How Google Maps Generating Customers for a Water Damage Repair Contractor in Houston

Sometimes We See Quick Results With SEO

This water damage restoration company in Houston recently discovered the power of SEO when it comes to driving sales and bringing in new customers. It’s very common for SEO specialists to say that it will be at least 6 months before they’ll see any results on a new project but that’s not always the case. The secret weapon here is Google Maps.

Google Maps is Google’s search engine for local businesses. Over the last few years, consumers have recognized that this is the best place to look when they are looking for something local. More and more often they are skipping the ads and regular search results entirely and going straight to the Google Maps box to find companies to work with. But, why?

Google Maps Provides All You Need in One Place to Make a Good Decision

If you are a user of Google then you probably know exactly what I’m talking about. Google Maps provides all sorts of useful information to help you learn about companies you might work with. Besides pictures, hours of operations, and contact information, the most important thing people look at are reviews.

Reviews are the online version of word-of-mouth. We all know word-of-mouth customers are the easiest to deal with so it’s amazing for us that we have an opportunity to tap into the same trust-building phenomenon when it comes to marketing to people outside of our network.

If you aren’t focusing on getting every single customer to leave you a review now, then you are missing out. It’s difficult to get reviews sometimes. It takes effort on our customers’ part and just like everyone else, they are lazy. That’s why we must be persistent when it comes to asking for reviews and do our best to make it as easy as possible to complete.

Google Makes it Easy By Providing Us with a Special Review Link

If you log into your Google My Business dashboard and hunt around a little bit you’ll find your Google Review Link. This is a link you can share with your clients via text or email where they click on it and it takes them directly to the form to leave a review. There are two things to remember about using this link:

1. People are required to have a Google account in order to leave a review. Most people have a Gmail account already which will work, but some don’t. I recommend letting people know this and offering to help them out in person if possible.
2. Some people have never left a review before. They don’t know how it works. Again, be ready to help them. If you can help them do it in person, that’s best. The worst thing that can happen is for someone to try and fail and then give up… It’s hard enough to get reviews. We can’t afford to waste any opportunities.

The Formula for Success on Google

There are three things you need to have properly in place in order to be successful on Google Maps:

1. You have to be on Google Maps. They call it a Google My Business listing. I call it a Google Maps listing. Having the listing isn’t enough though. You need to put in all the proper information about your company, contact information, and basic info about what you do. You also need images of your work, team, logo, etc. It’s important that this info matches what’s on your website.
2. The 2nd thing is a website. Not just any website, but one that completely covers the topic of your business. Things like:
   1. Information about each and every service you want people to find you for.
   2. Information about you, your team, or just the people behind the company.
   3. Evidence that you do good work. This could be testimonials, pictures, etc.
   4. Details about how customers can get what they want. What is your process? What do they need to do? What will happen if they contact you? Etc.
   5. Finally, at least 1 way to contact you. Having a few options is best.
3. The 3rd thing is what we call Business Authority. When you search around the internet for your business, what do you see? If you Google the name of your company, you are hoping to see the entire 1st page of Google be about you. This can be social media sites like Facebook and Yelp. It can be your BBB profile, website, etc. You want people who search for you to see clearly that you are everywhere. Google likes this and will use this information to prioritize you in the search results.

Is Google Working for You?

Hopefully, a lot of what you’ve just read is resonating with you. It can be a lot to take in if you’ve never thought about this stuff before but once you’re a way down the path, it’s all pretty simple and common sense stuff.

At the end of the day, you just want people to be able to find you. If they know who you are, that’s one step in the right direction. If they see you as a good fit for their needs, then you’re going to be securing new jobs this way.

If you don’t have this stuff working for you yet, that’s what we do. We are the best when it comes to foundational marketing for contractors and construction companies. We’ve never had a client that didn’t get a nice return on their investment. For most, it’s the most profitable investment they’ve ever made. That’s really saying something!

You can check out my Youtube Channel here to learn more about my philosophy on marketing. If you’re interested in working with us, fill out the contact form on this website and schedule a call with me. We can talk about your business and I can tell you about how our service works. If we think it’s a good fit, we can get your marketing underway together.

If you have questions, leave them in the comment section. Thanks for reading!