Latest / The Local Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Small Business, Google Maps, and Local SEO / How a Roofing Company Uses Google Maps Before and After Photos
Transcript
- Lucas: So here's a stat I came across last week that stopped me cold: businesses that post more than a hundred photos to their Google Maps listing get forty-two percent more requests for directions and thirty-seven percent more clicks to their website. Luna: That is a huge gap. And I bet most local businesses are sitting on maybe ten photos, if that. Lucas: Exactly. And those ten photos are usually the same three shots of the storefront, a blurry interior, and the logo. So today I want to look at one specific type of business that is absolutely crushing it with a particular kind of photo: before and after shots. I'm talking about a roofing company in Canton, Ohio, called Stark Exteriors. Luna: Oh, I've actually seen their listing. They have this whole gallery of roofs at different stages — it's like a portfolio, not just a gallery. Lucas: Right. And that's the key insight. They stopped treating Google Maps photos as 'here's what our building looks like' and started treating them as a visual portfolio of their work. Every time they finish a job, they upload a set: the old damaged roof, the tear-off, the new shingles, the finished gutters. And they tag each photo with attributes like 'exterior' and 'roofing'. Luna: And they caption them, right? I remember seeing one that said 'Complete roof replacement in Plain Township — Owens Corning Duration Storm shingles, charcoal color.' That's way more useful than just 'New roof.' Lucas: That's the exact right level of detail. Because now when someone searches 'roofer near me' and they see that photo with that caption, they're not just seeing a pretty picture — they're seeing proof of competence. They're seeing the specific material, the color, the scope. Luna: So it builds trust before the customer even calls. That's the whole point of local SEO — you want to answer the question 'Can I trust this person?' before they click through. Lucas: Exactly. And the numbers back it up. Stark Exteriors told a local business blog that after they started this photo strategy — posting at least fifteen new photos every week — their Google Maps leads doubled in two months. They went from about eight calls a week to sixteen, and closed twelve new contracts in the first month alone. Luna: That is concrete. And it's not just about volume — it's about relevance. When you search for a roofer, you want to see recent work, not photos from three years ago. Lucas: Exactly. Google's algorithm actually weights recency for photos. If you haven't uploaded a new photo in sixty days, your listing starts to lose visibility in local results. It's like a freshness signal. Luna: So if you're a plumber or a landscaper or a painter, you can do exactly this. Take a photo of the leaky pipe, then the fixed pipe. Before and after. It's almost too simple. Lucas: It's simple to say, but execution is where most people fall down. I want to break down the three mistakes I see over and over. Mistake number one: low-resolution photos. Google Maps compresses images anyway, but if you start with a blurry phone photo from 2019, it's going to look terrible. Luna: And that hurts credibility. If the photo of your work is low quality, people assume the work is low quality too. Lucas: Mistake number two: no captions. A photo without a caption is just an image. A photo with a caption that says 'Kitchen backsplash installed April 2026 — subway tile with charcoal grout' is a sales tool. Luna: It's also searchable. Google can read captions and use them to match your listing to relevant searches. Lucas: Exactly. Mistake number three: posting too few at once. Google seems to reward bulk uploads. If you post three photos a week, your listing gets less love than if you post twenty photos once a month. The algorithm likes batch updates. Luna: So you don't need to post daily. You could do a weekly or biweekly batch of new photos from recent jobs. Lucas: Exactly. Stark Exteriors does exactly that. Every Friday afternoon, the office manager collects photos from the week's jobs, crops and captions them, and uploads them in one batch. It takes maybe thirty minutes. Luna: And that consistency builds a library. Over a year, that's over seven hundred photos. That's the kind of depth that makes your listing look established and trustworthy. Lucas: Now, there is another layer here that I think is underused: Google Maps allows you to organize photos into albums. You can have an album called 'Before and After,' another called 'Completed Projects,' another called 'Team Photos.' Stark Exteriors has an album for each type of roof they install. Luna: That's smart because it helps customers navigate. If someone is looking for a metal roof, they can jump straight to that album instead of scrolling through hundreds of asphalt shingle photos. Lucas: And it signals expertise. If you have an album dedicated to metal roofs with twenty photos, you look like the specialist. Which is exactly what customers want when they're spending ten thousand dollars on a new roof. Luna: Let's talk about the actual Google My Business interface. Because I know some listeners might be thinking, 'I don't even know where to upload photos to Google Maps.' Lucas: Right. So it's in Google Business Profile, which used to be called Google My Business. You log in, go to the Photos tab, and you can upload directly. But here's the trick: you should also use the Google Maps app on your phone. When you're on site, you can take a photo and upload it in real time, and it will tag the location automatically. Luna: That geo-tagging is powerful because it ties the photo to the exact address where the work was done, which adds local relevance. Lucas: Exactly. And one more thing: Google now allows you to add products and services directly to your photo. So when you upload a photo of a completed roof, you can tag it with the specific service, like 'Roof replacement - asphalt shingle.' That makes it clickable and searchable. Luna: I want to ask about the flip side. Are there any risks to posting lots of before and after photos? Could it backfire? Lucas: Sure. If the before photo looks terrible and the after photo also looks mediocre, that's a problem. You need good work to show off. But the bigger risk is inconsistency — if you post amazing photos for three months and then stop for six months, your listing freshness drops and your ranking may slide. Luna: So it's a commitment. But the ROI seems clear. For a roofer, a single job can be worth thousands of dollars. Spending thirty minutes a week on photos is a no-brainer. Lucas: Absolutely. And I think this applies beyond home services. Any business that does visible work — landscapers, painters, contractors, even hair salons or nail studios — can use before and after photos to demonstrate transformation. That's what sells. Luna: And if these marketing conversations have sparked something you've actually used in your own business, we'd love to hear about it. And listener support is what keeps this show ad-free. If you find value in episodes like this one, you can buy us a coffee — it's at buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. Totally optional, but it helps us keep doing deep dives like this. Lucas: Yeah, we appreciate that. And it lets us stay focused on the tactics that actually move the needle, not on selling ad space. So thank you to anyone who's ever contributed. Luna: Alright, back to the photos. Lucas, what about the actual photo quality — do you need a professional camera or is a modern smartphone enough? Lucas: A modern smartphone is plenty. The key is good lighting. If you're shooting a roof, do it in the morning or late afternoon when the sun is low — harsh noon light washes out details. And use the grid lines on your phone to keep the horizon straight. Crooked photos look unprofessional. Luna: And don't use filters. People want to see the real color of the shingles, not an Instagram filter. Lucas: Exactly. Authenticity beats stylization every time. One more tip: include a photo of the team working. It humanizes the business. Stark Exteriors has a few shots of their crew on the roof with safety harnesses, and those get a lot of engagement. Luna: People like seeing the people behind the business. It builds a connection. Lucas: So the takeaway for today: if you run a service business, start a before and after photo album on your Google Maps listing. Upload at least fifteen new photos every week. Caption each one with specific details. And organize them into albums by service type. Do that consistently for three months, and I'd be very surprised if you don't see a measurable increase in leads. Luna: And if you have a story about how photos helped your business, we'd love to hear it. You can find the show notes on the Fexingo website. Lucas: Next time, we're going to look at how a local bakery uses Google Maps Q&A to answer customer questions before they even ask. That one is fascinating. Luna: Looking forward to it. Thanks, Lucas. Lucas: Thanks, Luna.