When someone in your area experiences issues with their heating and cooling system, you want them to call your HVAC company for help.
This may not happen if you haven’t ever worked on improving your Google Maps ranking yourself or hired a Google Maps marketing agency. New customers might not come across your company as an option.
Studies suggest about three-fourths of Americans turn to Google and, by extension, Google Maps to find local businesses. This highlights the importance of doing whatever it takes to get your HVAC company to rank higher on Google and Google Maps.
Learn what a Google Maps ranking is and which mistakes to avoid when your HVAC company is pushing to rank higher on Google Maps.
What Is an HVAC Company's Google Maps Ranking?
When you Google “HVAC company near me,” does your HVAC company’s business name appear? If not, this is a good indication its Google Maps ranking is lacking.
When people in your community conduct a local search for HVAC companies, search engines like Google respond by shining a spotlight on the companies it believes are the best options. In Google’s eyes, the “best” choices are often those that have taken steps to improve their business rankings on Google Maps.
Rankings on Google Maps are typically based on a few key criteria. The ranking factors include:
- Relevance
- Distance
- Prominence
Your goal is to make sure your business will rank higher on Google Maps than similar businesses in your area by remembering these ranking factors. You can accomplish this by taking local search engine optimization seriously when setting up a website for your HVAC company.
You can also do it by adopting other practices to improve local SEO outside of just using these ranking factors. Claiming a Google Business Profile and adding citations to local directories are just a couple of ways to stand out in your crowded local HVAC market.
Why Is an HVAC Company's Ranking on Google Maps Important?
Paying close attention to your HVAC company’s Google Maps ranking and doing what you can to give it a boost is the name of the game when establishing your local business. When you rank higher on Google and, more specifically, when you outrank your competitors on Google Maps, it will lead to more people in your area finding out about your business.
When a homeowner in your city has their furnace or air conditioner conk out, they’ll usually Google “HVAC company near me” to look up their local HVAC options. By helping your HVAC company rank higher on Google Maps, you can improve the chances of locals discovering your business and calling you.
You can also improve the chances of people in your community putting their trust in your HVAC company. Google reports people are almost three times more likely to consider a local business trustworthy when it has a GBP.
Don’t overlook the importance of beefing up your HVAC company’s Google Maps ranking. Your business may struggle to contend with other HVAC companies in your area if they have better Google Maps rankings.
How Can an HVAC Company Improve Its Google Maps Ranking?
Your HVAC company can’t improve its Google Maps ranking overnight. You will need to spend at least a few weeks employing the best local SEO strategies. You will also need to make changes to your HVAC company’s online efforts to rank higher on Google Maps.
There are countless simple steps your HVAC company can take to gradually improve your ranking on Google Maps. You can keep up with the Google Maps business listings for other HVAC companies in your area by taking the right approach to creating business listings for your company online.
Tips for Improving Your HVAC Company's Google Maps Ranking
Here are several great options for improving your ranking on Google Maps:
- Creating a Google Business Profile and optimizing it with basic business information
- Making sure the NAP (business name, business address, phone number) information included in your GBP and other online business listings is accurate
- Encouraging more customers to leave online reviews and responding to them accordingly
- Adding local citations to online directories and making the most of social media platforms
- Updating your online business listings to ensure they don’t include outdated business information
Using Local SEO To Improve Your HVAC Company's Google Maps Ranking
You should also continue to update your HVAC company’s website with local SEO in mind. This will call for you to add the following to your site:
- Relevant keywords and local keywords
- Internal links to other articles on your website URL and external links on other sites
- High-quality photographs
Your website will also need to load quickly when people visit it and include local schema on the backend to give your local SEO a boost. This should have your HVAC company showing up in more local search results. It could even help your company climb into the coveted Google Maps pack that appears at the top of local searches.
The Google Maps pack or local pack showcases the three best businesses related to specific Google search terms.
What Mistakes Could Decrease an HVAC Company's Google Maps Ranking? 9 Examples
Striving to improve your HVAC company’s ranking on Google Maps can work wonders for the number of leads your business generates. Your business phones might start ringing off the hook, and your business email inbox might fill up in no time when you work to rank higher on Google Maps.
However, there is also a chance you might make any number of mistakes when trying to get your HVAC company to rank higher on Google when it comes to relevant searches on a local level. Your local search ranking could take a huge hit and plummet down Google search engine results pages, or SERPs, if these mistakes are present.
1. Failing To Create тАФ and Verify! тАФ a Google Business Profile Listing
First things first: Has your HVAC company created a Google Business Profile account? If you haven’t, this should serve as the first order of business when you’re trying to improve your company’s Google Maps ranking.
Fortunately, it isn’t difficult to do. Simply go to the Google Business Profile dashboard to set up a new GBP, or use the Google Maps app, and you can start creating a local business listing that will send your website soaring up local search results pages and attract more customer traffic.
Don’t forget to verify your GBP once you have it ready to go. Oftentimes, Google will send postcards to local businesses as part of the verification process. It might take some time to verify your HVAC company because of this, but it’s well worth the effort on your part to improve your local rankings on Google Maps.
