Steal from the Best Google Business Profiles in the HVAC Business
You've jumped headfirst into the thunderous fray of the ever-competitive HVAC market. In this wild, punishing adventure, only the savviest players turn the tide in their favor. But how do these bold few outshine the swarm of rivals, you ask? The answer lies in an often overlooked, yet POWERFUL tool – Google Business Profile!
You've heard it right! This humble online portal is your SECRET WEAPON to Rise! Thrive! Conquer! From establishing credibility, to boosting visibility and user engagement, a rock-solid Google Business Profile works like a charm!
And the best part? We've scoured the length and breadth of the HVAC sector to bring you the absolute best Google Business Profiles. Buckle up, folks! You're about to get an intimate look at how HVAC pacesetters are acing their Google Business game!
What is a Google Business Profile? Your Secret Weapon Explained
Your Google Business Profile is customers' first port of call when they search for a new HVAC company on Google. Formally known as Google My Business (and still colloquially referred to as GMB), your profile gives customers a summary of all the information they need to make a speedy buying decision: your phone number and other contact information, a list and description of your services, and the number and quality of reviews.
With Google searches containing “near me” surging by over 200% in the last two years, optimizing your HVAC company's Google Business Profile profile is key. In fact, among HVAC digital marketing services, it’s likely to be the most high-value/low effort play you can make!
And that's just as Google intended: they want searchers (aka their customers) to stay within the Google ecosystem. That means giving them all the information they need to book their next air conditional tune-up or furnace repair without ever needing to jump to your website.
In short, the Google algorithm rewards businesses that satisfy Google's goal. That means it serves up listings that appear complete, professional, and customer-approved.
8 Killer Perks of Google Business Optimization
Let's look at the benefit to your HVAC business of a best-in-class Google Business Profile:
Local SEO Boost: Catapult your business up the local rankings, outshining competitors for local searches.
Effective Communication: Update customers on hot offers, exclusive events, and changes to operating hours.
Easy Booking: Customers can schedule an appointment within your profile, saving your dispatch team time and preventing lost leads.
Easy-to-edit Profile: Revamp your business information on-the-fly, without the hassle of website edits, maintaining an accurate and relevant virtual storefront at all times.
Visual Storytelling: Display a vibrant visual showcase with photos and videos, illustrating the captivating story behind your brand.
Reputation Management: Engage with reviews and feedback, demonstrating your unwavering dedication to outstanding customer service.
Strategic Promotion: Amplify your offerings through GBP, fine-tuning your promotions to reach the perfect local audience.
Mobile Optimized Interface: Make it easy for customers searching on mobile devices to find and connect with your business.
No more hesitations! Grab hold of your Google Business Profile NOW and unleash a tidal wave of growth and online visibility for your business. Dive in and embrace the transformation!
Unveiling the Champions: The Rockstars of Google Business Profiles
So, there's no doubt you NEED this virtual welcome mat, but what does a great HVAC Google Business Profile actually look like?
Let's peel back the curtain to reveal the secrets, strategies, and standout features of the best GBP's in the HVAC biz.
Watch closely, soak it all in, and get ready to power up your own profile on this same high-octane path to success!
#1: A Note from the Owner: Tell Your Brand Story
Google offers you the opportunity to write a little love letter to your visitors. Most HVAC companies offer a bland play-by-play of their company history and offerings. But don't neglect the power of storytelling.
In a crisp 750 characters, Pat Plumbing of Topeka manages to tell a charming origin story, share its company values, inform visitors about its service offerings and paint a picture of what you can expect when doing business with them.
#2: Photos: Crank Up the Authenticity
If a picture is worth a thousand words, then why are so many HVAC contractors silent?
Apart from a logo and a street-view of their office space (boring!), most HVAC Google Business Profiles are image-free.
Unfortunately, the reality is that most consumers see HVAC as a commodity services. But give them photos of your team, your trucks, your office and your projects -- and suddenly you're a living, breathing group of people they can connect with emotionally.
Check out Guardian Heating and Cooling of Chicago, which takes its customers behind the curtain with 150 unique photos. Take note: don't let perfection stand in your way. Authentic photos trump photoshopped, stock images every day, so let your team explore their inner photog and snap some perfectly imperfect shots for your profile.
#3: A Booking Widget: Make it Easy to Connect
When the thermometer hits triple-digits and the air conditioner takes a holiday, homeowners want AC repair services NOW.
Customers won't wait for you to call them back -- they'll simply skip to the next HVAC contractor on Google maps.
That's why it's so important to give prospective customers multiple ways to get in touch: phone, text and booking straight from your Google Business Profile.
Google offers a feature called Reserve With Google that lets you integrate a booking provider directly into your GBP.
In fact, RS Gonzales offers LeadConnector, your very own HVAC CRM, which connects directly to your Google Business Profile. Customers can request an estimate, book maintenance or schedule emergency air conditioning, heating or plumbing repairs.
