A mason in Lagos building a boundary wall for a client in Lekki got the job after the client's neighbour shared his number in a WhatsApp group for the estate. That referral is how most of his work still arrives, but he also keeps a Google Business Profile going, mainly because a property developer once found him that way when nobody in his usual network had a free crew, and the job turned into three more referrals afterward. He still thinks of the profile as a backup to word of mouth rather than the main channel, but it is the backup that landed him the biggest job he has done this year.
Setting up the profile so it actually represents the business
The category should read Bricklayer or mason, or whatever the specific trade is, rather than a generic construction label, since that is what determines whether the profile even appears when someone searches for that exact kind of work. Anyone operating without a fixed yard or showroom, which describes most masons and builders working site to site across Lagos, should set the profile up as a service area business covering the parts of the city actually worked in, Lekki, Ikeja, wherever the jobs are, instead of a single address that suggests a shopfront that does not exist. If an old listing already exists under the business name, created by a former partner or picked up automatically by Google, claiming it beats creating a second one that just splits whatever reviews already exist. Verifying the profile can take longer where address data is less reliable, so it is worth starting that process early rather than waiting until a big job depends on the listing being live.
Getting the first message right
Search increasingly happens on a phone in Nigeria, and the more common pattern now is someone searching Google or getting a personal referral and then moving the actual conversation to WhatsApp Business rather than calling or emailing. A mason or builder who has WhatsApp Business linked and responds quickly to a first message, even just to say when someone can come look at the site, wins jobs that a slower business loses to whoever answers first. Speed matters even more for the kind of urgent repair that cannot wait for a formal quote process, a collapsed section of fencing after heavy rain, for instance, where whoever replies first within the hour is usually the one who gets the job.
Photos that show the standard of work
A finished wall, a before and after of a job that started as bare blockwork, and a close-up of pointing or plaster finish tell a client more than any description, especially for someone hiring a stranger to build something structural on their property. A photo of the crew on site in proper gear also reassures a client who has heard stories about work left unfinished, and a shot of the equipment or mixer in use adds a small but real sense that the business is properly set up rather than a single person working alone.
Keeping availability honest during busy stretches
Building work in Lagos swings between quiet weeks and stretches where every existing client wants work done at once, and a profile that still shows availability when a crew is fully booked for the next month just generates messages that go unanswered, which does more harm than looking busy would. A short note added to the profile description during a fully booked month, saying plainly when new estimates can resume, costs nothing and heads off a string of unanswered messages.
Reviews and being findable beyond word of mouth
A property developer who left a Google review after that Lekki wall job mentioned specifically that the work was finished on the date agreed, which matters to Nigerian clients used to renovation timelines slipping. Replying to that review, and to a smaller complaint another reviewer left about a delayed start, shows a business that pays attention. Beyond Google, a listing on VConnect, which also connects tradespeople directly with leads, a profile on ConnectNigeria, and an active Facebook Business Page, kept consistent in name, address and phone number, all help someone verify a business before letting a crew onto their property, especially outside the network of personal referrals a mason usually relies on.
What Kaptor takes care of
Kaptor sets up the Google Business Profile with the right category and service area, flags a review that never got a reply or availability that no longer matches reality, and keeps the business details lined up across the other platforms Nigerian clients check before making contact. See also the Google Business Profile hub for building trades and how the same setup works for building trades in Ghana.