2. Providing Inconsistent NAP Information on Your Website, Google Business Profile, Etc.
While creating a Google Maps business listing, you’ll need to provide your HVAC company’s NAP (business name, address, phone number) information. This might seem like a simple enough task, but if you enter the wrong information, it could hurt your Google Maps ranking rather than help it.
Generally speaking, your ranking on Google Maps can decrease if you have inconsistent NAP information on your website, GBP, and social media platforms. See to it that your actual business name and other information remain consistent across the board on your site, GBP, social media platforms, and even in local online directories.
3. Neglecting To Optimize a Google Business Profile Listing
Setting up a Google Business Profile should automatically give your HVAC company’s Google Maps ranking a boost. But why stop there? You can make it even more effective by optimizing it to guarantee its usefulness for consumers.
Many HVAC company owners create GBPs and other online business listings without optimizing them, limiting their visibility. Don’t make this mistake and miss out on the opportunity to score another easy win when it comes to trying to rank higher on Google Maps.
You can optimize a GBP by adding the following elements to it:
- A business description of your HVAC company
- Your HVAC company’s business hours
- Posts about sales, events, etc. your HVAC company is holding
- Photos representing your company and services
Place your HVAC company into the correct primary category as well to ensure it finds the right local audience.
4. Overlooking the Q&A Section on a Google Business Profile
Every Google Maps business listing includes a Q&A section where existing and potential customers can ask questions and get answers without having to reach out to companies directly. But, not all businesses use this section to their benefit.
Any time a customer adds a new question to this section, set out to answer it as soon as you can. You should deliver an accurate answer that offers insight into how your HVAC company feels about a particular topic.
If, for example, a customer asks whether or not you carry furnaces made by a certain brand, you should do more than just provide a simple “yes” or “no” answer. You should also specify which brands your company carries, why you prefer them over your other options, etc.
By offering a complete answer like this, you can show your HVAC company’s commitment to delivering important information to existing and potential customers. You can also answer any potential follow-up questions customers might have and showcase your dedication to offering top-notch customer service through your Google Maps listings.
5. Ignoring Online Reviews From Customers on a Google Business Profile
More than 90% of Americans admit that online reviews play a huge role when they’re deciding whether or not to buy products or invest in services from companies. This illustrates why you need to earn as many online reviews from customers as you can. You can encourage them to leave reviews right on your Google Business Profile.
Go beyond simply requesting online reviews, too. Respond to both positive reviews and negative reviews to show your customers that you value their opinions. This alone could lead to more reviews from new customers who would like to let others know about their experiences with your HVAC company.
6. Negatively Responding to Online Reviews From Customers on a Google Business Profile
Responding to reviews on your Google business listing is a must. But you should not respond with even an ounce of negativity when getting back to your customers about their Google reviews or reviews on other third-party sites.
If you come across as combative when responding to negative Google reviews, this could end up being worse than not responding at all. Some people considering calling on your HVAC company for help might second-guess their decision after seeing your responses to Google reviews and take their business elsewhere.
Instead, address the customer’s concerns and attempt to resolve them. Maintain the mindset that “the customer is always right,” even if you disagree with their complaint.
7. Forgetting To Take Advantage of Google Business Profile Posts
Creating a Google Business Profile and optimizing it should get your GBP off to a great start and improve your HVAC company’s local ranking on Google Maps in the short term. But to enjoy long-term success, consider using GBP posts to your advantage.
GBP posts are short text posts that enable you to let customers know about:
- New HVAC company business details
- The latest sales your HVAC company is holding
- Products your HVAC company is introducing
- Links to relevant blog posts on your company’s website
These posts can also show Google that you’ve committed to keeping your GBP updated. This should further help your HVAC company rank higher on Google Maps.
8. Allowing Errors To Linger on Your Google Business Listing
All it takes is you pushing the wrong button on your keyboard once for incorrect information about your HVAC company to appear on its Google Maps business listing. A Google Maps listing like this could broadcast the wrong business hours or even the wrong phone number or email address through Google Maps for a business’s contact information.
Triple-check your GBP when you’re first putting it together to avoid crucial mistakes. Take the same approach to any updates you add to your Google Maps listing as well so that you aren’t accidentally distributing misinformation through your online Google Maps listing.
9. Deciding Not To Claim, Verify, and Optimize Multiple Locations on Google Maps
Is your HVAC company only a single-location business? If so, you won’t have to worry about making this mistake as you aim to improve its ranking on Google Maps.
But if your HVAC company has multiple business locations, claim, verify, and optimize Google Maps listings for additional addresses through Google Maps. This can help maximize local visibility when Google searches occur that are relevant to your business.
Make the listing for each physical location unique as opposed to posting duplicate listings for every business location.
Contact Us for Help With Your HVAC Company's Google Maps Ranking and Other Business Listings
Making just one of the mistakes listed here while trying to improve your HVAC company’s Google Maps ranking could set it back in a big way. It could also prevent you from being able to advertise on Google Maps effectively and keep your business name a mystery to many locals.
Relentless Digital is here to help HVAC companies improve their rankings in Google Maps search results. We can also show your company how to make the most of Google Ads so that you can get plenty of eyes on your business and its services.
Give us a call today to hear more about how our marketing agency can assist you.
