“People can't find us on Google.”
You do good work. But when someone nearby searches for what you do, they find the place down the road, or your old hours. Here's how I fix that without turning you into a marketing department.
You might do better work. They get the call.
You might be seeing
If a few of these ring true, people are looking for you and finding someone else.
- "I didn't know you were here," from people who live down the street
- Google showing old hours, an old phone number or the wrong category
- A handful of reviews, and the newest one is from last year
- A Facebook or Instagram page nobody has touched in months
- Nobody's sure who has the login to your Google listing
What's actually going on
The listing was never really set up
Someone claimed it years ago, or Google made one on its own. The hours, category and photos are whatever it guessed.
Only upset customers write reviews
Happy customers rarely leave one unless someone asks. Upset ones don't need asking. So the few you have skew old, or skew grumpy.
Posting feels like a second job
Nobody has time to be a social media manager. So the pages go quiet, and a quiet page looks like a closed business.
Where people actually look
Before most people call you, they search. They see your listing, your stars and a couple of photos, and decide in a few seconds. If the hours are wrong or the last review is from two years ago, they keep scrolling.
What you keep doing
Once it’s set up, your part is small: ask for reviews, answer them, post a few times a week. I write the routine down on one page so anyone on your team can pick it up.
When it’s not worth paying anyone
If your listing is right, reviews keep coming in and the phone rings, you don’t need me for this. Keep doing what you’re doing. I’ll tell you that on the first call.
Getting found only counts if it connects
At Fatbacks we posted on Facebook and Instagram every day while we added online ordering, so every post had somewhere to send people. At Tickerdata, most customers come from YouTube, and we track which videos actually bring them in. Being seen is step one. The other half is making it easy to call, book or buy once they find you.
How I fix it
I set up the few things people actually look at, connect them to how you already take calls and orders, and leave you a short routine you can keep up yourself. When it's worth a push, like a busy season or a new location, I can run the ads too.
- Fix your Google listingClaimed, with the right hours, holiday hours, category and photos, and a button to call, book or order.
- Make asking for reviews a habitA card at the counter or a text after the job. Then a reply to every review, good or bad, with a draft ready so it takes seconds.
- Make the website easy to findA clear page for each thing you do, in the words people search. Quick on a phone, with the same name, address and number as Google.
- Set up a posting routine you'll keepFacebook and Instagram scheduled from one place, and a short list of what to post. A few posts a week beats a burst and then silence.
Fair questions
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