Podcast Episode 005 - Why Your Google Business Profile Is Your Best Salesperson
Hosts: Matt DeLong and Booker Fritz Runtime: ~23 minutes
What We Cover
Your Google Business Profile is working right now. The question is whether it's working for you or against you.
In this episode, Matt and Booker break down what we learned from scoring dozens of contractor and remodeler Google Business Profiles from best to worst. The top profile scored 8.5 out of 10. The bottom one scored a 2 — and some profiles hadn't even been claimed by the business that owns them.
Categories: why "general contractor" may be costing you kitchen and bath leads, and how to set your primary and secondary categories.
Service areas and reviews: how Google uses reviewer location to decide where you show up, and why you should be "five-mile famous" before you expand.
A steady flow of reviews: why one fresh review beats a pile of five-stars from three years ago, and how keyword-rich reviews help you rank.
Responding to reviews: why a thoughtful reply to a bad review can build more trust than another five-star.
Photos, videos and posts: what to post, how often, and why your gallery should only show the work you want more of.
Answering homeowners' real questions: cost, licensing, who'll be in their home, timelines, warranties, payment schedules and change orders
Transcript
[00:02] Matt: Today we're going to be talking about your Google Business Profile, and why your GBP is your best salesperson. And today I'm joined by my co-host, Booker. Booker, how are we doing?
[00:16] Booker: Hello! Doing pretty good.
[00:19] Matt: So before we jump in: later this season, we're going to talk about how AI plays into fixing some of these issues. If you're wondering how it fits in, just stick with us — we'll talk more about that later in the season. But today we're going to start with the fundamentals.
[00:37] What we've done is ranked two dozen profiles from best to worst. Actually, we did quite a bit more than that — eventually we ended up doing probably 60, but we started with two dozen. Booker, what were our findings?
[00:57] Booker: Well, yeah. The best profile had the right category. They had fresh photos. Every review was answered the same day, or at least by the next day.
The worst one had the wrong category, stale photos, questions unanswered, reviews unanswered. It really just looked a little bit like a ghost town.
So that activity is definitely what made the best profile stick out. Not only did they have an actual Google Business Profile, they were super active on it — and that's super important. You want people to know you're still in business. If you just have a stale Google Business Profile, people aren't sure if you're even still around. So that activity was really key in making that number one profile number one.
[01:57] Matt: Right. In our review, the top-scoring profile we've done so far was 8.5 out of 10. That was GCG Construction out of Fort Myers, Florida — so shout-out to GCG, one of our clients. They did everything right, right?
[02:24] The things most people get wrong are the primary category; stale or missing photos, like you mentioned; reviews from two years ago and nothing since; and a lack of updates or posts. And one of the things I think is super important: it may have been the case years ago, but most people probably assume the Google Business Profile is set-it-and-forget-it. And that's not the case, is it?
[02:52] Booker: Right, definitely not. Not only do you want that primary category, you also want secondary categories as well. There's definitely a lot to it.
[03:00] Matt: Right. And our lowest-ranking one was, I believe, a 2.0 out of 10. We've even seen profiles where someone has a review or two, and the profile says, "Do you need to claim this profile?" Which means it's unclaimed — the actual owners of that company haven't even claimed it. So not only is it a ghost town, it's a ghost town with cobwebs. Zero traffic, zero interest in claiming it.
So things like the category, the reviews, the hours, the photos — it's really tough to rank on Google without them, because that's a heavy ranking factor for Google traffic. Booker, what would you say — how much does the Google Business Profile impact your overall ranking on Google?
[04:05] Booker: I'd say, depending on the market, it feels like 70% or more. It's really the lifeblood of a local business. It shows up well above your website, so it's very, very important.
[04:23] Matt: Yeah, I was going to say 60-plus — 60 to 70%. Which is pretty interesting, because claiming your Google profile takes a little bit of time, it doesn't cost anything, and it's a pretty significant component, right?
[04:42] Booker: Yeah, it certainly is.
[04:44] When it comes to categories on your Google Business Profile, I don't think people realize how important they are. If you're a remodeler, you might have something like general contractor as your main category. But I don't know if that's the best case for all remodelers. For example, if you really want to target kitchen remodels, you probably want kitchen remodeler as your primary category. General contractor is a great secondary category, but you want the main thing to be the main thing. It's super important to check your categories and add those supporting categories.
General contractor is a very broad category. It's still a great one. But if you want more kitchen remodels or bathroom remodels, make sure to set that as your primary category. It tells Google which searches mean the most to you and who to bring to the table. So it's super important to make sure that category is correct.
[05:53] Your service area sets your radius. You want to make sure your hometown is selected, plus the other towns around your main area. But it's not just your service area — it's also the reviews you're getting. Google knows the location of the reviewer, and they also analyze the content of the reviews. So it's very important to collect reviews on a consistent basis — which I know is extremely hard. You're already busy as it is. But it's very important, because it determines where you're going to get more customers.
If you're getting a ton of reviews in your hometown, you're likely going to show up higher in your hometown. If you're getting tons of reviews in the town next door, and you have that set as a service area, you'll start getting more leads from that neighboring town.
