Google Business Profile for movers

Google wants the name you use on signage, your website, stationery and paperwork, and nothing more (Guidelines for representing your business on Google). Adding words to the name can get the profile suspended. The guidelines specifically rule out:

• marketing taglines
• phone numbers and website addresses
• service words or city names that are not part of the legal or brand name
• words written in all capitals for emphasis
• legal terms such as LLC or Inc., unless real-world proof shows them as part of the name

For a mover, the test is simple: read the side of your truck. If the truck says Example Moving Co., the profile says Example Moving Co., not Example Moving Co. – Local & Long Distance Movers Dallas.

If you change your name, Google treats a minor change as a rebrand you can edit in place. A bigger change counts as a new business: you mark the old profile closed and create a new one.

Categories tell Google which searches your profile can match, and Google says they affect local ranking (Manage your business category). The rules:

• Choose the fewest categories that describe the core business.
• Pick the most specific one from Google's list. You cannot create your own.
• Each category should finish the sentence “This business is a…”, not “This business has a…”.
• Do not add categories as keywords or to describe single services.

In practice, type “moving” into the category box, read every option, and make the one that describes the whole company your primary category. Add a second category only when it names another business you actually run, such as a storage facility customers can use. Packing, crating or piano moving are services; list them in the services section instead.

Changing categories can trigger a new verification request, so make the change once, deliberately.

Most movers go to the customer, so most movers are service-area businesses under Google's definitions (Manage your service areas for service-area & hybrid businesses):

If your yard or office has no permanent signage, Google does not treat it as a storefront. A few address rules catch movers often (Google guidelines):

• A rented mailing address or virtual office is not eligible.
• A co-working desk qualifies only if it has clear signage, is staffed during business hours by your staff, and receives customers.
• P.O. boxes are not acceptable.
• One business gets one profile. Separate profiles are allowed only for separate locations with their own service areas and their own staff.

You can list up to 20 service areas by city, postal code or other area. Google does not let you set a radius around your address. The overall area should stay within about two hours of driving from where the business is based, though Google notes that larger areas suit some businesses (Manage your service areas for service-area & hybrid businesses).

List the places your crews actually pick up from. A long-distance mover still lists the local area its office serves; the states and cities you deliver to belong on your website, where you can explain the route and the paperwork.

The phone number must connect to your business, stay under your direct control, and not be a premium-rate line. Google prefers a local number over a central call-center number and does not allow numbers or links that send people to a different business. You can add extra numbers (Google guidelines).

Link the website field to the page that represents this location, usually your homepage for a single-location mover.

Set the hours customers can reach you. Add special hours for holidays; Google suggests confirming holiday hours even when they match your normal schedule, so customers know they are accurate (How to set Special hours).

The description should say what you move, where, and anything customers should know about how you work. Google does not allow links of any kind in the description, and it rejects descriptions built around sales, prices or gimmicky characters (Google guidelines).

Use the services list for the individual jobs you take: local moves, long-distance moves, packing, storage, office moves, loading help (Manage your services on your Business Profile). Upload photos of your own trucks, crews and equipment. Posts can share updates, offers and events (Create & manage posts on your Business Profile).

Verification proves you are allowed to manage the profile. The methods Google offers depend on the business; when video verification is available, Google recommends it (Verify your business on Google).

Keep the primary owner role on a company Google account that you control. Owners can add and remove people and even delete the profile; managers can do almost everything else. Give staff and outside helpers manager access with their own Google accounts instead of sharing a password (Manage your Business Profile owners & managers).

The performance report shows the search terms people used to find your profile, plus calls, website clicks and direction requests. Google updates the search-terms figures at the start of each month (Understand your Business Profile performance & insights). Those terms feed straight into your keyword map in chapter 6.