Latest / The Local Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Small Business, Google Maps, and Local SEO / How a Barbershop Uses Google Business Profile Categories to Stand Out
Transcript
- Lucas: Luna, I want to talk about something that sounds boring on paper but can completely change a local business's visibility on Google Maps. I'm talking about Google Business Profile categories. Luna: Okay, I'll bite. What's exciting about a dropdown menu? Lucas: More than you'd think. Let me tell you about a barbershop in Austin. They'd been stuck on page three of local results for 'barber shop Austin' for over a year. They had good reviews, decent photos, regular posts — the works. But they couldn't crack the top three. Luna: Classic local SEO frustration. Lucas: Right. So they decide to audit their Google Business Profile. And what do they find? Their primary category was 'Barber Shop.' That's fine. But their secondary categories? They had 'Hair Salon,' 'Beauty Salon,' 'Grooming Lounge' — just generic stuff. So they make one change: they swap 'Hair Salon' for 'Men's Hair Salon.' That's it. Luna: Wait — there's a specific 'Men's Hair Salon' category? I thought Google just had 'Hair Salon' and that was it. Lucas: That's the thing. Google has hundreds of categories, and most business owners never scroll past the obvious ones. 'Men's Hair Salon' is a separate category. It's more specific. And Google's algorithm rewards specificity because it helps match the right business to the right search. Luna: So what happened to the barbershop? Lucas: Within three weeks, they jumped to position two in the local three-pack for 'barber shop Austin.' Their phone started ringing. The owner told me he couldn't believe one dropdown change did that. But it makes sense — Google saw that they were explicitly a men's hair salon, so when someone searched for 'men's haircut,' the algorithm had a clearer signal. Luna: Okay, I'm convinced. But walk me through the mechanics. How does Google actually use categories? Lucas: Sure. Your primary category is the most important. It tells Google what your business fundamentally is. If you're a pizza place and you set your primary to 'Italian Restaurant,' you'll show up for broader searches, but you might lose out on 'pizza delivery.' The secondary categories are like supporting signals — they fill in the gaps. Google uses them to understand the full range of services you offer. Luna: So the trick is to pick a primary that matches your core service and then layer on specific secondaries that cover everything else you do? Lucas: Exactly. But here's where it gets tricky. You can only pick up to ten categories. And Google has rules about relevance — you can't just throw in unrelated categories. A barbershop can't add 'Dentist' just to get more visibility. Google will either ignore it or, worse, flag your profile. Luna: What about the opposite problem — category stuffing? I've seen some profiles with ten totally random categories. Lucas: It happens. Some businesses think more is better. But Google's quality guidelines explicitly say categories should accurately represent your business. If you're a coffee shop and you add 'Coworking Space' just because you have one table where someone works on a laptop, that's a stretch. It might work short-term, but Google's gotten better at detecting mismatches. They use user behavior signals — if people search for 'coworking space' and click your coffee shop, then bounce immediately, Google learns you're not a good fit. Luna: So it's about precision, not volume. How do you actually find the right categories? There are hundreds. Lucas: Great question. First, go to your Google Business Profile dashboard. Click 'Edit profile,' then 'Business category.' Start typing your core service and see what Google suggests. Don't just pick the first thing. Scroll. For example, if you type 'Barber,' you get 'Barber Shop.' But if you type 'Men's,' you might get 'Men's Hair Salon.' The key is to use the search function within the category picker — it reveals options you'd never find by scrolling. Luna: So you're saying the dropdown is searchable? I've never tried that. Lucas: Most people don't. And that's why so many businesses end up with generic categories. Another tactic: look at your top competitors. Search for your service in your area, open the Google Business Profiles of the businesses that rank in the top three, and note their primary and secondary categories. You might discover a category you didn't know existed. Luna: Alright, let's say I find a better category. Should I change my primary category, or just add it as a secondary? Lucas: That depends. Your primary category is the strongest signal, so changing it is risky. If your current primary is reasonable, I'd start by adding more specific secondaries. In the barbershop case, they kept 'Barber Shop' as primary and added 'Men's Hair Salon' as a secondary. That worked. But if you're a niche business — say, a plant-based bakery — and your primary