Reviews, Photos, and Posts: What Actually Moves the Needle in Local Search

Everyone tells you to "get more reviews" and "post more photos," but that advice is too vague to act on. In this episode, Meredith and Caitlyn go a layer deeper into the three content types that drive local search performance, reviews, photos, and posts, and break down exactly what works versus what's a waste of time.

All three answer the same question Google's algorithm (and increasingly AI search) is asking: is this a real, active, trustworthy business worth recommending? Reviews answer trust. Photos answer "is this a real operation." Posts answer "are they still in business." The algorithm wants to see all three working together, and so does the homeowner making a ten-second decision in the map pack.

In this episode:

• Why review velocity (the rate of new reviews relative to jobs installed) matters more than your total, and why 30 to 50 percent of jobs converting to reviews is the target
• The single biggest lever on velocity: requesting within 24 hours of install, and why text beats email (90 percent+ open rate vs. ~25 percent)
• Platform diversity done right: lead with Google, then build a follow-up sequence to Facebook and Yelp
• How keyword-rich reviews strengthen your local relevance, and how to prompt for specificity without telling customers what to write
• Where star ratings stop mattering (hint: above 4.5), and why response depth is doing more work than you think
• Why review gating can get your profile suspended
• The photo category strategy, why "at work" and "finished product" convert, and why stock photos may be hurting you
• The four post types, why product posts are permanent, and the 70/30 work-to-promo mix
• The priority order if you can only fix one thing (spoiler: review velocity)

Want help building these systems? Head to fatcatstrategies.com and book a strategy call, or call 919.341.4190. We'll audit your reviews, photos, and posts and show you exactly where your gaps are.

Want to find out how we can create a custom digital marketing game plan for your contractor business? Schedule a call with us at fatcatstrategies.com.

Transcript

Intro: Welcome to Digital Marketing for Contractors, a podcast for home improvement contractors to help you crush your lead goals and take your business to the next level. Join us each episode as we give you powerful insights and practical tips on the best digital marketing strategies to help you grow your home improvement business. Let's get started.

Meredith: Welcome back to Digital Marketing for Contractors. I'm Meredith Medlin.

Caitlyn: And I'm Caitlyn Noble. We work exclusively with home improvement contractors, windows, roofing, siding, baths, gutters, and so much more, companies doing somewhere between 3 and 30 million in annual revenue.

Meredith: And in our last episode, we walked through five reasons your Google Business Profile probably isn't generating calls, and this episode goes a layer deeper into three content types that drive that performance, and we're gonna be doing a lot more digging into the specifics about what works versus what doesn't.

Caitlyn: That sounds awesome. Let's get started.

Meredith: Let's dig in. So let's set the scene. Why are we grouping reviews, photos, and posts into this one conversation that we're having?

Caitlyn: No, that's a great question, because they all do the same job for the algorithm, just from different angles. Google's local search ranking, and increasingly, AI search, is trying to answer one question: "Is this a real, active, trustworthy business that I should recommend?" Reviews answer the trust question. Photos answer the, "Is it a real operation?" question. Posts answer the, "Is this business currently active?" question. They're three different signals, but they're all pointing at the same conclusion.

Meredith: Right. Basically, each one of these is reinforcing each other.

Caitlyn: Exactly, they do. A profile with 200 reviews but no photos looks suspicious. Yeah. A profile with 100 photos but only six reviews looks suspicious in a different way. A profile that hasn't published a post in two years signals that maybe nobody's home anymore.

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: The algorithm wants to see all three working together.

Meredith: Right, so that's what the algorithm wants to see. But what about from the homeowner's perspective?

Caitlyn: Same thing, really. A homeowner deciding between three contractors in the local map pack is making a snap judgment in about 10 seconds.

Meredith: Gosh, that's quick.

Caitlyn: I mean, yeah, I guess that's how we work.

