GBP categories that home inspectors should and shouldn't pick

Your categories tell Google what kind of business you run. Google's help page on managing your business category puts it directly: "The categories you select affect your local ranking on Google." The primary category is the one you pick first, and Google asks you to choose the one "that best describes your business."

Google says local results are mainly based on relevance, distance and popularity. It defines relevance as "how well a Business Profile matches what someone is searching for." You can't move your office closer to every buyer, and Google's local ranking tips say "There's no way to request or pay for a better local ranking on Google." That makes the information on your profile, including your categories, one of the few levers fully in your hands.

Categories shape more than ranking. According to Google's help pages, your category choices can affect these parts of your profile:

• Your local ranking on Google
• A label Google may assign to your business
• Whether you get the option to list your services
• Special profile features that only some categories get

This post covers categories in depth. For the rest of your profile, from service areas to photos and reviews, start with our complete Google Business Profile guide for home inspectors.

For most inspection companies, the primary category should be Home Inspector. That is the recommendation in our GBP guide for inspectors. The exception is a company whose main business is a specialty rather than residential inspections.

Google asks for the most specific category that fits. Its example is choosing "Nail salon" instead of "Salon." Google's guidelines for representing your business explain why: when you pick a specific category, "Google implicitly includes" the more general ones. You "can skip adding any category that seems redundant with a more specific category you selected."

Use Google's "is a" test

Google's guidelines give a simple test. Pick categories that complete the statement "This business IS a" rather than "this business HAS a." The sentence "This business is a home inspector" is true for you. The sentence "This business is a plumber" is not true, even if you scope sewer lines.

When a different primary category fits

Some companies are built around one specialty. If most of your bookings come from standalone radon testing or commercial building work, the honest answer to the "is a" test may be a different category. Pick the primary that describes the work most customers hire you for, and list the rest as secondary categories or services.

Here is how to check what your profile shows now:

1. Go to your Business Profile and select Edit profile.
2. Next to Business category, select Edit.
3. Type "inspector" in the primary category box and read every option Google suggests. You can't create your own category, so you must pick from the list.
4. Choose the most specific option that passes the "is a" test, then select Save.

Google says additional categories are for telling customers about "special departments or services." On the same page, it says "Do not select a category for every product or service." Its guidelines go further: "Use as few categories as possible to describe your overall core business."

That leaves a short list of candidates for inspectors. Our GBP guide names the categories below as worth considering, but only when you offer the service. The table shows where each one passes the "is a" test and where it doesn't.

Read the "skip it when" column honestly. A secondary category should describe a part of your business that someone could hire you for by itself. If you can't picture a customer calling only for that service, it belongs in your services list instead.

Inspection reports touch nearly every trade in a house, which tempts owners to borrow those trades' categories. Google's guidelines rule that out: "Do not use categories solely as keywords or to describe attributes of your business." They also say not to use categories "that pertain to other businesses that are nearby or related."

• Trade categories for systems you inspect. Plumbing, roofing, electrical and HVAC categories describe businesses that repair those systems, and you report on them.
• Insurance categories. You may write 4-point and wind mitigation reports that insurers use, but your business is not an insurance agency.
• Real estate agency categories. Agents send you work, which makes them a referral source rather than a description of your company.
• Pest control categories. Reporting on wood-destroying insects is not the same as treating them.
• Contractor and remodeler categories. Leave these off unless your company does repair or remodeling work.

Each of these fails the "is a" test. A wrong category also misleads the people who find you through it. Someone looking for a plumber or a roofer wants a repair, and that call won't turn into a booked inspection.

Google built a separate place for the things you offer. Its help page on managing your services says "When adding services, you can choose from suggested options tailored to your business type." You can also "create and add custom services options" when none of the suggestions match.

This is where your add-on menu belongs. A profile with one accurate primary category and a full services list says more about your company than a pile of borrowed categories. Name each service the way a buyer would search for it:

• Buyer's home inspection
• Pre-listing inspection
• Radon testing
• Sewer scope inspection
• 4-point inspection
• Wind mitigation inspection
• New construction phase inspection

Keep the names clean. Google says to avoid "profanity, gibberish, personal information, prices, or phone numbers in custom service names." Remove any service you no longer offer so buyers don't ask for something you dropped.

Then match your website to your profile. Google's guidelines say it "can also detect category information from your website and from mentions about your business throughout the web." A website with a page for each service backs up what your profile says.

Category edits carry one risk worth planning for. Google says, "If you add or edit an existing category, you might be asked to verify your business again." Make changes during a slower stretch, not at the start of the spring market.

1. Screenshot your current categories and services so you have a record of the old setup.
2. Apply the "is a" test to your primary category and every secondary one.
3. Remove any category that fails the test.
4. Add a service for anything you removed that you still offer.
5. If you run more than one office, give every location the same primary category. Google's guidelines say "All locations of a business must share the one category that best represents the business."
6. Check that your website has a page for each service you list.
7. Watch for a verification request after you save.

Judge the change by calls and booked inspections, not by whether the profile looks busier. Category and services cleanup is part of our Local Search service for home inspectors.