Google TRACKS how fast you respond to reviews... and they're using that data to decide whether you should rank higher than your competitors. Yes, REALLY! (they also track if you answer your phone calls, and that affects your SEO too, but that's another topic... IE: get an AI Answering service!) Most contractors either don't respond at all or take a week to reply with something generic like "Thanks for the review!" Both approaches are costing you rankings... so costing you jobs... so costing you $! Google wants to show active businesses that engage with customers, not businesses that ignore feedback or treat reviews as a set-and-forget thing. When you respond within 6 or so hours, Google sees you as an active business that cares about customers and they rank you higher because of it.But speed isn't the only thing that matters… Most review responses are wasted opportunities because they don't include the service you did or the location you did it in. When someone leaves a review saying "Great service, very professional," your response should mention what you actually did for them. "Thanks Mary, we're glad we could help with your driveway cracks in Glenwood. Appreciate you trusting us!" Google scans your review responses for keywords just like they scan the reviews themselves. When you mention the service and location in your response, it reinforces to Google what you do and where you do it… Want me to do this for you? (I'll get you 20 reviews the first month, automatically) Post, send me a DM, or email me at [email protected] . If you're getting reviews but not responding within 24 hours with the right keywords… you're leaving rankings on the table.

His pricing is higher, his team shows up late, and his customers complain more than yours ever do. But he's getting 40 calls a month while you're paying Angi's for shared leads and crossing your fingers. WHAT is happening? WHY? There are TWO MAIN WAYS to get appointments. (of course, broken down into various different strategies) ONE is to pay for them -- buying leads, running ads and similar. The SECOND is generate them using organic (free) strategies. Both work. We can help with either. The trick is to use paid ones while you're building your organic, and eventually moving over to free/organic. Hell, keep reading, and I'll even show you how to get my step-by step workflow if you want to do it on your own. And I'll STILL help by answering questions... at no charge. Because in the long run, I WANT to help! So why is my knucklehead competitor cleaning up? Organis first... The difference is he shows up first on Google, is in the top 3-pak AND showing up in the AI search... he's in all 3... and you aint'. When someone searches "gutter cleaning near me" or "emergency plumber Dallas", they see him at the top of the Map Pack with 500+ reviews and professional photos. They then see him again in the AI search results, and in the SEO column. Doh. He looks like the obvious choice… While you may be on page 3. Invisible. So that customer calls him, books the job, pays him, and never knew you existed. This happens every single day to anyone not on page one, right down your street, multiple times per day. Every search you DON'T show up for is revenue going directly into your competitor's pocket. Month 1, he has 30 more reviews than you. Month 6, he has 120 more reviews. Month 12, he's completely cemented as the market leader while you're still grinding on Angi's leads competing with other contractors on price. The good news is this gap closes faster than you think. Once you start ranking, Google rewards momentum. Your first 50 reviews unlock the next 100. Your first Map Pack ranking drives more traffic, which drives more reviews, which drives better rankings.

Over the years I've found it really hard to get contractors to record their own videos for YouTube. However, with YouTube owned by Google, it's no surprise that videos do VERY WELL getting shown on page 1 when people type things like "driveway paving near me", or "garage door repair help". And they get watched! (even more if it's someone talking) People feel a connection with you, it increases trust, and turns into a phone call... especially if the video ends with "need help with your garage door? Give me a call at 312 560-u812!" They. Just. Get. Shown on page 1! (especially if you're smart with keywords etc) Would it be valuable to any of you if we provided this as a service? For example, we create and post a video per week of you actually talking on a roof, in a basement, etc.. It can actually look like YOU... but not be recorded by you, lol. (AI can do it once I have a model saved) This would most certainly get you calls... and a video on YouTube lasts forever! So after a year there are 50 of them etc.. Maybe we could do a test?

Is there another (plumber, gutter guy, pest control company etc.) who always seems to be juuust ahead of you in the rankings? There could be 2 different holes in your SEO bucket... the Google Business Profile side, which impacts how you show up in the 3-pak, as well as AI search to a degree, and the leaky hole that keeps you out of the "regular" SEO rankings. The strategy below is for the latter, the SEO side... and... if you want me to do this for you at no cost, as well as print up a free Google Business Profile analysis, to see what you can do better to rank in the 3-pak too, JUST ASK! So! Here's a quick way to steal your competitors' SEO strategy outside of that, and a great way to find out what your competitors are doing that you're not, to show you how to fill in the gaps. Here the strategy: 1. Find your sitemap & your competitors site map. Go to your home page and add /sitemap.xml - that will show you a page with a bunch of links on it. 2. Take the url to your sitemap & your competitors sitemap. 3. Use this prompt: You are a senior SEO strategist. I'm going to give you two sitemaps: mine and a competitor's. Read both in full. MY SITE: [your sitemap URL] COMPETITOR: [their sitemap URL] MY BUSINESS: [what you do, city/service area] Do this: 1. Convert every URL in both sitemaps into a plain-English topic. Ignore junk: tag pages, author pages, pagination, /cart/, /privacy-policy/, media attachments. 2. Sort each site's pages into two buckets: - MONEY PAGES: services, service + city combos, industries served, product or pricing pages. Anything someone lands on ready to buy. - CONTENT PAGES: blog posts, guides, FAQs, comparisons. Anything someone lands on while researching. 3. Find the gaps: topics they cover that I don't. Then find the CLUSTERS — places where they have 4+ pages on one theme. A cluster is a bigger signal than a single missing page, because it means they're deliberately going after that topic. 4. Rank the gaps by revenue potential, not search volume. A page that's one step from a phone call beats a page that gets traffic and nothing else. 5. Also tell me my REVERSE gaps: what do I cover that they don't? That's my existing advantage and I want to defend it. Output two tables. MONEY PAGE GAPS: Missing Topic | Suggested URL Slug | Suggested Page Title | Why This Converts | Priority (1-5) CONTENT GAPS: Missing Topic | Cluster It Belongs To | Suggested Title | What Stage Of The Buying Process This Catches | Priority (1-5) Then finish with: the single biggest strategic difference between how these two sites are built, in 3 sentences.

I wanted to post that I am on vacation until August 7th. So while I can still answer DMs and maybe reply to posts, there won't likely be new content. Love yall!