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: Stars and reviews count... The stars and reviews count tell them whether to consider you. Photos tell them whether you do nice work. Posts tell them whether you're someone who's currently in business and worth calling. They're checking all three before they ever click on your phone number.

Meredith: All right, so let's get specific. We're gonna spend the most time on reviews, because that's where the biggest leverage is, and then photos, and then posts. That sound, sound right?

Caitlyn: Let's go.

Meredith: All right, so review's the big one. The advice everybody gives is always, "Get more reviews." Okay, but what does that actually mean if you wanna move local search rankings?

Caitlyn: Honestly, I feel like we have podcasted about this a

Meredith: So many times

Caitlyn: times, and... but it's so relevant, and

Meredith: 100%

Caitlyn: and it kind of keeps changing, but I think, you know, if you haven't listened to our old post, you know, and you're just now tuning in, I hope you get something new from each one of these.

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: But that being said, so local search rankings and reviews, this means three things, and most contractors are only doing the first one. The three things are review velocity, platform diversity, and keyword-rich reviews.

Meredith: Right, okay, so let's start with velocity, because we touched on this in the last episode, but let's put some actual real numbers on it.

Caitlyn: Sure. Velocity is the rate...

Meredith: Okay, science class.

Caitlyn: I'm like, I feel like

Meredith: Having PTSD.

Caitlyn: Velocity is the rate at which new reviews are coming in, and the math matters here. If you're installing 80 jobs a month and getting four reviews, your velocity rate is 5%. That's bad.

Meredith: Mm.

Caitlyn: If you're installing 80 jobs a month and getting 40 reviews, your rate is 50%. That's exceptional.

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: The replacement contractors that are dominating their local pack are usually somewhere between 30 and 50% of jobs converting to a review.

Meredith: That is fantastic. And so if you're trying to get better, you're trying to increase that rate, what do you do to, to make that happen?

Caitlyn: 100%, it's all about the request process. The single biggest lever is timing. The review request needs to go out within 24 hours of install completion, while the homeowner is still excited and the project is fresh. Most contractors are sending a request five days later, 10 days later, two weeks later, and they're getting a 5% response rate. Move the request to within 24 hours, and you'll often double your or triple your conversion.

Meredith: And I think we... I mean, it was either last two episodes ago,

Caitlyn: All the episodes

Meredith: talking about

Caitlyn: Yes

Meredith: and using that to help.

Caitlyn: Automations.

Meredith: Automate your

Caitlyn: Yes

Meredith: respond to your reviews. If that is a problem for you, go back and listen to those episodes.

Caitlyn: Definitely.

Meredith: And we also like, tap in on this question, which is, how should you reach out? Should you text or should you email?

Caitlyn: Yeah, no, I'm so glad you asked because I'm gonna be honest, more, like both, all of the above.

Meredith: All of the outlets.

Caitlyn: All of the above. Text wins for review requests, though, in all honesty. We see open rates above 90% for review request texts. Say that five times fast.

Meredith: No, thank you.

Caitlyn: Review request text versus maybe 25% for email. And the text needs to be short, three sentences max, with a direct one-tap link to your Google review map.

Meredith: Make it easy.

Caitlyn: Do it both. I mean, honestly, I'm somebody who will, like, save important emails until the end of the day, and I'll go through and do that. Texts, I actually, like, kind of get annoyed and, like, delete things that aren't, like, urgent.

Meredith: Right, it just depends.

Caitlyn: So yeah, just do both if you can.

Meredith: Can't hurt.

Caitlyn: No.

Meredith: And so what about asking for reviews on multiple platforms, not just Google Business Profile?

Caitlyn: Yes, that's the second thing, platform diversity. Most contractors only ask for Google reviews. That's a mistake. Local search algorithms and AI tools especiallyAnd AI tools especially look at review presence across multiple platforms as a trust signal. Google reviews are, of course, still the heaviest weight, but Yelp, we just did a

Meredith: Yelp, mm-hmm

Caitlyn: on this in a webinar. Facebook, BBB, and increasingly industry specific sites like Houzz or GuildQuality all contribute.

