Back in the day, if you were hungry and wanted to order a pizza, there was one place we all knew to look. This monolith of information was located on the top shelf of your entryway coat closet at home and you needed a step stool to reach it. If you have guessed Yellow Pages by now, you would be correct. There was no internet, yet. There was no knowing if the pizza you were ordering was a 1-star pizza or 4-star pizza, outside of the information listed on the page. But the point is…if you were in need of a service, this was where we looked. It was our in-home source of truth. If your business was not listed, it may as well have not existed at all. As we talk about optimizing your Google Business Profile, think about how important the Yellow Pages were at the time. That is how important your Google Business Profile is today. Think to yourself, “Am I listed or not?”

Having a Google Business Profile is vital for your portable sanitation or dumpster rental business. But, it doesn’t stop at just simply filling out questions and calling it a day. You must nurture your profile to show Google that your business is worth ranking high in search results. There are many things that you can easily do to help your business rank higher. Read below to find out how. 

Fill Out Your Profile Completely

It is important to make sure your entire Google Business Profile is filled out so that your business can rank higher in local searches. Don’t skip over any questions during the creation of your profile. If you have already created a profile, you can always go back into your settings and add more information. Missing information can lead to Google not allowing your business to show up as high in search results as your competitors. 

One way to do this is to add service areas to your profile. If your business is listed as a “Service Business” on your profile, you can fill out your service area. Make sure this is filled out when setting up your profile. If you already have a profile, it is important enough that I would recommend making sure that you have this filled out. Why? The Service area being filled out on your Google Business Profile replaces the need to have every single city, county, or area that your business services listed on your website so that the search engine will pull it. Instead, Google now recognizes your service area and when a person looking for the services you provide is searching for you, you will show up. 

Taking this one step further when you are filling out your profile, you can also provide detailed information on what services your business offers. If you add portable toilets, septic pumping, roll-offs, etc. into your profile, that is even less diverse wording you need on your website.  The profile replaces the need to have portable toilets listed or worded in 90 different ways.

To do this, login to your profile and click info on the left-hand side, and service areas will pop up on the right-hand side. Click the pencil-shaped edit icon and type in the service areas for your business. You can use city names or zip codes. You are allowed to select up to 20 service areas. This information helps Google understand the areas your company services so you pop up in search results for those areas more often. 

Get More Reviews! 

The more reviews & positive feedback you have on your business profile, the more Google will show you love and help you rank higher locally. Here are a few staggering statistics about how online reviews impact your business:

• 94% of online consumers say a negative online review has convinced them to avoid a business. (Source: ReviewTrackers, Online Reviews Statistics, and Trends: A 2022 Report by ReviewTrackers)
• 22% of consumers only pay attention to reviews written within the past two weeks, and 26% only read those from the past month. (Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey)
• A single positive review can increase conversions by 10%, while 100 reviews can lead to a 37% increase. (Source: Bazaarvoice, How to increase review volume)

Whether you like them or not, online reviews are a vital part of doing business today. Making sure you are getting regular high-quality reviews is not only important to your business, but it’s also important to the future of your success! There are many ways for you to get more reviews on your profile such as:

• Add a link to leave a review in your emails to customers 
• Make business cards with a QR code that links to your profile and have your drivers hand them out on job sites
• Have a review link on your website
• Ask your customers directly after a positive interaction and explain how helpful reviews are for small businesses 

A question we get all the time is, “what about negative reviews?” We have all been there. You get a notification that a customer has left you a one-star review even though you might not have done anything to deserve it. While you can’t have the review taken down, you can make it better by responding!

A good rule of thumb is to reply to all reviews (positive or negative) within 24 hours. This is how you can showcase your customer service to potential customers. Something as simple as “We are so sorry for your poor experience. This is not the experience we expect for our customers. We would love to discuss your situation and help to make it right! Please call us at 888-777-5555.” Remember, keep your replies short, vague, and sweet. Never argue with a customer online. 

Add A Q&A Section To Your Profile

Adding your most asked question(s) to the Q&A section of your profile has many benefits. This shows you are engaged with your business and your customers, helps your search engine optimization (SEO), Google will love you more and help you rank higher, and this will help answer potential customers’ most common questions so they don’t have to call in and bombard your staff. For example, you could have the question, “what types of events do you provide your services for?” That way, if you are a construction service only, you won’t have people getting married asking your staff if they can rent a unit from you. 

Add Real Images And Videos To Your Profile & Website

The more photos and videos you add the better your profile looks and ranks. According to startupbonsai.com, profiles with 100 photos or more get 520% more phone calls, 2717% more direction requests, and 1,065% more website clicks! Those are staggering statistics that you don’t want to miss out on! The more images you have, the bigger your business footprint is, and the more you will appear in local searches. Images on your profile should be business related. Examples of photos and videos that would be good for your waste business are:

• Staff pictures
• Pictures of your inventory
• Pictures of your units at an event
• Explainer videos for your services
• Images of your office, trucks, yard, etc. 
• Your storefront (especially if customers come to your business often)

Another way that images impact your Google rank is on your website. Make sure your website images are great quality. Aesthetically pleasing websites perform better and make people stay on them longer which leads to Google ranking you higher. Hiring a photographer to come to take professional photos of your operation and units can prove to be well worth the money in the long run for this reason and to show off your products and services. 

ServiceCore’s team of digital marketing experts are here to help you rank higher on Google and improve your waste business’s online presence while you focus on your customers and growing your business. Chat with our team to see how we can help.