https://alertbuildinginspections.co.nz/ https://buildinginspectionaucklandcity.co.nz

GOOGLE BUSINESS PROFILE AUDIT

This audit highlights optimisation opportunities, risks and a general overview of the Google Business Profile for Alert Building Inspections.

Summary

Overall, the Alert Building Inspections Google Business Profile is in a strong position, with good existing visibility, a healthy review profile and a solid range of services already listed. The main opportunities are around improving consistency across locations, reducing potential Google Business Profile compliance risks, and strengthening the local signals that support rankings.

Recommended Priority

• Standardise the business naming convention across every Alert Building Inspections location.
  
• Update directory citations first before making sensitive business name or address changes.
  
• Review phone numbers by branch and introduce unique local numbers where possible.
  
• Clean up products and services, removing duplicates and adding missing service areas.
  
• Review categories and add relevant secondary categories where appropriate.
  
• Reduce overlapping service areas between separate Auckland profiles.
  
• Improve profile imagery with real inspection and service-focused photos.
  
• Continue actively managing reviews, with a consistent professional response style.
  

LISTED BUSINESS NAME

Building Inspection Auckland - Alert Building Inspections

As per Google’s guidelines, this is regarded as keyword stuffing / spam.

While this may have worked for years without being flagged, this could happen any time, either by Google’s anti-spam algorithm or by a competitor, disgruntled customer, etc.

There is also a double up of the main keyword “building inspections” which may look spammy to some, and it also makes the listed business name unnecessarily long.

The legal name for the business is Alert Building Inspections and strictly speaking, this is what should be listed. Since the company has multiple branches, it is acceptable to add a location after the listed business name, i.e. Alert Building Inspections Auckland

This includes the keyword, the location and the business name. There might be a slight ranking drop after changing the listed business name but this should adjust fairly quickly.

It is also important to keep your listed business name consistent across different platforms and citation sources as directory sites (Yellow Online, Finda, Yelp, etc.).

It would be helpful to set up directory listings for each branch on the main NZ directory sites – ideally before changing it on your Google Business Profile.

I have seen a mix of name formats for other locations, for example

Building Inspection West Auckland - Alert Building InspectionsBuilding Inspection Christchurch - Alert Building InspectionsAlert Building Inspections PukekoheAlert Building Inspections DunedinThere should be a unified naming format for all branches as Google sometimes looks at multi location businesses as a whole and consistency can determine credibility and therefore rankings.

IMPORTANT: Name changes are delicate edits and there are a few steps to consider. See the information on address changes in this report – the same applies to name changes.

BUSINESS CATEGORIES

Building Inspector has correctly been selected as the primary category, however the following categories should be added as secondary categories, if applicable:

Commercial Property Inspector Asbestos Testing Service

PRODUCTS & SERVICES

Listing products and/or services is a great way to rank for specific keywords. A great range of services has been added, along with custom descriptions. However, there are a few double ups, for example pre purchase building inspection and pre purchase building report, the latter being more suitable to list a product.

We recommend moving all the reports from services to products. Building report has already been added as a product, meaning it can be deleted from services.

Following products / services should be added:

Asbestos Testing (if applicable)

Meth Testing

Drug Contamination Testing

Renovation Inspection / Report

Alteration Inspection / Report

BUSINESS LOCATION AND SERVICE AREAS

According to Google’s guidelines, service area businesses should not display their address, if there is no office or showroom for walk-in customers.

The catch is, listing the address can improve rankings. This is a highly debated grey area and you should be aware of the risks.

At the moment, your profile ranks well for “building inspections auckland” and similar keywords:

However, this may change as you recently moved. Your ranking might still relate to your old business address / hasn’t reset yet in Google’s algorithm, even though you have already verified your new address. But there is no guarantee the ranking will go down due to this as other building inspection companies are using service areas and ranking just as high/higher.

If rankings drop, it would be best to display your new address. This is a very delicate edit though and can lead to instant disapproval if not done in the right order. Re-verification might be required too.

Before opting to display the address you have to “prove” that you really operate at this address. You will need to update your online citations / directory listings first and wait for them to get indexed before editing the address on your Google Business Profile.

You have defined all major Auckland areas which generates a visual service area for the viewer.

Service areas do not impact rankings for specific location keywords such as “building inspections south auckland” etc.

Rankings for location specific keywords are determined by a range of factors such as the verified address, website content, citation consistency, and more.

Your West Auckland profile has the address listed and ranks for local searches. The phone number is the same as on you Auckland profile which is not ideal (see next page).

In a multi branch scenario like yours, it is best not to overlap service areas.

CONTACT INFO

Both, Auckland and West Auckland profiles are listed with the same mobile phone number which is not ideal.

While both profiles are live and verified, this could change at any moment as Google usually demands a unique phone number per business location.

The use of 0800 numbers as primary number is fine but a different phone number should be used as secondary phone number.

If at all possible, the use of a local landline number is ideal as this is yet another local signal to Google.

To potential customers a 0800 number or a local landline number looks more trustworthy than a mobile number.

The use of the mobile number in SMS settings is perfectly fine of course. However, Google is asking for confirmation (please confirm by clicking OK if everything is correct).

REVIEWS

Responding to reviews is important, especially negative ones. You are doing a very good job responding to most reviews. However, the language used in responses is extremely important. While we understand this is always an emotional process, it is best to keep language neutral and professional.

When researching businesses, potential customers often look at negative reviews and judge the business based on their responses to criticism. Mistakes or misunderstandings can happen but the way a business deals with this is important.

AI can help to craft responses in a professional tone, without sounding emotional or defensive.

In some cases, negative reviews can also point out legitimate pain points within the business / areas with room for improvement.

Unfortunately it is very hard to get negative reviews removed, and only possible if they violate Google’s guidelines or if you can prove they are spam, for example competitors getting people to post negative reviews etc.

On a positive note, negative reviews add a factor of authenticity. A business with hundreds of five-star reviews and zero negative reviews doesn’t look real.

IMAGES

Images are important to provide a quick impression. They showcase your company’s identity and provide a visual impression of your products and services.

Unfortunately it is a little tricky to influence which images are shown on the search result, and this may vary depending on the search query, the searcher’s profile and history, etc. Your best chance is changing the cover photo – this is usually shown on the search result.

I saw the below when I clicked on your profile - in multiple browsers in incognito mode.

While the picture of the large round building and the stock photo of a family on a lawn (currently set as your cover photo) are of good image quality, they are not very relevant and should therefore be removed.

I recommend deleting the current cover photo and replacing it with the man checking the gutters.

Relevant pictures in your gallery:

While showcasing your team is a good idea, it is better to have one team shot instead of individual photos as they are not relevant to your services and mix in with those relevant product/service images that your customers are looking for.

We recommend deleting the individual photos and uploading a team photo.