Meredith: And so how should a contractor split that ask up?

Caitlyn: I, I absolutely... Like, this is such great advice. Do not split it

Meredith: Mm

Caitlyn: every platform on the first ask.

Meredith: Okay.

Caitlyn: Lead with Google. That's still the highest leverage review you can get. But have a follow-up sequence. If a customer leaves a amazing five-star review on Google, then next, text a week later thanking them for that review, and invite them to share that same review on Facebook or Yelp. The customers who love the experience are usually happy to do both.

Meredith: Right. So let's talk about keywords and reviews, because I think this is probably the part most contractors don't know is even a thing.

Caitlyn: No, no, and this is so, so, so important. So Google reads the actual text of a review. I mean, I don't feel like that's changed, but that's like, "Hello."

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: And when reviews mention specific services, product, or location names, it strengthens your relevance for those terms. So a review that says, "Great experience with our tub to shower conversion in Cary" is doing more work for your local SEO than one that says, "Great company. Would recommend."

Meredith: Exactly. And I mean, let's be honest, you can't tell customers what to write,

Caitlyn: No, no

Meredith: what do you, how do you, what do you do?

Caitlyn: Tell them what to write?

Meredith: Don't tell them what to write? What you do?

Caitlyn: You can't, and you shouldn't try, but you can obviously prompt for specificity. Wow.

Meredith: Right.

Caitlyn: I did it. I said that word.

Meredith: first try.

Caitlyn: Mm, first try. In the request, so be specific. Instead of, "Leave us a review," say, "Tell us about your experience, what product we installed, how did the crew, how the crew did everything that stood out." What kind of prompt that kind of prompt produces longer and more detailed reviews, which naturally include the keywords that are going to help your business.

Meredith: Right. And so we talked about what's in the review. Now let's talk about star ratings.

Caitlyn: Ugh, such a hot topic.

Meredith: There's a lot of advice floating around about what star rating actually matters, but what is the reality?

Caitlyn: Yeah, the honest answer is that getting from 4.0

Meredith: Mm-hmm

Caitlyn: 4.7 matters a lot for click-through rates.

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: Getting from 4.7 to 4.9 doesn't matter as much. Homeowner's eyes glaze over once you get, kind of cross that 4.5 mark.

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: They assume, okay, they're good. So if you're at a 3.9, you've got urgent work to because you're losing clicks at a meaningful rate. If you're at a 4.6, you're fine, and you should just continue to focus your energy on volume and recency rather than chasing perfection.

Meredith: All right. And then response. We talked about this, I mean, how many times have we talked about this?

Caitlyn: thousand

Meredith: Responding to reviews.

Caitlyn: You have to do it

Meredith: but what is the part about response that we haven't necessarily covered yet?

Caitlyn: I think this is really important, too. The depth of that response matters more, like, so much more than people realize.

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: A response that says, "Thanks, Sarah" is barely worth an effort. The response that says, "Sarah, so glad the bath remodel worked out. Carlos and the install team really enjoyed working in your home, and that custom tile selection turned out beautifully," that's 100-word piece of unique content tied to a five-star review with the customer's name and the service mentioned. That's working for you on every level, algorithm, conversion, and customer experience.

Meredith: Bing, bang, boom. You got all of them. And the last thing on reviews is review gating.

Caitlyn: I'm so glad we're talking about this.

Meredith: So let's tell people what that is and why it's actually a problem.

Caitlyn: Review gating is when you screen customers before asking them for a review. What? So you send them a one-question survey, "How was your experience?" And only the ones who say, "Great" get directed to your Google review page. The unhappy ones get directed to a feedback form that goes straight to your office.

Meredith: I mean, I'll be honest, on the surface, that sounds smart. Like, why not?

