TFC #01 - Why Your Cabinetshop Can't Afford to Miss Out on a Google My Business Page

A Google My Business page is the most important thing you can do online for your cabinet shop.

Yes, more than your website.

Yes, more than your social media accounts.

I consider Google My Business (now called Google Business Profile) to be the foundational piece of your online presence. 

Why is a GMB page so important?

So picture this with me.

My wife asks me if I want to go out to eat this week at a fairly new steakhouse close to our home. 

Sure, what is it called?

Legacy Steakhouse she says.

What is the very first thing I do?

I grab my phone and google the name of the place.

Boom, the first thing I see is the Google My Business page for Legacy Steakhouse.

I'm not looking at the organic results on the left. I'm not scrolling down to find their website link.

No, I'm looking at the nice and consistently formatted Google My Business page.

The first thing I look at is the reviews. 

Hmm, only 3.5 stars.... I wonder why?

So I click on reviews and start to learn more about why they have 3.5 stars. As I read, I start getting less and less of a desire to go because I read about multiple people having bad experiences. 

Then I click on their menu and read through it and see what they have to offer and I might scroll through a few of their photos as well.

In a matter of a 60 seconds, I heard the name of a business for the first time and researched it and formed an opinion about the place solely based on the information available on their Google My Business page.

This is not the point of the story, but we did end up going to the restaurant that weekend and had a very average experience, so apparently my research had proved accurate.

But I make cabinets, not food...

I know my story above was for a restaurant and you are probably thinking, that's cool and all, but people don't research and look up other types of local businesses as much as restaurants.

Wrong.

No matter what you are selling, if you are selling to consumers. The majority of them will be researching your company on Google before doing business with you.

According to a survey from 2021, 81% of people research a local business before visiting or purchasing from them.

81%. That is a lot. In 2020, that number was 63%.

I don't think the number is going to get any lower in the near future either.

In the past, a good product for a good price was all you needed to be successful and have plenty of work.

Nowadays, I'm not so sure if those two alone are enough to entice new customers to do business with us.

We have a generation of people who are very concerned about online presence, reading reviews, looking at pictures, and being able to adequately research a company. Sometimes you won't even have the opportunity to win people over because they google you and don't find what they are looking for and they never get in contact.

NOTE** Some of you may have a wholesale model or a B2B model only and your online presence may not be as critical as others selling directly to homeowners. However, I think it is still important in both cases.

In this newsletter, I will give you three benefits of a properly optimized Google My Business page, and at the end, I will include a few tips to get the most out of your listing.

Benefit #1 - Increased credibility

It's important to establish credibility and trust with your customers.

A Google My Business page allows you to provide important information about your business, such as your location, hours of operation, and contact details. This helps to establish your business as a legitimate and reliable local resource for customers.

Additionally, having a Google My Business page allows customers to leave reviews and ratings, which can help to build trust and credibility with potential customers.

Benefit #2 - Improved search visibility

It's important to make it as easy as possible for customers to find and connect with your company.

Having a Google My Business page can significantly improve your search visibility, making it easier for customers to find your cabinet shop when searching for cabinet makers in their area. This is because Google My Business pages appear in local search results and on Google Maps, providing a valuable resource for customers looking for cabinet shops like yours.

Benefit #3 - Enhanced website traffic

It's important to drive traffic to your website in order to attract potential customers and grow your business.

Having a Google My Business page can significantly enhance the traffic to your website, as customers may be more likely to visit your website after finding your listing on Google Maps or in search results. This is because a Google My Business page provides a direct link to your website, making it easy for customers to learn more about your business and the products or services you offer.

How do I create and manage my listing?

It is actually very simple to create a profile if you don't have one. I provided a few basic steps below but honestly, once you click the link, it does a good job of walking you through the steps you need to take to create an account.

• Go to the Google My Business website (https://www.google.com/business/) and click the "Start now" or "Manage Now" button.

• Sign in to your Google account, or create a new one if you don't have one.

• Enter the name of your business and select the category that best represents your business.

  • (I like to look at competitors to find the best category. You will probably want to choose Cabinetmaker or Cabinet Store)

  • It will tell you if a listing already exists for your business. (if so, you will have to claim it rather than creating a new one)

• Enter your business address and phone number, and choose whether you deliver goods or services to your customers' locations.

