Plumbing company needs help!

[Bnelly]

Hello, When we first started our plumbing company 2.5 years ago the leads were amazing coming from local service ads. we were in the top two ranking spot every search. Now we are between 4 and 7 spot when searching plumber. we have been getting new companies entering our service area but these guys are some how ranking higher then us even though they have 1/4 the amount of reviews as us or are located further. Ive called google 100s of times and they give you the run around and don't really help you rank higher. I have my budget set to 200k a week (ill spend 1 million if they keep giving me leads) we have 196 reviews with 4.9 rating. I need help ranking higher and am willing to spend any amount to do it, thank you!

 

[Chris Barnard]

Definitely a common situation in my experience. Assuming you are doing all of the Rx management tasks/best practices, along with getting a steady clip of new reviews and killing it with excellent responsiveness, it's always tough to recommend specific tactics without knowledge of the account, industry, and location.

And with the LSA world being such a black box, sometimes the tactics that work best are counter-intuitive. Like maybe lowering that budget to a more realistic number - with the avg CPL in plumbing could Google even serve that volume to every advertiser in your location? Some 100%, some not even, but have you experimented with a lower budget amount?

There hasn't been much evidence in Google doing anything to combat listing and review spam in the space, but reporting is an option: Report inappropriate or inaccurate content - Local Services Help

 

[Tony Wang]

Did you adjust your bid, too? High bid + high budget should improve things. Quick response as well. But in the end, there may be others equally willing to spend, so you're not necessarily going to outrank them.

 

[GoLocal]

I would have to see the website. It could also be a case of just needing a Gen Z makeover. This is a common story, did a site this week for a person in this exact position. You have a few great things going for you, eagerness and budget. I would start by hiring a plumbing sector PPC guru. Get your FB leads maximized with the first budget spend if you haven't, this has quicker effect. I would try to find someone who specializes in Plumbing PPC and does just that, all day, every day.

Then make sure you have strong content, and local content velocity. Hit many points rapidly, the current "rank in one" day method involves creating a grid of articles and deploying across 10 platforms all at once. This practice might be frowned on here, or considered "parasite", I'm not sure — but it's working right now. If you need to get seen fast, it's a way that works without having to buy links, etc.

Here's the twist. If your competition is buying links, then what? I'm currently soul searching on this exact point so I have no answers but it comes down to competing to win. If you want to win? Only option is to do things that creates wins. That boils down to dunking on whatever your opponent is willing to do to beat you — which then becomes the ante for beating them.

It's a like a hockey game where one team is playing dirty, the other team has to play dirtier. It's the only solution we have if we need the win. Fundamental human nature. Godspeed.

 

[keyserholiday]

Hello, When we first started our plumbing company 2.5 years ago the leads were amazing coming from local service ads. we were in the top two ranking spot every search. Now we are between 4 and 7 spot when searching plumber. we have been getting new companies entering our service area but these guys are some how ranking higher then us even though they have 1/4 the amount of reviews as us or are located further. Ive called google 100s of times and they give you the run around and don't really help you rank higher. I have my budget set to 200k a week (ill spend 1 million if they keep giving me leads) we have 196 reviews with 4.9 rating. I need help ranking higher and am willing to spend any amount to do it, thank you!

I suggest reaching out to Crystal Horton. She is the LSA Queen.

 

[keyserholiday]

I would have to see the website. It could also be a case of just needing a Gen Z makeover. This is a common story, did a site this week for a person in this exact position. You have a few great things going for you, eagerness and budget. I would start by hiring a plumbing sector PPC guru. Get your FB leads maximized with the first budget spend if you haven't, this has quicker effect. I would try to find someone who specializes in Plumbing PPC and does just that, all day, every day.

Then make sure you have strong content, and local content velocity. Hit many points rapidly, the current "rank in one" day method involves creating a grid of articles and deploying across 10 platforms all at once. This practice might be frowned on here, or considered "parasite", I'm not sure — but it's working right now. If you need to get seen fast, it's a way that works without having to buy links, etc.

Here's the twist. If your competition is buying links, then what? I'm currently soul searching on this exact point so I have no answers but it comes down to competing to win. If you want to win? Only option is to do things that creates wins. That boils down to dunking on whatever your opponent is willing to do to beat you — which then becomes the ante for beating them.

It's a like a hockey game where one team is playing dirty, the other team has to play dirtier. It's the only solution we have if we need the win. Fundamental human nature. Godspeed.

The website has nothing to do with LSA rankings. They need an LSA audit.

 

[bdlowery]

You're a local plumbing company spending $200k a week on local service ads?

wtf

 

[GoLocal]

You're a local plumbing company spending $200k a week on local service ads?

wtf

Budget != spend.