Caitlyn: It absolutely sounds smart, but Google explicitly prohibits this. It's called review gating, and consider it review manipulation. If they catch you doing it, and they have ways of catching it, they can suspend your profile or strip out the inflated reviews.

Meredith: Mm.

Caitlyn: The right approach is to ask everyone for a review, handle the negative ones professionally, and let the volume of legitimate reviews do the work. A profile with 300 reviews and a 4.6 average is more credible than a profile with 80 reviews and a average because the 5.0 looks too curated.

Meredith: Yeah. No, I mean, I look for that kind of thing when I'm looking for companies,

Caitlyn: Definitely

Meredith: whatever it is. All right.

Caitlyn: I like a five-star

Meredith: I mean, I love a five star. Can we have 300 reviews that are also five-star only?

Caitlyn: Questionable.

Meredith: That sounds great.

Caitlyn: Mm-hmm.

Meredith: Okay, so we'll put a bow on that review section.

Caitlyn: Yeah.

Meredith: Now let's talk about photos. We've talked previously about cadence.

Caitlyn: Mm-hmm.

Meredith: So a photo a week minimum. But what are we gonna add to

Caitlyn: Mm-hmm

Meredith: for this episode?

Caitlyn: Yeah, definitely. Three things. First, the photo category strategy. Second, the difference between business photos and customer photos. Third, why stock photos are actively hurting some contractors right now.

Meredith: Mm. Absolutely. Photo categories. Let's start there. Let's walk through that.

Caitlyn: Perfect. perfect. Inside Google Business Profile, there are specific photo categories: exterior, interior, team, identity, products, at work. Most contractors are uploading everything to one bucket and not labeling. That's a mistake. The category tells Google what the photo represents and helps your profile show up for different intents. A homeowner searching for a remodeler wants to see at work photos and finished products. A homeowner trying to verify your business is real that, to verify that your business real wants to see exterior and team photos.

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: Both happen. So you want photos in every category.

Meredith: Right. So specific to our replacement contractors listening, what is the best photo mix that's gonna perform the way that we want it to?

Caitlyn: Great question, Meredith. The two highest performing categories for our clients are at

Meredith: Mm-hmm

Caitlyn: meaning installers in the middle of a job, and honestly, all that works well for ads too with company shirts on, with branded trucks visible, and finished product, meaning the aftershot of the completed job. So at work and finished product, those are the photos that convert. Team photos and exterior office photos are necessary, but they're not what close the click.

Meredith: All right. How about before and after?

Caitlyn: Best content type for our industry.

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: A bath remodel before and after, a window replacement before and after, a roof before and after, that's the most powerful visual proof you can offer because the homeowner looking at your profile is imagining their own house going through the same transformation. Before and afters do that work for them.

Meredith: And is there, like, a best or a right way to format your before and afters?

Caitlyn: No, good question. So two photos taken from the same angle, ideally on the same similar lighting, side by side or stacked. And here's the part that gets missed. Upload them to GBP as separate photos in the at

Meredith: Mm

Caitlyn: or product category, but also create them as a single combined image for post and social. That way, you're getting so much double duty out of the same content.

Meredith: Love that. And if possible, try to take both of the photos without your finger over the lens.

Caitlyn: A girl can dream.

Meredith: A girl can dream. All right. Geo-tagged photos, let's talk about that.

Caitlyn: Yeah. So when a photo is taken on your phone with location services on, it embeds GPS coordinates in the file's metadata. if anybody's

Meredith: It sound like we're just, like, hackers

Caitlyn: Yeah. No, I know. I mean, you're driving you're like, "What?" I know. My favorite thing is to, like, show, like, people, like, if you scroll up on a photo, you can see exactly where the was taken.

Meredith: Terrifying.

Caitlyn: Terrifying. And a lot of people don't know that exists.

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: When you upload that photo to your profile, that metadata can travel with it. So a photo taken on a job site in town 15 miles from your office is, in effect, telling Google, "This business operates in this town." Over time, those geotagged photos help reinforce your service area. It's a small signal, but it's free and it's automatic if you're using a phone to take the photo.

