When someone near you searches for what you do, your Google listing turns up before your website does. Your name, your stars, a photo and a button to call, all before they have clicked on anything. If a piece is missing, the customer fills the gap with the business beside you.
Your listing is free, it is yours to control, and it is the cheapest marketing a local business has. Here is what we check on it, why each piece matters to the person deciding whether to call, and what to sort first.
In this article
- 1. What a customer sees on your listing before they call
- 2. The 11 checks we run on your Google listing
- 3. The gaps we see most on New Zealand listings
- 4. What to sort today, this week and this month
What a customer sees before they call
Search "plumber Hamilton" on your phone. Google shows a map and a short list of businesses, each with a name, a star rating, a photo and buttons to call, get directions or visit the website. Each of those cards is a Google listing, and for most local searches it is the first impression a business makes.
A customer comparing three listings decides in seconds. They are not reading anyone's website yet. They are looking at the photo, the stars, whether there is a call button and whether you look open.
Key point
Your listing is always judged side by side. A customer never sees yours on its own. That is why we check it against every listing in your trade and city, not against a generic checklist.
The 11 checks we run on your Google listing
We read your listing the way a customer meets it, and every business in your market is checked the same way. The 11 checks fall into four groups.
| What we check | Why a customer cares |
|---|---|
| That it is yours and live: claimed by you, and showing you as trading | An unclaimed listing can be edited by anyone, and one marked closed tells people not to come |
| Who you are: your business name, and how well your categories fit the work people search for | Your categories decide which searches you can appear in at all |
| How to reach you: phone number, full address and a link to your website | Each one is a button. Missing it means the customer in a hurry rings someone else |
| How you look: logo, main image, photos and description | This is where a customer gets a feel for you before they ever make contact |
Some checks are a simple yes or no. Others, like photos, description and categories, are read against your own market. Plenty of photos for a cafe in Ponsonby is a different number from plenty for a roofer in Invercargill, so your report shows where you sit against the businesses you actually compete with.
Your opening hours show on your listing too. They get their own report, because the question there is whether you are open when customers are looking. Open times covers it.
The gaps we see most
Across New Zealand listings the same handful of gaps comes up again and again. Most take less than an hour to close.
1. A listing nobody has claimed
Google builds listings from public information whether the owner asks for one or not. Until you claim yours, anyone can suggest an edit and you cannot reply to a single review. Search your business name on Google, tap "Own this business?" and follow the steps to verify. While you are there, check the listing does not show you as closed.
2. Categories that miss the work
Your primary category carries the most weight with Google, so make it the plainest name for what you do: "Plumber", not "Contractor". Then add the secondary categories for the other jobs you take on. Look at the top few businesses in your trade on Google Maps, note the categories they hold, and add any that are true for you.
3. A thin photo gallery
A customer comparing you with the business next door builds a picture of their work and guesses at yours. Work from a short list: your signage and entrance so people find the door, the inside, your team, and three or four recent jobs. Set a cover photo as well, or Google picks one for you.
Tip
Shoot in daylight, on the job. Mid-morning light makes an interior look welcoming rather than dim. For trades, a before and an after of the same job does more than any amount of stock imagery.
4. No description, or one that could be anyone's
Google gives you 750 characters in your own words. Every other field is a fact about you, and this is the one place you get to make your case. Name your services plainly, the suburbs you cover and what is different about you. Google's rules keep links and sale offers out of it, so leave those off.
5. Blank spaces where competitors have a mark
No logo means a blank square in a list of local results. No phone number means no call button. A missing website link means the customer who wants to see your work before ringing has nowhere to go. Each is one field, and each is visible the moment someone compares you.
How your listing connects to the rest
Your listing is where your reviews live, so your reviews and your listing are read together. It also decides which Maps searches you are eligible for, which is why your categories matter again in showing up on Google Maps.
What to sort first
10 minutes today
- Search your business on your phone and look at your listing as a stranger would
- If you see "Own this business?", claim it now
- Ring the phone number on it and tap the website link to check both work
An hour this week
- Compare your categories with the top three businesses in your trade and add what fits
- Write a description naming your services and the suburbs you cover
- Upload your logo and set a cover photo
Ongoing this month
- Work through the photo list, then add a few new shots every month
- Change your categories whenever you add or drop a service
Where Marketbase comes in
We have already checked your listing, along with every other business in your trade and city. Find your business by name and your free report shows your listing the way a customer sees it, with what is working and what could move marked on it.
Seven days' free access opens the how for each of the 11 checks, in the order that moves you fastest. Sort it yourself, or we'll do it for you.