This morning I had the speaker slot at Grafters St Albans. I talked about the one thing most of us never look at: what Google shows a customer before they decide whether to ring you.
Here it is for anyone who missed it or wants to pass it on.
Your next job starts on a phone
Think about the last time you needed a plumber or a locksmith. You picked up your phone and searched. Google showed you a map and three businesses. You chose one in seconds. You looked at the stars, how many reviews, the photos and whether it said open.
That box is your Google Business Profile. It’s free. For a lot of your customers, it’s the first thing they see of your business. If it’s out of date, the work goes to a competitor.
Google’s rule number one
Google’s own first rule is “Focus on the user and all else will follow.” The user isn’t you. It’s the person searching. Everything Google does with your profile comes back to that. Is this business real? Is it open? Can I trust it? Can I find it? The clearer your profile answers those, the more likely you are to get shown and chosen.
Why I know about this
I started out in 2012 taking Street View tours inside businesses for Google Maps. Somewhere along the way, I started fixing profiles and getting owners back into listings they’d lost. Now I look after just over 100 profiles, mostly trades: locksmiths, pest controllers and builders. I record every review on my clients’ profiles every day, so I know the moment one goes missing.
Three things that go wrong
These are the three I sort out most weeks.
Fake reviews. A pest controller got three fake reviews this month. The first one asked him to get in touch on WhatsApp. That’s how the blackmail scams start: bad reviews, then a message asking for money to take them down. Never reply and never pay. Take screenshots and send them to me. Google removed all three within three days.
Lost reviews. A local gate company lost 14 years of reviews overnight. Because we moved fast, all 50 were back within ten days. Another business found out too late and theirs were gone for good. Speed matters.
Locked out. Loads of profiles belong to the web designer, an old employee or an email address nobody can get into any more. Then nobody can change a thing. You need to be the owner of your own profile.
The 2 minute Google check
This is the bit everyone did on their phones in the room. Do it now.
- Search your business name. Does it come up with the right phone number and hours?
- Open the Google Maps app. No “Business” tab along the bottom? Then the account on your phone doesn’t manage your profile. So who does? Another one of your email addresses or another person entirely?
- Check your reviews, newest first. When was the last one? Has one you know about gone?
- Is your home address showing? If customers never come to you, it shouldn’t be. It’s against Google’s guidelines and it can get a profile suspended.
- Christmas is coming. Are your Christmas, New Year and bank holiday hours on?
Any “no” or “don’t know”? Send me your business name on WhatsApp on 07966 086133 and I’ll have a look for you.
Pass it on
You don’t need to explain any of this to anyone. Just listen out for these words: “our Google reviews have disappeared”, “someone’s left us a fake review”, “Google’s suspended our listing”, “we can’t get into our Google profile”, “we’re starting a new business”, “we’re moving premises”. When you hear one, give them my number.
Changing an address can put a profile back into verification, so it’s worth a word before you move, not after.
What it costs
I do one-off fixes, like getting you back in or recovering a profile, and I look after profiles all year for people who’d rather not think about it. Everything I do and what it costs is on my Google Business Profile support page. Have a look there for up to date services and prices.
Thanks to Raf at Asbestos Fighters for letting me use his Snapshot report as an example on the day, and for the answers to the questions in it. I’m updating his profile today 🙂
The showreel
In case you’d like to see the video showreel again, here it is.