Meredith: Exactly. And stock photos, that kind of leads us into that. Why are stock photos a problem?

Caitlyn: Rolling my eyes. Why do you think? One, homeowners can spot a stock photo pretty immediately.

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: It kills trust. There's a picture of this, like, house, and it's, like, a blue tent that I have seen on so many contractor's websites, just, you know, with the lights.

Meredith: 100.

Caitlyn: Yeah. yeah,

Meredith: close my eyes and picture it.

Caitlyn: Yeah. The polished, perfect looking bathroom that's clearly from a Pottery Barn catalog, that's not your work. Homeowners know it. Also, Google's image recognition is good enough now, this is crazy, to identify reused stock images. And when your profile is full of them, it doesn't help your ranking. It might even hurt it. Real photos of real work, even with that finger in

Meredith: Mm-hmm

Caitlyn: taken on real job sites beat polished stock photos every time.

Meredith: Yeah. So, okay, what about photos on Yelp versus Google Business Profile versus Facebook? They're all different platforms, different audiences. Is that fair?

Caitlyn: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Definitely, and contractors don't think about this enough. I mean, y'all are thinking about 1,000 things.

Meredith: Yeah

Caitlyn: in the heck would you think about this? The same library of photos can be used everywhere, but the captions and the context shift. On Yelp, homeowners are doing comparison shopping, so finished product photos with clear descriptions perform best. On GBP, the algorithm is doing more of the work, so volume and category coverage matter most. On Facebook, you're talking to past customers and people in your service area, so behind-the-scenes and crew photos get the most engagement. Same photos, different framing.

Meredith: All right. And, I mean, I feel like it's a super popular media channel that people aren't using enough. Let's talk about video.

Caitlyn: Mm, definitely. And I've talked about this ad nauseam. Video is becoming more important on GBP. In fact, when I upload my reviews when we just got our windows replaced, that's what we... Like, we recorded a video, you know? Just, like, 'cause

Meredith: Yeah

Caitlyn: you know, why not? And I've also... I'm obviously in this job for a reason. You can upload videos directly to your profile now. Short clips, 30 seconds or less, ideally showing work being done or a finished product. Most contractors aren't doing this yet, which is exactly why it's worth doing. The platforms reward early adoption of new features.

Meredith: That's a great point. And one last photo thing. What are we doing for captions and filenames? Does that matter?

Caitlyn: Oh my gosh. I know. I feel like people might just be crumbling

Meredith: Yeah

Caitlyn: to all this. We

Meredith: Like, Becky,

Caitlyn: metadata. What?

Meredith: And what? And what?

Caitlyn: Filenames. So actually, this is something, I mean, I... All props to our team, you know lazy me would just be like, "Let's just upload image 00125" you know?

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: Because that's the way it was named. But for websites, yes. For GBP, not really. Your website, the image filenames, like bathroom remodel Cary NC.jpeg, and alt text describing the image, those are going to matter for SEO. On your GBP, you really can't control the filenames after you upload, and Google reads the image content directly. So, focus on naming your file for your website, but not for your GBP.

Meredith: Okay, so maybe a little bit of a break there.

Caitlyn: Mm.

Meredith: All right.

Caitlyn: Maybe.

Meredith: Maybe. Okay, let's talk about posts. This one we've talked about, God, a million times, but I think it's where the biggest underutilization is happening.

Caitlyn: Mm.

Meredith: Most of the contractors we work with have published zero Google posts in the last year, if we're being honest.

Caitlyn: Mm. That's why we always offer it as one of our services.

Meredith: Exactly.

Caitlyn: It's a missed opportunity, because posts are one of the easier wins on this list. Reviews require a process. Photos require a workflow. Posts just require somebody publishing once a week.

Meredith: Yeah, so let's walk through the post types, because there's actually a few different types of posts.

