Using Keywords in Google Reviews to Get Found by Customers

Using Keywords in Google Reviews

Hey, everybody. Today, we will cover how to use keywords in your past customers‘ Google reviews to boost your searchability. This is super important if you’re a local business and want to sell a particular service or set of services. We will show you how to do it without having to pay anything. It’s one of the first things you must do as a local business if you are new to online marketing. 

Is Your Google Business Profile Ready?

So, make sure you set up a Google Business profile. You have to have one to do what I’m talking about today. 

The next step is to optimize your profile for all your services. There are ones that you want to do more than others, but make sure you put all of them in there. 

Do Keyword Research

You will do keyword research to determine what people are searching for regarding your services. Use the keywords people search for instead of what you think they’re searching for. Because sometimes, in the industry that you’re in, you’re not using the exact words that somebody else does. 

For example, we were doing some research the other day. Regarding a search term, we’re looking at cabinet painting versus cabinet refinishing. The former was six times the search volume compared to the other. It’s almost the same thing, but people search for painting instead of refinishing.

That is a massive difference as far as the volume goes. So, you want to ensure that you’re looking at that and using keyword research to figure that out. You can use Ubersuggest, SEMRush, or your search engine’s autosuggest feature. If you start typing a word into Google, it’ll automatically suggest keywords, and you can see what’s happening there. 

What’s Next?

After all that work is complete, let’s say we got a customer. We show up, finish a job, and they’re happy. Now, we’ll ask for a Google review. So, we will either text or send them an email about it. You could have an automated system set for that, but we want to ensure the keyword we’re requesting them to include is related to the work we did. 

For example, if we’re doing a broken garage door spring replacement, that is what we want them to get in there. So, inside that Google review, we want to pull up whenever someone searches for that keyword. 

Whenever you do a different service, you must ask your client to drop those related keywords in their feedback. You can say, “Hey, John. Can you please make sure to put this in there? Put broken garage door springing inside of your review.” 

Using Google’s Autosuggest

If we type the start of a word in Google’s search bar, you can see its autosuggestions here.

Keeping up with our last example, when I type “garage door spring replacement companies”, I will get some examples of companies that can replace garage door springs. You can also do some queue research like this, but we type “garage door spring replacement companies near me” here.

So, I didn’t type in the “near me” part, but here’s what we got. You always have a sponsored position here for a company — they’re paying to show up on top of searches. After that, you get to the three organic results. 

The Hanley Door Service and Overhead Door Company is number one on the list. They have an actual review that reads, “[…] Did me a solid on my door spring [door spring keyword] that broke. Handy Door Services took the stress of having my springs replaced.” So, think about this… 

If they had garage door spring replacement in here, that’d be the perfect match to what I was searching for. That would show up right up in here. 

When Reviews Don’t Show Up

Looking back at the list, we’re going to dig into Garage Door 901. 

“We had a spring replaced by them a few years back,” a review says. 

Here’s another one: “[…] Replaced the broken spring and the wires attached to springs to the door. Tyler came out and replaced the springs and fixed other small things that was wrong.” 

Google is considering all the bolded words in the online reviews; that’s why the company appears in the Google search results. So, this is a perfect example of what’s happening. 

How Can You Do Better?

Although the garage door guys had keywords in their Google reviews, they could have done a better job of getting them to show up. They’re strategically probably not going after it and saying, “Hey, do this just like they showed up.” 

We will rank much better if we can give our customers the exact keyword. 

More Examples

The keyword is “painting contractor near me”. One of the companies’ reviews that appear reads, “They painted my house in four days, very professional and clean work.” 

If I was looking for a painter to paint my house, do exterior painting, etc., you can get all the keywords you want to rank for. Then, make sure they’re in the reviews so they will pop in the searches. 

Painting Company Example

It’s also essential to get your services in the Google reviews. 

When we look at Jay’s Painting LLC, for instance, he has: 

• Exterior painting
• Drywall painting
• Interior painting
• Siding painting

As for the reviews, one says, “So they painted my house.” 

Imagine putting keywords like “painting contractors near me” or “exterior painting contractors” in them. If there’s a search for that, that’ll pop up right here. That’s perfect. We want that. 

Roofing Company Example

We’re going to look at a roofing company real quick. 

A quick search shows that none of the companies did a great job at getting a “roofing” keyword into any of their reviews. I was looking at this before we started recording. And it wasn’t done right, but you can see some keywords in their services. It means they got picked up by Google just because of the services. 

Basement Finishing Company Example

Now, look search for a basement finishing company. A review has the “contractors finishing basements” keyword in it. Perfect, right? It’s in there.

So, do that on all the reviews. It’s super easy to do, but you must strategically request that from your customer. As soon as you finish the project, send your request via email, including the keywords you want for a specific service. This way, you’ll show up in searches a lot. You’re going to get calls. These are people with intent that are going to want to do business with you. 

Need Help?

If you need help with website building, video marketing, or other related digital services, request a consultation with us. I hope that was helpful, and we’ll talk to you again soon.