Create a free Google Business Profile at business.google.com, pick your trade as the category, set a service area instead of your address, and get your first five reviews. It takes about an hour, costs nothing, and it's the cheapest marketing a tradesman can do.
When someone searches "carpenter Dragør" on their phone, they see a map with three businesses at the top. Those aren't websites — they're Google Business Profiles. If you don't have one, you're not in the running.
Here's the whole method. You can do it yourself.
1. Create the profile
Go to business.google.com and sign in with the Google account you want to use for the business. Avoid your personal account if you can — use one that belongs to the business.
Enter the company name exactly as it appears in the CVR register. Not "Jensen Carpentry — best in town". Just the name.
2. Pick the right category
This matters more than anything else on the profile. Choose the category that describes your trade precisely: Carpenter, Electrician, Plumber, Painter, Bricklayer.
You can add more categories later, but the first one is the important one. Google uses it to decide which searches you appear in.
3. Hide your address, show your area
If you work from home or travel to customers, set the profile up as a service-area business. Your home address won't appear on Google Maps, but you'll still show up in searches across your area.
List the towns or postcodes you actually travel to. Don't claim the whole of Zealand if you only work in Greater Copenhagen — that makes you harder to find locally, not easier.
4. Get verified
Google needs to confirm the business exists. This is usually a video call where you show your workspace, your van or your tools, ideally with your CVR number visible.
Have it ready beforehand. It takes five minutes once it starts, but it can be a week before you hear back.
5. Fill in everything
Empty fields cost you rankings. Complete:
- Opening hours. Be honest. Don't put 7am–4pm if you're on a roof all day.
- Phone number. The same one as on your website. Google compares them.
- Services. One entry per job type, with prices where you can. Most tradesmen leave this blank.
- Description. Put your trade and your area in the first two lines. The rest gets cut off.
6. Add photos
Profiles with photos get noticeably more attention than profiles without. You don't need a photographer — phone photos are fine, and often work better.
Add something every month: finished work, the van, the tools, yourself. Google can tell the profile is being used.
7. Get reviews
This is the important one, and it's the one people skip.
Five genuine reviews beat a competitor with none. Ask every customer when you finish and they're happy — not two weeks later. Send a direct link so they don't have to go looking.
Reply to every review, including the bad ones. Especially the bad ones. A calm reply to an angry review sells better than five good ones.
8. Keep it alive
Google rewards profiles that get used. Post occasionally, add photos, reply to reviews within a couple of days. Ten minutes a month is enough.
And remember: a profile that generates calls is only half of it — make sure you catch them.
What if you can't be bothered?
Then I'll do it for you. It's part of the package when I build a website, or it can be bought on its own. But the method above is the whole recipe — there's nothing secret about it.