The roofer's Google Business Profile manual

Before you start: who owns the profile

Make sure the owner of the company holds the primary owner role on the profile. This is the step most roofers skip, and it causes the most grief later.

Sign in to the Google account you use for the business and open the profile. Check the list of people with access. If the primary owner is a former office manager, an old web designer or an agency you no longer work with, ask them to transfer ownership now, while relations are cordial. Then give managers, including any agency, the lower "manager" role.

Write the login details for that Google account in a safe place. If the person who knows them leaves, you don't want to start over.

Step 1: use your real business name

Your profile name must match what's on your truck, your invoices and your registration. Google's guidelines say unnecessary information in the name isn't permitted and can lead to suspension, and that taglines, service descriptions and locations don't belong there.

So "Northshore Roofing Ltd." is fine if that's your name. "Northshore Roofing Ltd. | Roof Repair & Replacement Kelowna" is not. If your registered name genuinely contains "Roofing" and a place name, you may use it, but don't add anything that isn't part of the legal or signed name.

Step 2: choose categories carefully

Pick "Roofing contractor" as your primary category unless your business is genuinely something else. The primary category tells Google what you are, so it matters more than any other field.

Then add a small number of secondary categories for work you actually do and want calls for. A roofer who installs eavestroughs might add a gutter category; one who does skylights might add that. Don't add "General contractor" or "Construction company" just to cast a wider net. It muddies the signal.

Step 3: hide your address if customers don't visit

If you work from home or a yard where customers don't come, hide the address and set a service area. Google's guidelines say service-area businesses should hide the address when customers aren't served there.

You'll still enter a real address for verification; it just won't be shown. Never use a rented mailbox, a PO box or a virtual office. Google doesn't accept them, and roofing is one of the categories where fake addresses get reported often.

If you have a real shop with staff and posted hours where customers can visit, you can show the address and set a service area as well.

Step 4: draw a realistic service area

List the towns and areas your crews actually reach, within a sensible drive. Google's guidance suggests keeping a service area within about two hours of driving from your base.

A wider area doesn't make you rank further away; proximity still matters a lot. What a realistic area does is set honest expectations, so homeowners in a town three hours away don't call and then hear you can't come for a month.

Step 5: fill in hours, phone and website

Set hours you can actually answer, and use a number someone picks up. If your office closes at 5 but you answer emergency leak calls in the evening, say so in the description rather than listing 24-hour hours you can't staff.

Link your website with a tracking tag so you can tell profile visits from other traffic. Any web developer can add this in a few minutes, or our team can.

Step 6: list your services in plain words

Add each real service with a one- or two-sentence description. Examples: re-roofing asphalt shingle homes, roof leak repairs, flat-roof membrane work, roof inspections, ice-dam prevention, skylight replacement.

Write descriptions for homeowners: "We repair leaks around chimneys, vents and skylights, and photograph the damage before and after." Avoid keyword lists.

Step 7: write a description that sounds like you

Use the 750 characters to say who you are, where you work and what makes you different. A simple formula:

1. One sentence on who you are and how long you've been roofing.
2. One sentence on the work you specialise in.
3. One sentence on the area you serve.
4. One sentence on something specific: the warranty you offer, how you protect gardens, how quickly you call back.

Don't include URLs, prices that may change or promotional claims you can't support.

Step 8: build a photo habit

Real photos of your own jobs, added steadily, beat any amount of stock imagery. Give your crew leads a shot list:

• the roof before work starts
• tear-off, showing the deck condition
• underlayment and ice-and-water shield going down
• flashing details at valleys, chimneys and walls
• the finished roof from the street
• the clean-up: tarps, magnet sweep, tidy driveway

Clean-up photos are underrated. Homeowners worry about nails in the lawn more than about shingle brands.

Ask homeowners' permission before posting photos that show their house number or family.

Step 9: ask every customer for a review

Send every customer the same review request, the same way, after every job. Google's content policy bans incentives for reviews, asking only happy customers, pressuring people on the spot and reviews from staff or relatives.

A simple routine: the crew lead mentions at the walk-around that a text is coming, and the office sends it that evening with a direct link. Send one reminder a few days later, then stop. Our review service page has the full routine.

Step 10: reply to every review and question

Reply to every review within a few days, and answer every public question. Thank people specifically: the street, the roof type, the crew lead by first name if they agree. For critical reviews, acknowledge the problem, state facts briefly and offer a phone call. Don't argue in public.

Check the questions section, too. If a homeowner asks "do you do metal roofs?" and nobody answers, the next reader assumes you don't.

Step 11: post during the season

Short posts keep the profile looking active. A finished job with a photo, a note about booking spring inspections, or a post after a storm explaining how you're scheduling repairs. Keep storm posts factual: your wait times and what to do about active leaks, not alarm.

The suspension traps, in one list

Most roofing suspensions come from a handful of causes.

• keywords or a city name added to the business name
• a virtual office, mailbox or co-working address
• a second profile for the same business
• a service-area business showing a home address
• sudden bursts of reviews, or reviews from staff and family
• frequent edits to the name or category in a short period

If you are suspended, don't create a new profile. Fix the cause, gather evidence such as signage photos, vehicle photos and registration documents, and request reinstatement through Google's process.

What to check every month

A five-minute monthly check catches problems early.

1. Is the name, phone and website still correct? Others can suggest edits.
2. How many calls, website clicks and direction requests did the profile produce, compared with the same month last year?
3. When was the newest review, and has every review had a reply?
4. Were any new photos added this month?
5. Are there unanswered questions?

Want help with any of it? See our Business Profile service, read the storm-season playbook next, or contact us with screenshots of your profile.