Understand how top lawn care services use categories, services, and profile strategies to get found for more maintenance jobs. GMB Everywhere reveals what works and how you can apply it to your business.
Picture a homeowner standing in their overgrown yard. They pull out their phone and type "lawn care service near me" into Google. A list appears—some companies at the top, others lost in the scroll.
Why do certain lawn care services always rank first while others remain invisible? That's what we're here to explain. And we'll keep it straightforward.
Your Google Business Profile (or GBP for short) is your company's online business card on Google. It displays your name, address, phone number, hours, photos, and reviews. When someone searches for lawn care, Google decides which profiles to show based on a few key factors.
Google wants to show people the best, most relevant results. So it checks three main things about your business. Think of these as the "three pillars" that hold up your local ranking.
This sounds obvious, but many lawn care companies have the wrong phone number or outdated hours listed. Google checks if your name, address, and phone number are the same everywhere online. If they don't match, Google gets confused—and confused Google doesn't show your profile.
Quick check: Is your business name spelled exactly the same on your website, Yelp, and Google profile?
When someone searches "lawn mowing near me," Google looks at your profile to see if you offer that service. If you haven't listed it, you won't show up—even if you mow lawns every day.
This is where categories and services come in. We'll explain these in detail in the next section. For now, just know that telling Google exactly what you do is really important.
Google reads your reviews. Lots of good reviews tell Google that customers trust you. Replying to those reviews shows that you're active and you care. Both of these things help you rank higher.
Think about it: would you hire a lawn care service with 5 reviews or one with 150 reviews? Google thinks the same way.
Here's the good news: You don't need to be a tech expert to improve these things. Most of it just takes a few minutes to fix.
Now, let's dive deeper into the part that trips up most people: categories and services. Once you understand these, you'll be ahead of most lawn care companies in your area.
Remember when we said Google needs to know what you do? This is where you tell it. Let's break this down into two simple parts.
Why this matters: Of all the things you can control on your Google Business Profile, categories have one of the biggest impacts on your local rankings. Pick the wrong ones, and you won't show up when customers search. Pick the right ones, and you'll appear for the exact services you offer. Our case study proves that adding relevant categories doesn't hurt your rankings—it actually increases your visibility.
Think of categories like labels on a filing cabinet. Google uses them to sort businesses into groups. When someone searches "lawn care service near me," Google opens the "Lawn care service" folder and shows what's inside.
If your company isn't in that folder, you won't show up. It's that simple.
You get to pick one primary category (your main label) and a few secondary categories (extra labels for other things you do).
Here's what a typical lawn care service might choose:
Pro tip: Not sure which categories to pick? The checklist below will walk you through exactly how to find the best categories for your company.
If categories are the folders, services are the specific items inside. They tell Google (and your customers) exactly what you offer.
Let's say someone searches "lawn fertilization near me." Google will check if you have "Lawn fertilization" listed as a service. If you do, great—you might show up. If you don't, Google assumes you don't offer it.
Think of it like a restaurant menu. If a dish isn't on the menu, customers won't know they can order it.
Services a lawn care service might list:
The more services you list, the more searches you can show up for. Just make sure you actually offer what you list!
Here's a simple action plan:
Not sure where to start? The checklist below will guide you through the categories and services in just 20 to 25 minutes.
Work through each item below. By the end, your profile will be optimized for better local rankings.
Explore optimization guides for similar business types
Complete suite of professional tools for Google Business Profile management
How to use:
Open any business on Google Maps - primary and secondary categories display automatically beside the profile
Features:
How to use:
Search for any term on Google Maps - click the Local Scan button to compare all GBPs
Features:
How to use:
Open any business on Google Maps - click the 'AI' button beside the GBP to use AI features
Features:
How to use:
Open any business on Google Maps - click the 'Find more' button beside categories
Features:
How to use:
Open any business on Google Maps - click the 'Basic Audit' button beside the GBP
Features:
How to use:
Open any business on Google Maps - click the 'Review Audit' button beside the GBP
Features:
How to use:
Open any business on Google Maps - click the 'Teleport' button beside the GBP
Features:
How to use:
Open any business on Google Maps - click the 'Post Audit' button beside the GBP
Features:
Join thousands of agencies and businesses using GMB Everywhere daily
Join 250,000+ users who use GMB Everywhere to analyze competitors and optimize their Google Business Profiles
Install GMB Everywhere - It's Free