Your Google Business Profile

Google Business Profile is the greatest return on investment you’ll get on any marketing in the home service industry. 

Why? 

84% of people who find your business online see your Google Business Profile. 

Plus it’s free. 

If you’re doing any form of advertising and don’t have a google business profile, you’re lighting money on fire. 

Just about everyone who encounters your business in the real world will search your name online to get your info. 

• Pass your truck on the road, search your name to find your number. 
• See a yard sign, look you up online and call. 
• See a commercial or YouTube ad, search your name online. 
• Remember a print ad you saw in the morning paper, google your name. 
• Neighbor recommended you? Let me search your name to find your phone number.

Hell, even people who don’t want to work with you will find it. 

(Ex: Driving like an asshole in a lettered truck? Enjoy that 1 star review buddy)

It’s more crucial to have a Google Business Profile than a website. Yet people spend a ton of money and time building a website first. That’s stupid. 

Don’t be stupid, build a GBP first. 

Some marketers will tell you that your website is more important. Maybe they’re right and I’m crazy but the way I see it is if people can’t find your website in the first place, it really doesn’t matter how cool your website is.

It’s like email. You could craft a hall of fame email but if the subject line sucks, no one’s going to open it anyways.

80% of your time, money, and effort should be spent on getting in front of hungry customers. 

The other 20% of your time should focus on conversion rate and closing. 

Most of your website traffic will come directly through your Google Profile - referrals, past customers, and new customers will all see it.

Your Google Profile makes it easy for potential customers (like Linda) to find your business info (name, number, location), photos of your work, and reviews. 

Plus it allows them to call within one click so they don’t have to see your shitty website if you're embarrassed about it. 

So please for the love of God, create a Google Business Profile. 

Now, hand up, Google has made the verification process hell within recent years. Like most good things, a few scumbags ruined it for everyone. So now you’ll need to provide legal documents among other things to prove you’re legit. 

It’s a challenge. Most things worth doing are. 

So fight like hell to get it done ASAP and reward yourself with a thirty-six inch chicken parm sub from Presto Craft Kitchen when you’re verified. 

(Presto Craft Kitchen is not a sponsor, I’m just a huge fan. If anyone wants to sponsor this website, hit me up).

Google has a boat load of resources explaining how to create a Google Business Profile. So I’m not going to ramble about how to complete each step. 

Here’s the resource I used to create and optimize mine - How to improve your local ranking on Google. 

Fill out as much information as you can and update your profile with pics or info once every 6 weeks.

The goal is to be top 3 in the local pack of the town your business is based in. 

Here are three things you should know if you want to be at the top of the local pack.

Location 

Google is going to show users that are closest to the customer first. 

Most customers search ‘near me’ and share their location with Google. So don’t expect your Google Profile to show up in the map section for towns you’re not based in. 

Reviews 

Good reviews are gold in the home service industry. Whoever has the most reviews will show up at the top as long as the rating is above 4.5. Don’t be a wuss, ask for reviews. 

DO NOT BUY REVIEWS. Us New Englanders might be assholes but we’re not stupid. We can tell when reviews are fake. Google can tell when you buy them and will flag your account so it’ll never show up in any searches. 

Do the work, ask for a review when it’s complete. Better yet make it easy on your customers by texting the review link - here’s a short video of how to get your Google Business Review link. 

Effort 

It’s corny and I’m cringing typing ‘effort’ as the last reason but it’s true. Google wants to promote companies who give a damn about how they look online. (Wouldn’t you if you were Google?)

• Add pictures once a month to your profile
• Post updates
• Update your holiday hours when Google emails you about it. 

Most business owners don’t do these things. Take 15 minutes out of your day once a month and you’ll climb the ranks. 

Once you have it all setup, put yourself in the customer's shoes. Search your services in your hometown and a few neighboring towns and see how your business stacks up. 

• Are you one of the top three recommended companies? 
• How many companies do you have to scroll through to get to your name? 
• Would you click on your company over the other options? 

Do this on someone else’s phone who isn’t associated with the business. Google will naturally show you higher on your phone because they know you own the business. 

If you want help improving your ranking on Google, I might be able to. Fill out the form on the contact page and we can chat about your issues and ways you can improve. 

Once your google profile is created and verified, now it’s time to focus on closing clients by optimizing your website.