[06:57] Matt: Right. Our rule of thumb — our guidance — has always been: become five-mile famous. Be popular in your local city, not the suburb next door or down the road. Because if you're not dominating your home turf, it's way harder to dominate outside of it. There are other competitors who are sometimes closer to the homeowner, right?
So let's say you open up your phone and type "kitchen remodelers." Booker, that "near me" part happens automatically on Google — especially in Google Maps — because they know your geolocation. So if you're standing in, let's say, downtown Fort Myers, Florida, it's going to be the equivalent of "kitchen remodelers in Fort Myers, Florida." Is that right?
[07:58] Booker: That's 100% right. And like you said, you have to start where your actual profile is. You want to make sure you're ranking really well there. It's kind of like a spider-web effect: you want to start really strong in the center and then branch outward. It's not really worth branching out too soon. You need strong roots at your core location.
[08:25] Matt: Right, so you can defend against competitors who might be doing the same thing in reverse — whose home base is five or 10 miles down the road, and they're trying to encroach on your territory.
[08:39] Booker: Yeah, five-mile famous is important. Definitely.
[08:43] Matt: Right. And as we talked about in our previous episode, you don't have to be the best — you have to be the best known. That's a huge difference-maker.
Part of what I think most people don't understand is the impact reviews have on your overall score. There are obviously two numbers: how many reviews you have — let's say 32 — and your overall weighted average, say 4.7. And what most people do is think, "Hey, I've got a 4.7 and some decent reviews. I don't need any more." But that's not the case. The set-it-and-forget-it approach that maybe worked years ago doesn't work anymore. Reviews carry more weight than they ever have.
[09:37] So a slow trickle of reviews is way better than a whole bunch of five-star reviews that are two, three, four years old.
The other thing is: getting a review is one thing. Following up and getting your clients to give you a well-thought-out, well-worded review — maybe keyword-rich — is another. Versus something very weak, like "Booker did a good job." That's very basic. It doesn't target anything.
You may have seen, when you look at restaurants or any kind of reviews on Google, that they'll often group keywords and themes together — "good communication," "on time," "very professional." But you really want the keywords you're trying to target — like "home remodel" — in those reviews too, not just "they did a good job."
[10:34] And beyond the reviews themselves, there's the ability for home service company owners to respond to them. A fast, very thoughtful reply to a one-star review — maybe someone didn't have a good experience — or a two- or three-star review can build more trust than yet another five-star review. And I say that as a company that has all five-star reviews. We have nothing but five-star reviews. I don't know, Booker — maybe we should lower our standards a little and try to get a four-star review or something.
[11:10] But what's interesting is that homeowners — your potential future customers — are reading those responses to see how you respond when something doesn't go according to plan. Materials are delayed, or there's a problem. They want to know, "Are you going to stand behind your work?" That's what people want to know. And that's why a perfect, all-five-star profile is almost a little bit suspicious — a little bit sus, right?
People want to know how you handle problems. What's your process when you don't see eye to eye with the homeowner? Maybe the scope of work takes a turn and they want more than what you originally agreed to. How do you handle that? Do you just tell them, "Too bad, so sad"? You're not trying to chase a perfect score. You want real, authentic, honest answers.
[12:19] We've talked to a few contractors who had their own home remodeled by their own company, and they ended up hiring another company to fix what their own crew did. That was quite the eye-opening conversation — having to tell your guys, "I know we used our in-house crew, but I had to hire a handyman to come in after you and fix some of those screw-ups." That's quite the reality check.
[12:56] So beyond reviews and having the right category, what are some other things people should focus on in their profile, Booker?
[13:05] Booker: Well, also with reviews — if you can, it'd be great to have customers add photos to their reviews. That would be ideal. I know it's hard enough to get reviews as it is, so that might be a big ask.
But you definitely want to add photos to your profile — and not just ones that look super nice. They have to be of the right things. If it's a kitchen remodel, show the actual kitchen remodel. Don't show the outside of the house or anything irrelevant like that. Show the guys installing everything. Show the guys working. You can even add videos.
[13:44] This is one of those frequency things too. If you're posting once a week, that's great. I'd rather you do that than post four times at the end of the month. That consistency really brings the profile alive. Having fresh content every month is a big signal to Google that you're active and actually working on jobs.
Before-and-afters are great photos. You do have to be careful about adding text to them, though — like labeling "before" and "after." That text has to be pretty small. It can't take up too much of the image, or Google may actually take it down. As long as it's kind of in the corner, you should be good to go. So, more photos for sure.
[14:37] Matt: Right. At the end of the day, Google wants to know multiple times a week that you're alive and well. They don't want to think, "Oh, this company went out of business. They haven't had reviews in years, their photos are three years old, no updates." And posting an update is a different thing than a photo update. Is that correct, Booker?
[15:02] Booker: Yeah, definitely. You can add photos through an update, but if they're photos of a job, I recommend adding those to the Google Business Profile's photo section itself. If you completed a really awesome job, you can add it as a post — that's certainly fine. But I'd make sure most of those photos go to the actual photo section of the profile.