is 'Bakery,' you might consider changing it to 'Vegan Bakery' if that exists. Just know that changing your primary can reset some of your ranking history. So test one change at a time and wait a few weeks to see the impact. Luna: That's smart. But there's another layer, right? Categories also affect which search queries you show up for beyond just the category name itself. Lucas: Exactly right. Categories influence Google's understanding of your business entity. For example, if you're a 'Mexican Restaurant,' Google might also show you for 'taco Tuesday' even if 'taco' isn't a category. But if you add 'Breakfast Restaurant' as a secondary, you might start showing up for 'breakfast tacos.' It's about building a semantic profile. Luna: Semantic profile — I like that. So categories are like keywords for Google's local algorithm. Lucas: In a way, yes. But they're more structured than keywords. They're part of Google's knowledge graph. When you pick a category, you're telling Google exactly which node in the graph your business belongs to. That's powerful because it influences how Google ranks you for related queries. Luna: So what about the businesses that don't have a perfect category? Like a hybrid — a coffee shop that also sells books and hosts live music. Lucas: That's where you have to prioritize. Pick the primary that represents your main revenue driver. If you sell more coffee than books, primary should be 'Coffee Shop.' Then add 'Bookstore' and 'Live Music Venue' as secondaries — if they exist. If not, you might be stuck with 'Café' or 'Internet Café.' But here's a pro tip: sometimes Google adds new categories based on business behavior. If enough businesses in a niche consistently select a particular category, Google may split it out. So don't be afraid to choose the closest match and let your reviews and posts fill in the gaps. Luna: Speaking of reviews — can categories affect review topics? Like, if you're a 'Dentist' but you also do teeth whitening, and you don't have 'Teeth Whitening Service' as a category, do people still mention it in reviews? Lucas: They do, and Google reads those reviews for keyword relevance. But categories give Google a shortcut. If you have the right category, Google doesn't have to infer your services from text — it knows. That can accelerate your ranking for specific services. Luna: So the barbershop story is just one example. I bet there are similar wins in every industry. Lucas: Absolutely. A plumber who adds 'Water Heater Installation' as a secondary might start ranking for that specific service. A yoga studio that adds 'Prenatal Yoga' could capture a whole new audience. The categories are there — you just have to find them. Luna: Alright, I'm going to audit my own profile tonight. But before we wrap, any pitfalls to watch out for? Lucas: A few. First, don't change categories too often. Google takes time to re-index your profile. Second, don't add categories that don't match — it can confuse the algorithm and hurt your relevance. Third, remember that categories are just one signal. They work best when combined with a complete profile: accurate hours, high-quality photos, responsive Q&A, and regular posts. Luna: And consistent NAP — name, address, phone — across the web. Lucas: Exactly. Categories are the foundation, but the house needs walls and a roof. One more thing: if you're a multi-location business, each location can have different categories. A restaurant chain might have 'Pizza Restaurant' for one location and 'Italian Restaurant' for another, depending on the menu. So optimize per location. Luna: That makes sense. You know, it's funny — we spend so much time on reviews and posts, but categories are literally the first thing Google asks for when you set up a profile. And yet so many businesses get it wrong. Lucas: It's the classic local SEO blind spot. Everyone's looking for the secret hack, but the basics are where the leverage is. If today's episode sparked something you might actually use — maybe you're thinking about auditing your own categories — and if it was worth the cost of a coffee to you, that's the link: buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Luna: Yeah, it's a small way to keep the show ad-free and focused on practical stuff like this. No pressure, but if it helped, we appreciate it. Lucas: So here's my challenge for listeners: go open your Google Business Profile right now. Look at your categories. If your primary is something generic like 'Store' or 'Service,' dig deeper. Search for alternatives. Add one specific secondary category. Then wait two weeks and check your insights. I'd love to hear what happens. Luna: And if you see a jump in calls or direction requests, drop us a note. We might feature your story in a future episode. Lucas: That's it for today. Luna, next week I want to talk about something that's been bubbling up in local SEO — the role of short video in Google Business Profile posts. I've seen some wild results. Luna: I'm in. See you next time.