Reviews
How to answer a bad review without making it worse
The bad review is read by far more people than the one who wrote it, and your reply is what they are actually judging.
Read it
It gets set once and forgotten
When you claimed your Google Business Profile, you picked a category. Maybe you picked it, maybe Google guessed from your name, maybe whoever set it up chose the first thing in the list. Then it sat there.
That one field does more to decide which searches you appear in than anything else on the profile. More than your description, more than your photos, more than your website.
Specific beats broad
Google has thousands of categories and they are not equal. "Contractor" is broad. "Roofing contractor" is specific. "Metal roofing contractor" is more specific still.
The instinct is to pick the broad one so you catch more searches. It works the other way around. The broad category puts you in a bigger pool against businesses that do everything, and Google has no reason to prefer you. The specific one puts you in a smaller pool where you are the obvious answer.
Pick the category that describes what you actually want to be called about, not the widest net you can throw.
Secondary categories are not a wish list
You can add more categories after the primary one, and this is where it usually goes wrong. People add everything they are willing to do. A landscaper adds snow removal, deck building, fencing, hardscaping and tree service, and ends up ranking well for none of them.
Secondary categories carry far less weight than the primary, and a long list of loosely related ones muddies what Google thinks you are. Add the two or three that genuinely earn you money. Leave the rest off.
How to check yours
Search for your business on Google and look at the grey text under the name in the knowledge panel. That is your primary category, as a customer sees it. Then search the thing you most want to be found for and look at who ranks. Their category is showing in exactly the same place. If three of the top results share a category and you have a different one, that is your answer.
Change it carefully
Changing the primary category can move your rankings within days, in either direction. Do it once, write down what it was before, and leave it alone for a few weeks before you judge it. Switching back and forth is worse than either choice.
If you want somebody to look at it with you, the free scan reads your live profile and tells you what Google currently thinks you are.