• Select a method for verifying your business. Google will send a postcard to your business address with a verification code, which you will need to enter to complete the verification process. Sometimes they allow you to verify your business with your business phone, which is quick and easy.

• Once your business has been verified, you can add additional information to your Google My Business page, such as business hours, photos, and a description of your products or services.

Optimize Your GMB Listing

Perfect, now we all have a Google My Business listing. 

Are we done?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Creating a Google My Business is just the first step. Here are a few ways I recommend to get the most out of your Google My Business listing.

Make sure your contact information is correct and update it frequently

I shouldn't even list this as a way to optimize it because it should be obvious, but please make sure your contact information is correct.

This includes your address if you have a showroom that customers can visit, your normal store hours and holiday hours, your phone number, and your website address.

The thing that a lot of people do is setup their profile one time and never log in again. Google won't prioritize this listing as highly as others because they assume your information is out of date if you haven't reviewed your profile in several years. 

I try to log in a least once a month or every other month at the very minimum and double check all my details and update any upcoming special hours.

Google likes to see a listing that is being updated often because they can have greater confidence in showing that listing to people searching for businesses like yours.

BONUS TIP: If you want to help rank yourself at the top of the list when people search for "cabinet maker near me" or or something similar, you can use Updates/Posts to help improve your search performance. 

Updates work similar to a Facebook post except you don't have a list of followers and friends. Your posts will show up when people search for businesses like yours....

More importantly though, if you make Updates on your GMB listing, you greatly increase your chances of ranking above other cabinet shops in your area. Even if you only make one Update a month, you will rank a lot higher than a shop with no GMB Updates at all.

Add images to make your profile look good.

The first thing you need to do is add your logo. This makes your brand more recognizable. Your logo will show in a small box in the corner of your profile. (I would recommend using a square image if you can)

Your cover photo needs to be your absolutely best featured image you have. Try to use a picture of a job after the countertops and everything is completed rather than an unfinished job site.

Its up to you how many photos you want to add but I would shoot for a minimum of 4-5 photos of your work so your profile looks full and complete when somebody researches your company.

Ask customers for reviews

This is what separates a great Google My Business profile from an average one.

So how do you get reviews? 

Should I just create my profile and wait for people to add reviews.

You can go this route, but you will probably only get one review every year.... 

Or worse, most times if you wait for people to leave review, the only people motivated enough to look up your company and leave a review are the ones who had a bad experience.

According to Brightlocal's annual review survey, 70% of customers will leave a review for a business when asked.

For some people, it can feel cheesy to ask for a review, but I believe you can build it into your process and it can feel like a very normal part of the order delivery.

I'll also add, that I have been surprised myself at the amount of people who will leave a review when I ask them. Yes, I was doubtful too before I started asking people. Now its a normal part of my process. I deliver the work, they pay me for the service, I ask them for a review.

Here are a couple ideas of ways to ask for reviews:

• Send an email after the job has been delivered or installed and thank them for their business and ask them to leave a review. Be sure to include your specific review link to make it easy for them. (You can find this in your GMB dashboard)

  • This can be a very short and sweet email that essentially says, thank you for your business, we enjoyed working on your project. Would you be willing to leave us a review on Google? Here's the link: {insert link here} Thanks

• Create business cards with a QR code on it to leave behind in the drawers after the job has been installed. Your customer can grab their phone and scan the code to be taken directly to your review link.

Conclusion

In conclusion, having a Google My Business page is crucial for the success of your cabinet shop. It helps establish credibility and trust with customers, improves search visibility, and enhances website traffic. By taking the time to set up and optimize your Google My Business page, you can attract more potential customers and grow your business. Make sure to regularly update and manage your page to ensure that it accurately reflects your business and provides valuable information to customers.

The best part. Its absolutely FREE. No paid plans, no upgrades. 

I hope this motivated you to create your GMB listing, or to dust it off again.

What are your thoughts? Do you feel like its important to keep your GMB listing up to date? Are reviews important? 

Feel free to shoot me an email and let me know your thoughts or questions.

Thanks for reading. See you next week.Myron