#4: Customer Reviews: Gracefully Master the Art of HVAC Reputation Management
Among HVAC companies, the Google Business Profile is best known as a warehouse for reviews -- lots and lots of reviews.
And it's true -- if you don't have hundreds of great reviews, and a rating of at least 4.7 stars, you likely won't rank in the top three in "near me" searches.
But you can't brute force your way to a review score board that tells a compelling story for your business.
Check out Fox Plumbing & Heating of Seattle. Not only do they boast an impressive quantity and quality of reviews. Where they really shine is in their gracious response to all reviews -- good and bad. They thank each customer for their review and name the technician and the service provided. Moreover, when a (rare) review falls short of the coveted five-stars, they commit to doing better next time.
All those subtle signals -- which require just a few seconds of your time -- send a powerful message that your business is responsive, gracious, human and customer-centric.
#5: Posts: Turn Your Google Business Profile into a Social Powerhouse
Facebook and Instagram get all the attention, but did you know your Google Business Profile is an HVAC's company's most important social media profile?
That's right, you can promote discounts, showcase services, feature a blog or spotlight a team member -- all from within your Google Business Profile.
Better yet, Google treats these posts as unique signals for search engine optimization. Want to rank higher in the maps for a search term like "radiator repair in Atlanta?" Just create a post featuring that keyword.
Rescue Air and Plumbing of Dallas gets extra credit for featuring short videos in their posts:
Posting to your Google Business Profile doesn't have to be time consuming. In fact, if you use social media management software, you can schedule posts months in advance. Just grab photos from your technicians, write a quick caption (no hashtags necessary in GBP!) and commit a few hours per quarter to seeing your visibility soar in local searches.
In our (unscientific) survey of HVAC companies, we found that fewer than one in ten were optimizing their Google Business Profile as a social media channel. Your competitor's oversight is your opportunity!
#6: Product Listings: Give Your Offerings Visual Oomph
Google lets business owners create both a product and a service section of their business profile. So, you might ask, as an HVAC contractor, why should you care about the product listing? You're a service provider.
In fact, Google's algorithm favors product listings. While a service listing is 300 characters, with no images, a product listing includes images, space for up to 1000 characters and a link to the relevant page on your website. That's a lot of extra SEO juice!
Your "product" listings need not be a list of the equipment you sell: Carrier, Lennox, etc. It can simply be a restatement of the services you offer.
Take a page from Metro Services HVAC of Washington, DC. Their products section includes 11 separate products under the "heating" category, and another 9 under "air conditioning." Each is accompanied with a simple, eye-catching image that is easily visible on a small screen. Further, the owner has taken full advantage of the product description section to add SEO-friendly copy that includes service descriptions and names of towns and neighborhoods they serve.
In truth, here’s a secret from a seasoned HVAC marketing agency: few people will ever read these product listings, so don't treat them like your magnum opus. They exist primarily for SEO purposes, so short sentences rich in keywords will do just fine.
#7: Service Listings: Up Your SEO Ante
Like product listings, service listings are an SEO workhorse for your HVAC Google Business Profile. Providing a complete list of all your services is really about optimizing your profile, not providing customers with meaningful information.
If you have distinct service pages on your website (and you should!), then your service listings should correspond exactly with these pages.
Flow-Tech Air Conditioning of Miami offers a relatively comprehensive guide to these service offerings:
#8: Service Area: Juice Your Local SEO
As an HVAC company, you are what Google calls a "service-area business." That is, your customers don't care where your office is located, because it's unlikely they'll ever pay you a visit. What they care about is the neighborhoods, cities and counties you serve.
In other words, do you provide "HVAC repair near me?"
To register at the top of the map for these "near me" searches, you need to pepper your Google Business Profile (and your website) with the names of the locales you serve. The more granular the better.
Academy Air includes a detailed list of each town they serve in the greater St. Louis metro area. Then, to send Google's all-mighty algorithm yet another signal for local SEO, they back that up with a parallel list on their website:
If you serve a small city or cluster of towns, you want to feature the names of cities or counties you serve. Alternatively, if you serve a metro area with a population greater than one million, you may want to specify neighborhoods. That ensures you cluster your business in a focused area of the city and avoid too much "windshield time" driving between jobs on traffic-congested streets
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Outmaneuver the Competition with a Stunning Google Business Profile
Currently, most local HVAC businesses do not invest in a fully-optimized Google Business profile.
Imagine the advantage you can have over the local competition by building a best-in-class profile. It’s no accident that the top HVAC profiles featured in this blog enjoy hundreds (or thousands!) of five-star reviews, and bragging rights at the very top of map searches.
But not every HVAC business owner has the time or know-how to DIY their Google Business Profile to the tip-top standards of these industry leaders.
So, if you are looking for an HVAC marketing agency to help you dominate your market, look no further than RS Gonzales. Book a free strategy call today!