How Changes to GBP Could Impact Your Home Services Business

I get that what you want, what you really, really want* , is to grow your home services business so you can make more money. You understand that requires getting Google to pay attention to your website, and over the years, I’ve written tons about different strategies to increase your chances of that happening. Often, front-and-center among those strategies has been Google Business Profile (GBP).

Well, Google’s gone and changed the GBP game again. We need to talk about this.

GBP is Removing SMS Messaging

Three years after Google introduced GBP, the search giant added a slick Message feature.

Here’s how it currently works:

Once you enable the feature , customers can click Message from their mobile device, which allows them to send you a message via SMS/text. It also allows you to reply to those messages—also via SMS/text.

Welp? If you’re in love with that feature, on November 15 Google’s going to crush your achy, breaky heart*. Although it appears the Message button won’t disappear from your listing, and although it looks like customers will still be able to “text” you, you’ll no longer receive those messages via SMS/text. Which means you’ll no longer be able to respond via SMS/text. Instead, you’ll only be able to see and respond to customer messages through the GBP app.

That means if you don’t have the app, you’ll miss messages. And sales. And money. Don’t do that.
Admittedly, having to go through an app feels like a bit of a pain. However, it’ll force you to pay better attention to your GBP profile, and the app makes it easy to respond to reviews, too. It’s a change (annoying), but it could be good for your business in the long run.

GBP has Removed Distance-Based Service Areas

OK, this one’s a bit of a doozy. Until now, GBP has allowed companies to indicate their service area by radius from a particular spot. For home services businesses, that was massively beneficial. Unfortunately, other types of companies have ruined it for the rest of us by greatly exaggerating their service areas so they showed up in more searches. That was super-irritating to customers who wasted their time clicking on a listing for a company half-way across the country, and because super-irritating customers makes Google super-angry, they deleted the feature.

So, what’s your GBP “service area” look like now? GBP Help explains it this way:

"Service-area businesses currently based on a distance will be automatically converted to the closest named areas, like San Francisco… Business owners will be able to review these updates in their Google Business Profile account under Google updates and can either accept or provide a new service area. They'll also receive an email notification about the change."

So, what’s a home services company to do? Choose your service location wisely . Make sure it’s a location people are likely to use in their search query (e.g., Dallas, not Decatur).

Because I’m an optimist, I naturally look for the good side of changes like this. If you’re intentionally trying to draw business from a particular community, update your GBP service area to that community specifically. Or, if you’re trying to compete with a company in the next town over, change your service area to that town.

Google may have already made this change for you (aren’t they sweet?), so log in to your profile today to make sure they chose wisely.

GBP has Added Branding Tools

You already know mobile search is crushing desktop search. Advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) tech are taking things a step further. It’s estimated that by 2021, 8 in 10 searches will be conducted verbally through mobile devices.

“So?” you say? Here’s “so”: You’re going to need people to know who you are, so they can ask you for—literally ask for you—by name. In other words, you’ve got to level-up your branding game.

If you haven’t visited your GBP profile for the past few months, when you log in today (hint, hint), you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the platform’s new branding tools. You can now add your logo, a cover photo, a carousel of photos with captions (not yet available to all businesses), and welcome offers.

But wait! There’s more!

1. “Local Favorite” badges . As per usual, Google’s cagey about exactly how to snag the new Local Favorite badge, but you can be sure it’ll reward businesses who keep their profile updated and who engage with their customers through the platform.
2. Short names. GBP verified listings can now include a short name: g.page/shortname or @shortname. Who cares? Great question. Including your shortname on promotional materials makes it easier for customers to find you and get to know you.

Google May Start Charging for GBP Listings

Whoa, whoa, whoa… settle down there. I said they may start charging for GBP listings. But if they do start charging a fee, home service companies had better… well, think about paying it, anyway.

I have mixed feelings about this, to be honest. Customers have gotten pretty savvy over the years, and most of them know that the people at the top of the search results probably paid to get there. (Also, it seems like Google's getting better about squeezing more and more money out of small businesses.) Plus, the majority of consumers believe a company’s website—not GBP—is the most accurate place to get information. So, if you’re going to spend extra money on your marketing, paying for a GBP listing might not be the best place to put those dollars. It could be that you your hard-earned cash would be better spent on more Google Ads, or updating your website, or adding a chatbot, or any number of other things. It’s hard to say without knowing more about what you’re already doing.

Keeping Up with GBP is Tough

The digital marketing space is a shape-shifter, and it’s tough to know what changes to pay attention to and what to let go. As a home services pro, you have better things to do with your time than try to keep up with GBP and the like . I dig this stuff—and I love helping HVAC shops, plumbers, and electricians gain customers and make more money. Imagine what you could do if you could 8x your revenue next year. Let’s talk.

*I should maybe stop listening to that 90s Spotify station.