Interior Designers: Google Business Listing Hacks for Website Traffic
Nearly every interior designer, stager, window specialist, and organizer has a Google Business Listing. If you don't, you need to set one up immediately. (Disclaimer: My marketing agency doesn't have a Google Business Listing because we are entirely virtual — otherwise we would.)
Not only does your business get placed on the map when people are looking for your specific set of services in their local area, but it's also a place to collect client reviews and share photos, events, and blog posts. Having a completely filled-out Google listing for your business enhances your credibility. You can list every service area you cover (no, you don't need more than one listing for this), share pricing or at least a service menu, and even connect Calendly to let people book a call with you directly from your listing — which is great if you prefer not to have people calling you at random times when you're trying to serve existing clients.
However, most people don't take full advantage of their Google Business Listing. In this blog post, I'm sharing eight ways you can optimize your listing for the specific goal of increasing your website traffic. Once those leads are on your website, it is your website's job to convert them (so you'd better have a good one!). But let's start at the very beginning. You have the unique opportunity to tell the biggest search engine on earth how to help new leads find you. Let's take advantage of this to the max, shall we?
Easy Google Business Listing Hacks to Get More Website Traffic
I don't really like to use the word "hack," as it begets something that is easy and simple and guaranteed to work. However, I'm making an exception today. While I can never guarantee results, I can assure you that these tips are easy to implement and won't take very much of your time.
Have I seen these hacks bring repeated results? Yes, but you'll need to try them for yourself.
The Basics: Optimize Your Existing Profile
Sometimes the basic setup process of a Google Business Listing is forgotten. To make the most of this free listing tool, make sure you've filled out and categorized your business in its entirety.
Use One Listing for All Geographic Service Areas
You don't need a new business listing for every city or state you serve. Simply list each city or area your company covers. If you are trying to be hyper-focused on serving specific neighborhoods or parts of a city, you can also list specific zip codes.
If you have multiple Google Business Listings, you run the risk of confusing future clients (and yourself) and need to merge them as soon as possible. To do this, contact Google. Explain that you have a duplicate listing (or multiple) and that you'd like your listings merged into one. Next, double-check the merged listing for accuracy, then proceed with the following hacks.
Your Profile Image
Because faces and first impressions matter, the main profile image should be of you and / or your team, not your logo or storefront.
Keyword Rich Client Reviews
Make it a standard practice to ask every client to write a review of you on Google immediately upon their project completion. Don't wait to ask them later; ask while they are still riding high on the positive emotions generated by your work for them.
When you ask them to write a review, remind them to be specific. Here's a script you can use:
Dear Client,
Our project together is complete and we couldn't be more pleased with the results. If you feel the same way, would you mind taking a minute to write us a review on Google? [Include a link to your Google Business Listing.]
We'd love it if you could tell us exactly what you appreciated most about working with us, as well as your favorite aspects of the completed project. This will help other people determine whether they should work with us in the specific ways that you already have. Basically, your opinion matters — a lot!
A survey conducted by Moz revealed that 85% of consumers trust online reviews as much as word-of-mouth referrals, which means the quality of your Google reviews really do matter. Besides, the more specific your reviews are, the more your listing will start ranking for those keywords (interior design, home staging, etc.).
Ask Yourself the FAQs
Start filling out the Q&A section of your profile, even if that means you enlist friends, family, or yourself on another Gmail account to submit questions that you, as the owner, can subsequently answer and make public on your listing.
These questions could pertain to your client process, the type of projects you do, your experience / expertise, or anything else a potential client would want to know before contacting you.
Connect Your Appointment Scheduler
Connect Calendly or Acuity Scheduling to your listing. Because Google gives you a place to add your scheduling link, this really couldn't be easier. Link directly to your discovery call or link to your entire suite of call options, including paid consultations.
Max Out Your Word Count & Categories
Google Business allows you 750 characters to describe your business. Use all of them and be sure to write in the first person rather than the third person. This will help you engage more readers and naturally use the right keywords.
Check out which categories your successful colleagues are using on their listings and consider selecting the same for yours — as long as they make sense. Otherwise, simply review all available categories and select as many as apply to you.
A quick way to figure out who is categorizing their business correctly is to search "(your business type) near (your desired location)." Click on the business that ranks at the top of the list and see which categories they are using on their profile. Go and do likewise.
Add Your Services and Top Products
Your design or staging firm might sell products, but your SKUs might be way too many to list. In this situation, list your bestsellers under Products. Then, under Services, simply copy and paste the service titles and descriptions from your website directly into your Google Business Listing where indicated.
Be sure to add an image that best represents each product or service. Visuals matter.
The Advanced: Share Your Content Marketing
If you offer a lead magnet and / or consistent blog posts, share them on your Google listing to get more views, readers, and sign-ups.
Add Recent Blog Posts to Your Google Business Listing
One of the most unique Google Business Listing hacks comes from one of my colleague's clients. This client is an interior designer who wants more exposure for her blog posts, and thus, also wants to increase her website traffic. Here are the exact steps she uses (shared with permission):
Create an "Event" in your Google Business dashboard.
Under the event, upload a photo from the blog post.
The title of the event is the same as the blog post title.
Add a "Button" to learn more, which opens a box where a link to the blog post can be added.
Under the event description, include a couple of sentences from the blog post as a lead-in.
Set the event to last one month so you don’t have to change it out too often.
Google sends you an email when it is about to expire.
Update the date again to keep it live.
Post a New Photo Once a Week to Increase Views
In addition to sharing any blog posts you have, simply adding a new photo with a short description is a great way to rank higher and get more eyes on your listing. You can reuse nearly anything you might have posted recently on social media, but avoid posting graphics. Actual images are best.
You'll get a routine email from Google that will tell you exactly how many users saw your posts, along with other helpful information. This is a great way to see direct results from your efforts.
Resources
If you don't have a Google Business Listing yet, get one here.
If you liked my script for getting clients to write reviews, you'll love the hundreds of marketing scripts we have in the Vault. Check them out here.
