How Google Search Works for Excavation and Septic Businesses

In this section, we want to take a few minutes to demystify the search engines and break down the anatomy of the search results page. By understanding how each component works, you can formulate a strategy to maximize your results.

There are three or four core components in maximizing profits using the search results page, depending on if the service being searched for is eligible for Local Service Ads:

1. Local Service Ads (LSA)
2. Google PPC Ads
3. Google Maps
4. Organic Listing

Strategies in Maximizing Profits

1. ***Google Local Service Ads –***This is the first thing that comes up in the search results commonly referred to as LSA and formerly called Google Guaranteed. In this program you pay Google a “price per lead/call”. Local Service Ads are only available on select home services like septic pumping, foundation repair, and land clearing. To run Local Service Ads and be successful, you will also need a verified Google Business Profile with good reviews in comparison to your local competitors.

For dirt work companies, we find that LSA can sometimes be a good supplement to Google PPC (Pay Per Click) ads, depending on the service, your desired service area, and your reviews. Because LSA is attached to your Google Business Profile, these perform best in about a 30 to 60 mile radius of where your Google Business Profile is located.

*2.*Paid/PPC Listings – In the “Sponsored” section of the search you can select keywords and the exact geographical areas that are relevant to your business, and then pay to be listed in those search results. The reason it is referred to as PPC or Pay-Per-Click is because rather than paying a flat monthly or daily fee for placement, you simply pay each time someone clicks on the link.

*3.*Map Listings – The map listings, also called a Google Business Profile, have become very important in maximizing profits because of the way the modern internet user relies on reviews to make buying decisions. If someone searches for some particular service in your area, chances are the map listings will be the first thing they look at. Map listings are created by getting a Google Business Profile (formerly called Google My Business) verified. Map listings are free, and heatmap studies show us that nearly 70% of the clicks in a search result go to the first 3 results in the Google Maps Listing. The maps are locally relevant for about a 10 to 30 miles radius around your local area. SEO work and reviews will positively impact your maps ranking.

*4.*Organic Listings – The organic section of the search results page appears directly beneath the map listings in many local searches but appears directly beneath the paid listings in the absence of the map listings (the map section only shows up in specific local searches). Similar to the map listings, you can’t pay your way into this section of the search engines and there is no per-click cost associated with it, but SEO work will move you up in the rankings.

Now that you understand the four major components in maximizing profits of the search results and the differences between paid listings, map listings and organic listings you might wonder… “What section is the most important?”

This is a question that we receive from a large number of businesses every day.

The fact is all three or four components are important, depending on the specific service and target area. Each should have a place in your online marketing program because you want to show up as often as possible when someone is searching for your service offerings in your area.

Return on Investment

If you have limited funds or time to spend on marketing, the question becomes, what should you focus on? Ideally you focus on ALL these areas: 1) Google Maps SEO, 2) Google PPC Ads, 3) Website SEO, and 4) possibly supplemental ads like LSA, Bing, or Facebook. But if you’re looking for priorities, that is the exact order we would work on according to our experience with dirt work companies.

Based on real life results from our clients we have identified the lowest hanging fruit of digital marketing to be the Google Maps SEO or Google Business Profile, and Google PPC Ads. With this split approach of tackling both organic SEO work on the Google Business Profile, and paid Google PPC Ads, we are able to see the quickest return on investment for our clients.

Some companies choose to focus their efforts in those two areas first, and then reinvest profits into their website SEO and other supplementary ads like LSA, Bing, and sometimes even Facebook ads. Though Google Maps SEO and PPC will get the quickest results, Website SEO will give the most robust, long-term volume of results at a lower cost, as well as build massive authority in your market, so it’s not to be skipped in your long-term marketing plan for maximizing profits.