to a phone nobody picks up just sends more people away.
So check three things. First, call the number on your profile from another phone and listen. Does it ring through, or does it go to a full mailbox? Second, check that your voicemail greeting says your company name and when you will call back. Third, check whether that number can receive a text. If it cannot, a homeowner who tries to text you gets nothing. Lesson 4 covers replying fast to every lead, and lesson 5 covers making your website book estimates.
Common mistakes to look for
- Keywords stuffed into the business name.
- A phone number that goes to a full voicemail box.
- A service area that covers places you never go.
- Hours that say open when nobody answers.
- No photos, or only a logo.
- Old reviews with no replies. We fix that in lesson 3.
If someone offers to "guarantee" you the top spot on the map, be careful. Google decides rankings, and the factors include things no one controls, like how close the searcher is to your business. For a longer, deeper read, see the Google Business Profile guide and the local SEO guide.
Your task for today
Spend one hour on your profile
Set a timer for 60 minutes. Work through the one-hour plan above, in order. Use the profile builder for the description and services. When the timer goes off, call your own profile number from another phone and see what a customer hears. Write down anything left to fix.
Checklist
Tick each one as you go. The ticks are not saved, so print the page if you want a copy.
We also tune profiles as part of our system. If you would rather hand this off, see the Google Business Profile service, our services and pricing, or ask for a free audit and we will tell you what we would change.
This lesson is general information, not legal advice. Google sets and changes its own rules for Business Profiles; check its current guidelines.