Improving Local Search with Google My Business & Reputation Management

Table of Contents:

Introduction

Section One: “Google my Business” and Local Pack

Section Two: Consumer Searches

Section Three: Creating and/or Claiming Your “Google My Business” Listing

Section Four: Optimize Your “Google My Business” Listing

Section Five: Reputation Management/ Managing Your Reviews

Section Six: The Takeaway

About Thursday Pools

3

4

5

8

9

10

15

14

2

IntroductionWhen was the last time you took a look at what the world-wide web has to say about your business? Today, nearly all of your potential customers will have researched you online before they ever talk to one of your salespeople. And they’re not just looking at your website. Your website tells them everything YOU want them to know about your business. But your prospective customers are interested in what OTHER PEOPLE want them to know about your business.

That’s where reputation management comes in.

You need to manage your online business listings, for a couple of reasons.

1. Your online business listings are a powerful way to improve search results for your business, which will help more customers find you.

2. Online reviews might be the first thing a potential customer sees about you, and it’s all about that star rating. A negative review may or may not be deserved, but ignoring it is the worst thing you can do.

Here’s the thing. You can’t hide from Google. Unless your business is brand-new, your Google listing probably already exists. And if it doesn’t, it will soon. So, now it’s up to you to manage it, just like you do your website, and every other aspect of your business.

So, let’s take a look at how you can control what the world gets to see and hear about your business online.

3

Google my Business and Local Pack What is Google My Business?

Google My Business is a free tool that lets you manage how your business appears on Google Search and Maps. That includes adding your business name, location, and hours; monitoring and replying to customer reviews; adding photos; learning where and how people are searching for you, and more.

What is Google Local Pack?

Have you ever searched for a business near you and discovered that Google has presented you with a tidy bundle at the top of the page that it feels are your best choices? That’s Google Local Pack. Here’s an example of the results for a search for “Indianapolis pool builders.”

Notice how prominently the star reviews are featured in the local pack results. They jump right off the page at you.

So, if you want YOUR business to show up in this tidy bundle that Google presents prospective customers with, you absolutely must claim your Google My Business listing, and update it.

Underneath the Local Pack, you’ll find sponsored results. Those are Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads. After that, Google applies its “secret sauce” algorithm to decide what searchers get to see and who’s the best match for them. If you’re not showing up on page one in your neck of the woods, you have work to do. Read on.

1

4

Consumer SearchesHow are your customers currently finding you? Most likely, you’re getting a lot of referrals from your existing happy customers. However, if you’re looking to reach NEW customers, consider these two statistics:

So, the way your business appears in a search result MATTERS.

In the last year, Google has given the local pack search results a much higher priority. Google looks to provide customers with the absolute best information, so it’s weighing your proximity to the searcher as well as your star rating to make the best recommendation it can.

2

93% of online experiences begin with a search (Often a mobile device.)

93%

64% of consumers trust online search engines the most when they’re conducting research on a business.

64%

5

Stars MATTER

Research shows that 80% of consumers don’t trust businesses with less than 4-star ratings. Moreover, they’re more likely to gravitate towards a business with no ratings at all than a business with a one-star rating.

Take a look at this chart that demonstrates the click-through rates based on star ratings.

You’ll see that your business would get 25% more clicks if you improve from a 3-star rating to a 5-star rating.

41%

30%35%

44%

59%

69%

NOSTARS

5STARS

4STARS

3STARS

2STARS

1STARS

6

How does your business listing impact SERP (the search engine results page) ?

If you study the pie chart below, you’ll see that Google My Business signals are the number one factor in how Google determines the Local Pack and number four in how it ranks pages overall.

Local Pack/Finder Ranking Factors

25%

17%

15%

14%

11%

10%

6%

3% Social Signals

Personalization

Behavioral Signals

Citation Signals

On-Page Signals

Review Signals

Link Signals

Google My Business Signals

Localized Organic Ranking Factors

28%

26%

12%

9%

8%

7%

6%

3% Social Signals

Review Signals

Personalization

Citation Signals

Google My Business Signals

Behavioral Signals

On-Page Signals

Link Signals

If you think that most consumers won’t trust what strangers have

to say about your business, consider this:

85% of consumers say they trust online reviews as much as

personal recommendations.

85%

7

Creating and/or Claiming Your Google My Business Listing

3

1. You’ll need a Google account that’s associated with your business, so first create one if you don’t have one.

2. Log into that account.

3. Go to google.com/business and select “Start Now” in the top right-hand corner.

4. Enter the name of your business.

5. Enter your business address.

6. Enter the information about your delivery services and area.

7. Choose your business category.

8. Add your business phone number and website.

9. Choose the option with which you’ll want to be reached to verify your listing.

a. There are several options, but instant verification is best to get it taken care of!

8

Optimize Your Google My Business Listing Now that you’ve claimed your listing, it’s time to optimize it. Add in every detail you possibly can to give Google all the ammunition it needs to help make your business shine!

Info

Add all relevant information in here, and definitely update your hours of operation if you change them. Most folks will get that information from Google before they even look at your website.

