Someone who needs to move a wardrobe on Saturday does not type your company name. They type "trailer hire" and the town, or just "van hire near me". Google shows a map and a handful of businesses. If you are on it, your phone rings. If you are not, a competitor's does — and how good your trailers are makes no difference at that moment.
1. What a Business Profile is and who can have one
A Business Profile is your listing in Google Maps and Search: name, address, phone, opening hours, photos, reviews. Creating it costs nothing, and once verified you manage it yourself.
It is meant for businesses that deal with customers face to face — at their premises or at the customer's. Rental operators usually fall into one of three cases:
| Type of operation | How to set up the profile |
|---|
---|---
| Yard or shop where customers collect | show the address; opening hours match collection hours |
|---|---|
| Collection by appointment only (yard at home, no counter) | show the address; set hours to the times you really hand over, and say "by appointment" in the description |
| Delivery to the customer only | hide the address and set a service area |
Verification is now often done by a short video of the premises or by phone. The process changes from time to time — follow what Google offers when you create the profile.
2. The four things that matter
Category
The primary category tells Google which searches you should appear for. Choose the most precise one on offer — trailer rental, van or car hire, tool and equipment rental, campervan hire. Add secondary categories only for services you really provide.
Complete, consistent details
The name on the profile is the name on your sign. Adding keywords to it ("Smith's — Cheap Trailer Hire Leeds") breaks the guidelines, and competitors do report it.
Name, address and phone number should match your website exactly. Fill in the fields that look optional too: website, description, services with a "from" price, payment methods. Point the website link at the page where a customer can book straight away — what that page needs is covered in taking online bookings on your rental website.
Your own photos
Manufacturer images convince no one. Customers want to see:
- the entrance and the spot where handover happens (they recognise it when they arrive),
- each type of unit separately, with the sides or cover open,
- the detail that decides it: plug, coupling, ramps, internal dimensions,
- the price list, or at least a sign with the day rate.
A few new photos each quarter is enough.
Reviews
Reviews influence both where you appear and whether the customer calls you. What counts is how many, how recent, and whether you reply. More on that next.
3. How to get reviews
Happy customers rarely write a review unprompted. Unhappy ones do. So you need to ask — simply, and at the right moment.
1. At return. The unit is fine, the deposit is going back, the mood is good. "If you have a minute, a Google review would really help us" is all it takes.
2. Have the link ready. Your profile gives you a direct link to the review form. Put it in the email you send after return, and as a QR code on the counter or the gate.
3. Ask everyone. Google's rules do not allow asking only customers you expect to be positive, or offering anything in return — a discount, a refund, a gift.
4. Reply. One line for praise; calm and factual for criticism.
A bad review is not a disaster. The next customer reads it — and looks at how you answered:
| Situation | Reply |
|---|
---|---
| Fair criticism | accept it, say what you changed |
|---|---|
| Dispute over damage and deposit | factual: condition was recorded with photos at handover and return; offer to continue by phone or email |
| Misunderstanding (closed, nobody answered) | apologise, correct the profile |
| Review from someone who never hired from you | report it to Google; reply calmly that you cannot find a matching hire |
Never put a customer's personal details or the specifics of their hire in a public reply — even when they started it. Whether a particular review can be challenged legally depends on where you are; if it matters, take local advice.
4. What to keep up to date
- Opening hours and holidays. Google asks about holiday hours in advance; if you do not confirm them, it warns searchers that hours may differ.
- Seasonal hours. Different collection times in winter belong on the profile, not just on the sign.
- Missed calls. Most contacts from a profile are phone calls. Call back the same day.
- Updates. A short post — a new trailer, free slots this weekend — shows the listing is alive. Every few weeks is plenty.
- Edits suggested by others. Anyone can suggest a change. Check now and then that the address and phone are still right.
5. How to tell it is working
The profile has its own performance view: how often it was shown, and how many people tapped call, directions or website. Watch calls and website clicks relative to views, not views alone.
Views up but no calls? Photos, a price or reviews are missing. Calls but no bookings? The problem is what happens after you pick up. And ask new customers how they found you — one field in your records tells you more than any dashboard. To connect this with how hard the fleet is working, see rental fleet utilisation.
6. Common mistakes
- The profile sits in the personal account of someone who has left the business.
- Two profiles at one address — reviews are split and Google does not know which to show.
- The registered office address instead of the yard where handover actually happens.
- "Open 24 hours" because it looks better.
- Ten reviews from family and friends in one weekend.
Where Flotello fits
The profile brings a customer to your website — and that is where the booking has to be completed. Flotello gives a rental business a public booking page with online card payment that you can set as the website on your profile; availability is worked out from bookings and blocked periods, so nobody books a unit that is already out. At return, the condition report holds photos and signatures — exactly what you lean on when answering a disputed review. Setup is described in the online booking help, plans are on the pricing page, and you can try it free for seven days after registration.
Flotello by line of business: trailer rental software, car rental software, equipment rental software and campervan rental software.