Caitlyn: Yep, there are four main types. What's new is the standard post. Short update, photo, optional CTA button. It expires after seven days. Event posts are tied to a specific date or date range. Open house, showroom event, and they live until the event date passes. Offer posts are promotions, a discount, a seasonal special, and they have a start and end date that are set. So last but not least, products. Product posts highlight a specific product or service you offer, and those do not expire. So I think all of those expire except for products.

Meredith: Right. And the last one is interesting, because I don't think that most contractors realize that the product posts that they are posting are actually permanent to their profile.

Caitlyn: Say it louder.

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: So, product posts are worth doing for your top three or four service offerings. Bath remodel, window replacement, roof replacement, whatever your big sellers are. Each product get post... Each product post gets a description, a photo, a CTA. Once they're up, they stay. They feed the algorithm a permanent piece of structured content for each major service, which helps you surface for those searches.

Meredith: Exactly. And then the what's new posts, those are the ones where you need a weekly cadence content, right?

Caitlyn: Right. What's new posts are where you publish the photo of the bath you finished last Tuesday, the crew photo of a roof tear-off in Apex, the before and after from a window job. Each one is a fresh signal. Each one expires in seven days, which is why you need to keep publishing.

Meredith: All right. So, what is the right mix between our promotional and our educational posts?

Caitlyn: I tell clients to aim for something like 70/30. 70% showing work, telling stories, sharing photos. 30% promotional. Current offers, financing specials, seasonal pushes. If every post is, "Save $1,000 on your bathroom remodel through March," homeowners are gonna tune out. If every post is, "Here's the work we did this week," you build a portfolio they want to come back and look at, and the occasional offer post lands harder against that backdrop.

Meredith: Right. So offer posts specifically, what's gonna make a promotional offer post actually work?

Caitlyn: A clear offer, a clear deadline, a clean photo, which usually, you know, designer can

Meredith: Mm-hmm

Caitlyn: in a call to action button, button that goes straight to a landing page or a phone number. Where contractors mess up is they write, "Spring savings event," and leave it at that. Be specific. "Save $1,500 on a complete bath remodel. Must be installed by April 30th. Call for free estimate." Specific dollar amount, specific deadline, specific action.

Meredith: Right. And I mean, talk about a seasonal post calendar, because I think a lot of contractors are flying by the seat of their pants when it comes to this.

Caitlyn: I just talked to another client and we're like, "Hey, let's just have, like, a working lunch session and plan all these out."

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: Because you shouldn't fly by the seat of your pants. Most replacement contractors have a predictable seasonal pattern. Roofing has a busy summer and fall. Bath remodel are less seasonal, but tend to peak in the winter when people are inside their houses noticing things. Windows tend to spike around tax refund season, and again in the fall before heating bills hit. So your post calendar should anticipate that. Three or four months out, you should know what you're going to promote in March, what offer in May, what offer in September. Build the post content in advance, schedule it, let it run.

Meredith: All right. So is there a way, after we've posted all of these things, to track the performance of them?

Caitlyn: Definitely. It's just... And it's gotten so much better. So GBP does give you basic insights, how many people viewed each post, how many people clicked the CTA. It's not deep analytics, but it's enough to identify which post types and topics are performing for you. After two or three months of publishing consistently, you'll see patterns. Before and after photos almost always outperform office or team post. Specific dollar offers almost always outperform vague spring savings. Use the data to inform what you publish next.

Meredith: Okay. So let's also hit on cross-promotion. Let's talk about how a post on GBP should also connect to the other channels.

Caitlyn: Every GBP post should be repurposed. This is a no-brainer. This should not be something, honestly, that your agency is upselling. I'm, I'm just, like, being completely honest you.

Meredith: No, not harder.

Caitlyn: Yes. The photo and copy you use in a what's new post should go on Facebook the same week. It should go on Instagram. It can't be the basis of a paragraph in your monthly email... Oh, it can be. Sorry.

