For most Irish trades, your Google profile matters more than your website

Where the calls actually come from

Search for a plumber, an electrician or a garage in any Irish town and the map results occupy the screen. A large share of people choose from that box without ever scrolling to the ordinary results, and a good number tap the call button without visiting any website at all.

Your website is doing less work than you think. The profile is doing more.

What a finished profile looks like

Most were filled in once, on the day they were created, and never touched again. A complete one is unusual enough to be a genuine advantage.

• —The primary category set correctly — it carries more weight than any other field
• —Every service listed as its own entry rather than buried in a paragraph
• —A description written around what people search for
• —Photographs added regularly, not once in 2021
• —Hours that are actually right, bank holidays included
• —Posts, even occasionally — a live signal almost nobody uses

The afternoon that pays for itself

All of the above is free and takes a few hours. There is no other marketing task available to an Irish trade with that ratio of effort to return.

Once it is done, everything else works better — including the website, because people who find you on the map and then check your site arrive already half-convinced.