To help trades businesses become more competitive during the cost of living crisis, IronmongeryDirect is offering advice on how to stand out from the crowd by creating a strong Google Business Profile.
The online retailer of specialist ironmongery points out that with homeowners having less money to spend on home improvements, many trades businesses are seeing a price crunch for their services.
One effective method of improving marketing is boosting visibility to create or improve your Google Business Profile.
IronmongeryDirect partnered with My Local Toolbox to analyse thousands of Google Business reviews and reveal exactly what it takes to improve an online presence. Here is the guide they came up with:
Increasing your number of reviews
Go above and beyond in your day-to-day work – do a good job and make your customers happy.
Ask customers for a review. If you’ve done a good job, you’ll find most people are very forthcoming in providing a positive review.
If you’re just starting with your Google Business Profile, ask old customers to leave a review. This can help to accelerate the number of reviews you have in the early stages, which helps to build trust with Google and potential customers.
According to a recent analysis of 10,000 reviews by My Local Toolbox, the traits customers talk about most in reviews are professionalism (42%), quality of work (34%), punctuality (13%), tidiness (7%) and perceived value (4%).
How to climb the rankings
1. Relevance
Make sure your profile closely reflects what you offer, as Google is all about relevance. If you’ve set your profile up properly (and in detail), you should be sending all the signals Google needs to understand what you offer and which searches to show your profile for.
2. Distance
Be specific about the areas you serve in your profile, so that you appear in the correct local searches.
3. Reviews and ratings
You will appear higher in the rankings if you have a large quantity of positive reviews, so be proactive in asking customers and give them a polite nudge if they don’t leave a review the first time you ask.
4. Engage with customers
Reply to customers when they leave a review, even if it’s just to say thank you. Acknowledge shortcomings and criticism in a professional and courteous manner. Remember your future customers may read the comments, so it’s important to show yourself in a good light.
Building a great review profile on any platform takes time. Persistence and consistency are key to building a high number of reviews, and climbing the rankings. If you stick with it, you should have a steady stream of enquiries coming through, which will bring lots of benefits to your company.
For more advice on how to market your trade business online, visit: https://www.ironmongerydirect.co.uk/blog/six-tips-for-boosting-your-trade-business-using-social