Meredith: Yeah.

Caitlyn: Gosh. that's brilliant. That's why I didn't even read it the right way. So GBP post, repurpose it on Facebook, on Instagram, and you could use it for a paragraph in your monthly email newsletter. The work of producing the content is obviously the hardest part. Once you've got the photo and the words, please distribute it everywhere.

Meredith: Absolutely. Recycle your content, put it everywhere that you can. Make your life easier. All right. So out of everything that we've covered, we covered reviews, we covered posts photos. Let's prioritize for everybody listening. If somebody can only do one of these things really, really well, or they wanna improve on it, which one should it be?

Caitlyn: I mean, I'm not even gonna give you guys the answer to that.

Meredith: Pop quiz time. Which one is it, guys?

Caitlyn: Obviously, reviews and review velocity. If you fix nothing else and you build a process that consistently generates 15 to 20 new Google reviews a month, you will see a measurable lift in your local search rankings within 90 days.

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: Nothing else on this list is going to move the needle that fast or as reliably.

Meredith: Two things. They've got reviews dialed in, so what's the next thing that we should tackle?

Caitlyn: Photos, specifically job site photos uploaded to GBP. I know a lot of these CRMs, you know, your installers are posting updates on there regularly. Maybe think about a process that they could post them as well on GPP and add them, you know, as a user there. After three months of consistent uploads, you've built a substantial visual profile and portfolio that's working for you on both the algorithm and on a conversion like, system, and it's a low friction process. Your install team is already, like I just said, on the job site with the phone in their pocket doing this.

Meredith: All right. So how are we going to get posts in the mix here?

Caitlyn: Once reviews and posts are running... Sorry.

Meredith: Reviews and photos.

Caitlyn: Once reviews and photos are running, posts are the multiplier. A weekly what's new post amplifies the work. Honestly, if you're already posting to Instagram or to Facebook, take that content and post it to GBP.

Meredith: Mm-hmm.

Caitlyn: Product post permanently boosts your visibility for your main services. Offer post give you a way to push promotions on a free channel. Post on top of reviews and photos is when you start to see real local search dominance.

Meredith: And review responses, where do those fit into this?

Caitlyn: Review responses are inside the reviews bucket. So if you're doing reviews well, you're responding to all of them. The two go together. A review without a response is obviously half-finished work.

Meredith: All right. So we talked about what's gonna move the needle. Let's flip that around and let's see, okay, what are contractors spending time on right now that isn't actually doing anything for them?

Caitlyn: A few things. Buying reviews. God. Fake reviews.

Meredith: red flag.

Caitlyn: Ugh. Either through a service that promises 50 reviews in 30 days, or by asking employees, friends, and family to leave reviews. We have seen all of this, and Google really does screw you.

Meredith: Mm-hmm

Caitlyn: it's not good.

Meredith: They will catch you. They will punish you.

Caitlyn: And then I love that, like, then you turn around and you're, like, like, mad at the agency. I'm like, "You did this to yourself."

Meredith: Yeah, we, we warned you.

Caitlyn: Google's detection is so good on this one. They will identify and remove inauthentic reviews, and in some cases they'll suspend the profile entirely. The risk is not worth it.

Meredith: It's absolutely not. I mean, okay, how about posting once and forgetting about the profile?

Caitlyn: Absolutely don't. A flurry of activity for two weeks followed by six months of silence is worse than a steady drip. The algorithm reads the inactivity, your profile looks abandoned, and the work you did during the active periods gets devalued because there's nothing reinforcing it.

Meredith: And I bet some people are using stock photos.

Caitlyn: I mean, I'm sitting here thinking about, like, some of the newer clients, like back in the day. Like, I mean, we just dropped James Hardie stock photos in

Meredith: Yeah

Caitlyn: that's

Meredith: they were like, "We don't have any project photos." We were like, "Okay, go for it."

