The 50-minute Google profile tune-up before the holiday rush
Holiday carpet cleaning searches start in November. A checklist to fix your Google profile in under an hour, so the people searching can find and book you.
In a few weeks people start searching for a carpet cleaner before the in-laws arrive, and a lot of them will pick from the map without ever opening a website. If your Google profile has the wrong hours, no prices and photos from 2019, they skip you for the listing that looks awake.
This is a checklist for one sitting. Set a timer for 50 minutes, open your Google Business Profile on a laptop, and work down the list. You do not need anyone's help.
Minutes 0 to 10: hours
Start here because it is the most common gap. In our data, 50% of carpet cleaning companies list no hours at all on their Google profile. When someone searches "carpet cleaner open Saturday" or filters by "open now," a profile with no hours tends to drop out.
- [ ] Set regular hours that match when someone actually answers the phone. Not when the van is out. When a human picks up.
- [ ] If you work Saturdays, list it. Only 37% of companies in our data show Saturday hours, so it is an easy way to stand out.
- [ ] Add special hours now for Thanksgiving, the day after, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Leaving holidays blank can get your profile marked "hours might differ," which looks uncertain right when people are booking.
Minutes 10 to 20: services and prices
- [ ] Open the services section. Make sure every service you sell is listed: carpet cleaning, upholstery, area rugs, tile and grout, pet odor treatment, stairs.
- [ ] Add a starting price to each one where you can. "Carpet cleaning, from $X per room" or "3 rooms from $X." A profile with prices gets calls from people ready to book. A profile without them gets calls from people asking "how much," then hanging up.
- [ ] Write one plain line under each service. "Hot water extraction, dries in 4 to 6 hours, safe for pets and kids once dry."
The pricing guide has more on how to present per-room versus whole-house pricing without starting a price war.
Minutes 20 to 30: photos
- [ ] Upload five new photos taken this year. A before and after of a real carpet, your van with the logo, your crew in uniform, your equipment, and one of a finished room.
- [ ] Delete or bury anything blurry, dark or obviously stock.
- [ ] Check your cover photo on a phone. It gets cropped. Make sure the important part is in the middle.
Almost every profile has a photo. 95.1% do in our data. So having photos is not the edge. Having recent, real ones is.
Minutes 30 to 40: the booking path
- [ ] Check the website link. Does it go to your home page or to a page where someone can actually book or request a quote? Point it at the booking page if you have one.
- [ ] Add an appointment link if your scheduling software has one.
- [ ] Turn on messaging if you can answer messages within an hour during business hours. If you cannot, leave it off. An unanswered message is worse than no message button.
- [ ] Call your own number from your cell. Does it ring through? Does voicemail say your company name and that you will text back?
Minutes 40 to 50: one post and one review reply
- [ ] Write a Google post about holiday booking. Keep it short and specific: "Booking now for pre-Thanksgiving carpet cleaning. Most weeks fill by early November. Call or text to get on the schedule." Add a photo.
- [ ] Reply to your three most recent reviews that do not have a reply. One or two sentences, using the customer's first name and the job: "Thanks, Maria. Glad the stairs came out clean before the party."
The Google Business Profile guide covers the rest of the settings when you have more time.
After the timer goes off
You will not see a change overnight. Give it two weeks and then look at the performance section on your profile. Compare calls and website clicks for the first half of November to the first half of October.
Then check where you stand on reviews. The median carpet cleaner in our data has 12 reviews and the top 10% have 161 or more. The holiday rush is the best review season of the year, because customers are happy and you are in their house right before guests arrive. The reviews guide has the exact ask. The full picture of your market is in the benchmark report.
If you want the profile tune-up and holiday post done for you, the free 14-day trial covers any one service, no card: text or call (801) 618-3099.
Steven has spent the last several years running growth campaigns for local service businesses, carpet cleaning companies among them, and builds the benchmark datasets on this site from public Google listings. About the editor