Your Google Business Profile is the listing that shows your junk removal company on Google Maps and in the map results when someone nearby searches for a pickup. Google says creating a profile is free. It also has strict rules, and Google says breaking them can get a profile suspended. Here is how to set it up the way Google says.
Junk Removal Advertising is an independent referral service, not a marketing agency. When you send the form, your details go to an independent marketing agency that prepares any proposal and does any work.
How Google picks which haulers to show
Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity. Relevance is how well your profile matches the search, and Google advises complete and detailed business information. Distance is how far you are from the person searching. Google also says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking. So the work is simple to describe: make the profile complete and accurate, and earn genuine reviews.
Your business name
Google’s guidelines say your name should reflect your business’s real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website and stationery and as known to customers. For a hauler, that means the name on your trucks and invoices. Do not add keywords or towns to it: a listing for a company whose trucks read Your Name Hauling should not read Your Name Hauling Best Junk Removal Near Me. Details such as your service area, hours and category go in their own fields.
Categories
Google says to use as few categories as possible to describe your overall core business, to choose the most specific category that fits, and not to use categories solely as keywords. Pick the category closest to junk removal as your main one, and add others only for real lines of work you offer, such as dumpster rental if you rent dumpsters.
Your address and service area
Most haulers drive to their customers. Google lets a business that serves customers at its address and also travels to them enter both its address and its service area. Keep your real business address on the profile and add the towns you cover as your service area. Keep one profile per location: Google says not to create more than one page for each location of your business.
Do not invent a location. Google says a service-area business can’t list a virtual office unless that office is staffed during business hours. And do not put keywords in your address lines.
Make the profile complete
- Your phone number and website, matching your trucks and your site exactly.
- Your hours, kept current, including any days you close.
- Your services listed by name: furniture removal, appliance removal, cleanouts and so on.
- A short description in plain words of what you take and where you go.
- Real photos: your trucks, your crew at work, a cleared garage. Use your own pictures, with the customer’s permission for anything at their home.
Reviews the right way
Google’s policy for reviews on Maps does not allow:
- Reviews or ratings that have been paid for, directly or in kind.
- Reviews posted from multiple accounts by or at the request of one person.
- Incentives, such as payment, discounts or free services, in exchange for a review.
- Discouraging negative reviews or asking only happy customers for reviews.
Google says fake engagement will be removed. The FTC’s Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule adds federal limits: no rewards for reviews that must say something good or bad, no reviews by your own managers without clear disclosure, and no scaring off honest bad reviews with unfounded legal threats. Ask every customer for an honest review, every time, and offer nothing for it.
Reply to reviews, good and bad, politely and briefly. A calm answer to a complaint shows the next customer how you handle problems.
Mistakes that get listings in trouble
- Keywords or towns added to the business name.
- A second profile for the same location, or profiles for towns where you have no location.
- A virtual office with nobody working there.
- Bought reviews, review swaps, or reviews from friends who never hired you.
- A phone number or name that does not match the website and trucks.
Your profile works with your website and the rest of your junk removal marketing. The junk removal SEO page covers how the two support each other, and junk removal leads covers Google’s paid Local Services Ads, which are separate from the free listing.
Want your Google listing done right? Get a proposal from an independent agency that works with haulers.
Questions owners ask
Is a Google Business Profile free?
Yes. Google says creating a Business Profile and listing your business on Google is free, and that there is no way to pay for a better local ranking.
Should I hide my address because I drive to customers?
No. Keep your real business address on the profile and add the towns you serve as your service area. Google allows both.
Can I make a profile for each town I serve?
No. Google allows one profile per location. Add the towns you serve to your service area instead.
Can I give a discount for a Google review?
No. Google’s policy bans incentives, including discounts and free services, in exchange for reviews.
Is Junk Removal Advertising connected to Google?
No. Junk Removal Advertising is an independent referral service, not a marketing agency, and has no connection with Google. When you send the form, your details go to an independent marketing agency that prepares any proposal and does any work.
Can an agency manage my profile?
Yes, with access you give it. Keep the profile in your own name, so it stays yours if you change agencies.
Get a proposal