Secondary categories on Google Business Profile: how many, and which

Your primary category tells Google what you are. Secondary categories, the up-to-nine extras, tell it what else you do. Most contractors either skip them or fill all nine slots with anything close. Both cost calls.

What secondary categories actually do

They make your profile eligible for searches related to that category. A roofer who adds "Gutter cleaning service" can appear for gutter searches nearby, if the rest of the profile backs it up: photos, reviews, services and a website page about gutters.

What they don't do is replace the primary category. The primary category carries the most weight. If you're unsure which to lead with, read choosing your Business Profile categories first.

When to add one

Add a secondary category when all three are true:

1. You do the work every month, not once a year.
2. You have a page on your site about it. The category points people to a service; the page confirms it.
3. You can show it. Photos of the work and at least a few reviews that mention it.

When to leave one out

• Services you'd like to offer someday. Calls you can't take do nothing for you.
• Near-duplicates of your primary. "Roofing contractor" plus "Roofing service" and "Roof repair service" rarely adds anything; pick the one that fits and move on.
• Unrelated trades. A plumber adding "Electrician" because a cousin does wiring sends mixed signals and can get the profile edited.
• Categories that describe your customers. "Property management company" isn't your category because you serve property managers.

How many is right

For most home service businesses, two to five secondary categories. A pool service company might use pool cleaning as primary and add pool repair and pool contractor. A cleaning company might lead with house cleaning and add carpet cleaning and commercial cleaning. Our categories by trade list has suggestions for the main trades.

How to test whether a category is working

Google doesn't report performance per category, so test the slow way:

1. Note your baseline. Profile calls and searches for the related service, from the Performance tab and Search Console.
2. Add one category at a time, together with a matching page and a few photos.
3. Wait four to six weeks, then compare. Did searches mentioning that service rise? Did calls about it come in?
4. Remove it if nothing moved after a reasonable wait. A category that brings nothing is just noise.

Changing many things at once makes it impossible to tell what worked.

A note on category changes

Big category edits can trigger a review of your profile, and in some cases a temporary drop. Make changes one at a time, keep a record of what you changed and when, and avoid editing everything right before your busy season.

Next step

Open your profile and list your secondary categories. Cross out any that fail the three tests above, and for the ones that pass, check you have a matching page. Our local SEO checklist covers the rest of the profile.