For a home services business, ranking in the top 3 of a Google search is as good as gold.
Once you’re in the Map Pack, you can expect consistent, organic leads for your business because:
90% of your potential customers use Google to search for services
85% of them are clicking on the top three results in the Map Pack
74% of those clicking will make contact or buy something within 24 hours
Here are a few tips from our recent webinar with Merchynt CEO Justin Silverman and host John Talman that your business can use today to start climbing the local search rankings.
Treat Your Google Business Profile Like a Micro-Website
A majority of Google searchers start by clicking into a business’s profile, viewing their listed services, reading reviews, and scrolling through photos. That’s why it’s important to consistently post fresh, relevant content on your Google Business Profile.
Uploading these relevant, geo-located photos and videos helps Google better understand what you do, where you operate, and how popular you are, which in turn leads to your business appearing in more relevant searches.
Justin shared that he has seen dozens of examples of businesses that did not have a service listed on their website but did have photos of that service on their Google Business Profile, and Google still served up the business because they knew through the photo that that business offered that service.
Pro Tip: Justin advises that businesses should have around 22 services and descriptions listed on their Google Business Profile.
Encourage Keyword-Rich Reviews
Reviews are essential for appearing more trustworthy than your competitors to both potential customers and Google. However, Google recently changed how it prioritizes reviews in search results.
“It used to be that if you just had a bunch of reviews, you would show up number one… now Google only really cares about the reviews in the trailing 90 days,” Justin told us.
That’s why it’s essential to encourage your customers to both leave reviews as quickly as possible and include relevant keywords in their reviews. However, “not knowing what to say” is the primary reason customers don’t leave a review, even if they had a great experience.
Merchynt helps their customers streamline this process by auto-generating a review that customers can copy and paste into Google, based on a few quick selections in a survey.
Automate Your Ask for Reviews
Justin suggests taking a half hour to think about your process and identify when your customer is the happiest. That’s when you should request a review using a QR code or a tap tag.
“Just make sure it’s before you talk about payment,’ Justin joked.
Asking for reviews during a final walkthrough will likely lead to more reviews and a greater chance that your team members remember to ask for reviews. And if your team needs even more reasons to remember, some contractors that Justin has worked with pay out $50 to their employees who earn reviews that match specific criteria.
You can also add it to your email signatures, invoice emails, and other communications, but those won’t be as effective as asking in person.
How the CompanyCam + Paige Integration Works
CompanyCam now integrates with Paige—the AI-powered, fully automated Google My Business management software.
When a user adds a “Marketing” or “Before and After” tag to a photo in CompanyCam, that photo is sent to Paige and optimized for marketing purposes.
Paige will automatically add selected photos to a business’s Google Business media, posts, and even their Facebook and Instagram pages. It can also create videos for YouTube and other social media platforms using your CompanyCam photos.
Ranking higher in local search is tough, but with a bit of planning, consistency, and strategy, your business can start to move up the ranks past your competition.
Each month, we host free webinars like this one featuring contractors and subject-matter experts and dive into topics to help you grow your business. John and CompanyCam CEO Luke Hansen also host the Good Contractor Podcast, where they explore what it means to be “good” with stories from industry pros.