[15:26] Matt: Right. And we recommend posting an update at least two or three times a week. An update doesn't always have to be "Here's the last project we worked on," because I realize not every remodeler or builder has two or three finished projects a week. It can be educational: "Here's why we prefer this brand of cabinets," or "Here's why we recommend this brand of flooring." That's educational, and it also helps set you apart from everyone else who's just trying to get jobs.
[16:06] We've talked many times on this podcast about how contractors have kind of a negative reputation — some of it very well deserved, some of it maybe not. But you want to be an established company, and you want to help educate your customers, not just get some money, do the work and disappear. Explain why a certain technique or material is better than others. You can go really deep on hardwood flooring and tile and all the different materials that go into a bathroom or kitchen remodel. There's lots and lots out there.
[16:48] What ends up happening a lot of the time is it becomes a chore for remodeling company owners and contractors. And then it's, "Well, I'm going to make the intern or the virtual assistant do this." And it ends up becoming filler — pointless stuff like "Happy Friday." Pointless, kind of useless content.
So part of what we'll talk about in a future episode is how we've actually built tools to help automate some of that, so it takes the workload off your team and puts it on ours. We have some pretty interesting tools we've custom-built ourselves to keep that process updated, so you're reminding Google that you're alive and well, and that you're a good fit for the traffic they're going to send you.
[17:44] There's another piece of the Google Business Profile that's kind of in transition: the Q&A section. You may have seen it on older Google Business Profiles. Sometimes it's on some profiles, sometimes it's not. But just be mindful of what homeowners want to know from you. What are the common questions? "Do you have experience with the type of project I want to do?"
All your photos and updates need to support more of the type of projects you want. If you're fixing decks and you don't want deck projects, stop posting those photos, because you'll attract more of whatever you post. If you want more kitchen and bathroom jobs, post more kitchen and bathroom jobs and neglect the rest. It doesn't mean you won't do the other work if it comes up — those are conversations you can have after you've scheduled an on-site visit and talked to the homeowner in person.
[18:45] Other common questions: How much does it cost? That's a big one. Are you licensed and insured? Who are the people who'll actually be in my home?
I actually had a conversation a few weeks ago with a couple, and she said, "I loved the guy who met with me. I shook his hand, paid a deposit, and the next thing I know, there's a whole bunch of people in my home who don't even speak English, and I couldn't communicate with them." She said it felt like a bait-and-switch: "I thought I hired this guy, and he hired these other guys." It's hard to communicate with people who don't speak your language, right?
[19:29] How long will the project take? Do you offer a warranty, and what are the details? What's the first deposit, and how does the payment schedule work? If it's a six- to eight-week project, how does that work? And how do you handle disagreements, surprises, or those dreaded change orders that come up?
All of those are very important things to consider. And as you can see, there's a lot that goes into this. It's not set-it-and-forget-it. I wish it were — it would make life easier. But that's some of the background and research we've seen over the last six months or so on Google Business Profiles — all the ones we've looked at and scored, and helped our clients review and improve.
[20:21] Booker, is there any advice you'd give a remodeler or builder when it comes to their own Google Business Profile?
[20:30] Booker: Yeah, certainly. I'd take a step back. It's really hard to see the picture when you're in the frame. So step back and look at your Google Business Profile as if you're a potential customer of your business. Open an incognito window or go to a different computer, search for your business, look at your own profile, and assess it from an outsider's perspective. Look at the different pieces. Make sure everything flows smoothly and makes sense, and make notes of the things that don't. Score your own profile just like a homeowner would. It's going to help you smooth out that process, and it can be really eye-opening too.
[21:17] Matt: Right. At the end of the day, most remodeling contractors never really think about the homeowner's journey interacting with their own company. So imagine being a customer of your own company. It's very eye-opening — especially if things don't go as well as you thought. "Oh, we do an awesome job." Well, is every job awesome? Most homeowners are going to judge you and review you based on their own personal experience. It doesn't matter that you did 99 projects well if there's one that went off plan and sideways.
[21:53] Homeowners are looking to create a shortlist of who they want to invite to bid or give them an estimate on their project. There are dozens of options out there, so your very first objective is to make the shortlist. How do you get on it? Being in front of them and providing valuable, educational content is one way. If they've got 20 choices, they want to whittle that down to three or four. Keeping your profile updated helps put you at the top of that list — and that's all before the face-to-face conversation.
[22:37] Really, at the end of the day, your Google Business Profile is working right now. The question is: is it working for you, or against you? So fix the category. Fix the photos and the reviews. Keep it updated multiple times a week. And then let it do the work for you.
So that's what we have for you guys today. Thanks so much for listening, and don't forget to like this episode and subscribe for more. Thanks.
Things to Remember
Fix your category. Set your primary category to the work you want most, like kitchen remodeler. Keep general contractor as a secondary category.
Keep the reviews coming. A steady flow of fresh, keyword-rich reviews beats a pile of old five-stars. Reply to every review, especially the bad ones.
Post the work you want more of. Add fresh photos and updates two to three times a week, and only show the jobs you want to attract.
Score your profile like a homeowner. Open an incognito window, search for your business, and judge your profile the way a customer would.