Caitlyn: I mean, yeah. I mean,

Meredith: have changed

Caitlyn: we need, I mean, we need to go in and, like, remove those.

Meredith: Mm-hmm

Caitlyn: already covered, but worth repeating, polished stock photos do not help you, and they could hurt you. Real photos are going to always win.

Meredith: And, I mean, chasing the perfect 5.0 star rating, what... Should we be doing that? Should we not be doing that?

Caitlyn: Wasted energy past a certain point. If you're at a six point... Gosh.

Meredith: You're at a six star

Caitlyn: If you're six

Meredith: I tell us what you did

Caitlyn: yeah, then you've broken Google. So if you're at a 4.6 or above, you don't need to push for a 4.9. Spend that energy on volume and recency instead. A profile with 300 reviews at a 4.6 outperforms the 80 reviews at a 4.9. Volume, volume, volume, volume.

Meredith: All right. Is there anything else we want to make sure we're writing?

Caitlyn: Yeah. I think this is gonna come out, like, summer, summertime. And if you guys have some fun, you know, summer interns who are out for the like, for

Meredith: Mm-hmm

Caitlyn: this could be something to consider. Spending hours writing long, formal post copy, don't do it. Posts work best when they're short and visual. The photo is the hero. The text is supporting. Two sentences and a CTA. Don't overthink it. Grab that summer intern, ask them to just write as many posts as they possibly can that are generic. I think that's a good use of time.

Meredith: Yeah. I mean, also, you can pop this on their list of things to do. Listen to this episode and then get to writing.

Caitlyn: Ooh.

Meredith: Okay, speaking of action items, let's send people off from this episode with a clear next step. If you're listening to this on a Friday, what should you on a Monday morning?

Caitlyn: But these episodes drop on Wednesday, Meredith.

Meredith: But they may not be listening to it until Friday.

Caitlyn: Fine. Three things. First, pull up your review velocity. Look at the last 90 days. How many jobs did you install? How many Google reviews did you receive? Calculate the rate. If it's under 20%, your review request process is broken. Fix that this week.

Meredith: Yeah. Sorry. We're making you do math. Second thing...

Caitlyn: Audit your profile photos. Count how many you've uploaded in the last 30 days. If it's under four, your profile workflow isn't running. Talk to your install crew this week about a simple process. Three photos per job sent to a shared drop. Somebody on the marketing side uploads them.

Meredith: Number three.

Caitlyn: Check the date of your last Google post. If it's more than two weeks ago or if you've never published one, block 20 minutes off on your calendar this week to publish your first three. One, what's new, with a job photo; one, product post with your biggest service; and then one offer post for whatever promotion you're running this month. That gets you off of zero.

Meredith: All right. Lots of thoughts, lots of things that we've talked about this episode.

Caitlyn: Love this topic

Meredith: is there any last piece of advice or thought we want to share with our lovely listeners?

Caitlyn: Sure. Reviews, photos, and posts are the three content channels that will quietly determine whether you dominate or disappear in your local market over the next two years.

Meredith: Mm.

Caitlyn: AI search is making this more important, not less. The contractors who treat these three as core operations, not afterthoughts, are going to win.

Meredith: And if a contractor wants help building these systems, getting the workflows right, integrating it all into a real local search strategy, that's exactly what we do, so head to fatcatstrategies.com and book a strategy call.

Caitlyn: And we'll do all that for you.

Meredith: We'll do it for you. We'll take a look at your reviews, your photos, your posts, all of that, and we'll tell you exactly where your gaps are.

Caitlyn: Thank you guys so much for listening to Digital Marketing for Contractors. I saw some stats this morning in terms of our listeners. It's continuing to grow, so thank you, thank you, thank you. I hope you guys are all getting value out of this. Continue to share it with friends in the field.

Meredith: All right. See you next time.

Caitlyn: Bye.

Outro: Digital marketing for contractors is created by Fat Cat Strategies. For more information, visit fatcatstrategies.com.