Photos

We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words. Enhance your listing with your logo as well as great project photos. Statistics show that a businesses who add photos to their listings get 35% more click-throughs to their websites.

Posts

Think of the posts page like a mini website. It’s the perfect spot to post links to recent blog posts, boost special sales or promotions, or invite people to register for a special event.

Home

General information about your business.

4

If a picture is worth a thousand words, a video is worth a million! Google LOVES video. Add it to your business listing as well as your website for a page ranking boost!

9

Reputation Management (Managing Your Reviews)Now that your listing is getting some attention, it’s time to “mind the store” when it comes to reviews. Your listing and the reviews that others post on it are two sides of the same coin. Reputation management is simply the act of listening and responding to what your customers (and others) are saying about you online. Remember, stars matter!

Negative reviews can be hard to digest, and they’re not always deserved. A negative review may come from a terminated employee trying to get back at you, or it could be just an impossible-to-please customer that wanted more than any company could reasonably deliver.

No matter what the motivation is behind a negative review, the last thing you want to do is give that reviewer the last word.

Ignoring a negative review

is like pretending you don’t

see water in your basement.

It will just sit there, quietly

doing damage, until you get

to the source. You have to be

proactive.

5

10

What do consumers expect when they leave a negative review?

Under “Settings”, you can request that Google My Business send you an alert when a review is posted. This is the best way to stay on top of incoming reviews and respond in a timely manner.

53%

53% of consumers expect the business to respond to negative reviews within a week.

63%

63% say businesses never do.

How to respond to a negative review.

1. Reach out. It’s crucial that a member of the management team responds to the customer promptly. However, don’t get worked up about it. Make sure you’re truly responding, not reacting.

2. Listen. Make sure your team is trained to listen with an open mind and consider that the complaint might have some merit. They should never respond to a complaint in a defensive tone.

3. Apologize. Even if you don’t feel your company did anything wrong, you still need to apologize. But you can say, “I’m sorry to hear you feel that way,” as opposed to, “I’m sorry that happened.” Whatever you do, make sure you don’t escalate the situation.

11

Get more reviews

The best way to disseminate negative reviews is to get more positive reviews. Remember that people are two to three times more likely to take the time to write a negative review if they’re unhappy than they are to take the time to write a positive review if they’re happy. So, you’re most likely going to have to ask for reviews from happy customers.

Send a follow-up email

Some email providers allow you to embed a brief survey in your email. When you complete a job, you should always send a thank-you email and request that your customer leaves you a review.

Dear Alejandro,

Thank you for purchasing a pool with us. Now that your enjoying your pool, please tell us how satisfied are you with the experience you had with Denver Pools & Spas.

DENVER POOL & SPAS

VERYDISSATISFIED

DISSATISFIED SOMEWHATSATISFIED

SATISFIED VERYSATISFIED

SUBMIT

12

Dear Alejandro,

Thank you for purchasing a pool with us. Now that your enjoying your pool, please tell us how satisfied are you with the experience you had with Denver Pools & Spas.

DENVER POOL & SPAS

VERYDISSATISFIED

DISSATISFIED SOMEWHATSATISFIED

SATISFIED VERYSATISFIED

SUBMIT

Follow up on any negative responses immediately

Again, if your email marketing program is equipped to do so, you should have two email responses ready to go; one for a positive review and one for negative review. Additionally a member of your management team should follow up with a phone call to the customer right away.

Add positive reviews to your website

Once you get a great stream of positive reviews flowing, your website developer should be able to add a link on your website for those reviews to pull directly to your website. Testimonials that you’ve posted yourself, such as quotes from handwritten thank-you notes over the years, often carry less weight than new, live reviews.

Hmm. That’s not what we like to hear. Please tell us a bit more about your experience so we can improve.

DENVER POOL & SPAS

SUBMIT

That’s great! Please tell us a bit more about your experience so we can spread the joy to our team!

DENVER POOL & SPAS

SUBMIT

Three or fewer stars Four or more stars

13

The TakeawayClaiming and optimizing your business listing is the most powerful thing you can do to improve how both Google and prospective customers see your business online. If you don’t have the time to manage it, assign the responsibility to someone on your team.

Just like you manage your relationships with your employees, your customers, your family and friends, you need to manage your relationship with Google. It can be your business’ best friend if you show it a little love.

Show Google some love and it will love

you back!

6

14

About Thursday PoolsWith over 35 years’ experience in manufacturing fiberglass and composites, Thursday Pools is dedicated to bringing cutting-edge innovations to the pool world. Thursday Pools designs and manufactures fiberglass pool shells that are handcrafted with the highest standards and craftsmanship. Our one-piece, inground fiberglass swimming pool manufacturing facility is based in Fortville, Indiana.

At Thursday Pools we aspire to be the world’s most respected fiberglass pool manufacturer. We believe passion, care and attention to details make the difference.

We are relentlessly dedicated to helping our dealer family succeed on every level, by supplying them with resources such as: product and 360 videos, helpful blogs, dealer sales tools and educational materials like this.

Click below for more information on joining the Thursday Pools dealer family.

15