Latest / The Local Marketing Podcast with Fexingo: Small Business, Google Maps, and Local SEO / How a Coffee Shop Owner Uses Google Maps Q and A to Win Customers
Transcript
- Lucas: So there's this coffee shop in Portland called 'Press & Brew.' Small space, two baristas on a busy morning, the whole thing. And they're not the highest-rated shop in town — they've got four point three stars, which is fine but not top tier. Luna: That's respectable but not exactly blowing people away. Lucas: Right. But they're consistently appearing in the top three spots for 'coffee near me' in their neighborhood, beating shops with four point six and four point seven stars. So I started digging into why. Luna: What'd you find? Lucas: The owner, a guy named Marcus, told me he's obsessed with one feature that most business owners completely ignore: the question and answer section on Google Maps. Luna: Oh, the Q and A tab? I feel like I barely see that used. Lucas: Exactly. Most businesses either don't know it exists or they answer a question once and forget about it. Marcus treats it like a second front door. He monitors it daily, and he answers every single question within four hours — even the dumb ones. Luna: What counts as a dumb question? Lucas: 'Do you have oat milk?' — which is already answered in the description and in three photos. Or 'What time do you open on Sundays?' which is on the profile. But here's the thing: Google surfaces those Q and A pairs in search results. If someone searches 'oat milk coffee Portland,' the question and answer can appear as a rich snippet right on the search page. Luna: So it's like free real estate on Google's search results page. Lucas: Exactly. Marcus told me he tracked a fourteen percent increase in store visits after he started answering questions systematically. He uses the insights tool to see how many people are viewing the Q and A section, and it's one of the highest-engagement parts of his profile. Luna: That's a big number for something that costs zero dollars. Lucas: And it's not just about the answers you give. It's about what happens when you don't answer. Google's algorithm treats unanswered questions as a signal that the business isn't actively managed. It can actually hurt your ranking. There's a study from a local SEO agency that found businesses with unanswered questions rank, on average, two positions lower than those that answer within twenty-four hours. Luna: So ignoring questions is like voluntarily dropping in the rankings. That's wild. Lucas: Yeah. And here's the part that makes Marcus's approach smart: he doesn't just answer with a line. He uses keywords naturally. If someone asks 'Do you have outdoor seating?' he writes 'Yes, we have a pet-friendly patio with six tables, available year-round under a heated awning.' That's fifty words of keyword-rich content that Google can index. Luna: He's basically writing mini blog posts for Google Maps. Lucas: Exactly. And it works because those answers are searchable. Someone looking for 'heated patio Portland' might land on his Q and A page even if they never typed the shop's name. Luna: Okay, so what about the questions that are actually negative? Like, 'Why is the service so slow?' Does he answer those too? Lucas: He does. But carefully. He doesn't get defensive. He says something like, 'We've hired two additional baristas since your visit and our average wait time is now under four minutes. We'd love to welcome you back.' It turns a negative into a demonstration of improvement. Luna: That's smart customer service, but it's also SEO. The answer is fresh content with keywords. Lucas: Right. And Google's algorithm seems to favor recent activity. Marcus sets an alert so he gets a notification on his phone anytime a new question is posted. He says the urgency makes a difference. If you answer within an hour, Google is more likely to show that answer prominently. Luna: Is there any downside? Like, can customers abuse the Q and A? Lucas: Occasionally. Competitors or trolls can post fake questions. But Marcus says he's only had two in three years. Google lets you flag and remove inappropriate questions, but the bar is high. You can't remove a question just because it's critical. Luna: So the playbook is: monitor daily, answer within hours, use keywords naturally, and don't ignore the tough questions. Lucas: That's it. And it's completely free. No ad spend, no special tools. Just ten minutes a day. Luna: You know, talking about free tactics that actually move the needle — it makes me realize how much value there is in shows like this that skip the fluff and get to what works. A couple of bucks a month from listeners who find these episodes useful genuinely keeps the whole thing going, keeps it ad-free and focused on stuff like this. Lucas: Yeah, and it's not about big pledges. If these conversations have sparked something you've actually used — maybe you answered a question on your profile after hearing this — that's the kind of impact that makes a small contribution feel meaningful. There's a buy me a coffee page, buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, if you've gotten something out of them. Luna: Right. It's a small gesture that adds up. So back to the Q and A — is there a wrong way to answer? Lucas: Biggest mistake: answering with 'Call us for details.' That's the worst thing you can do. Google wants the answer to be public and useful. If you deflect, the algorithm doesn't get the content, and the customer doesn't get the info. You've basically wasted the opportunity. Luna: So be specific, be helpful, and be fast. Lucas: Exactly. And one more thing Marcus does: he proactively asks himself questions. He'll think, 'What are new customers confused about?' Then he has a friend post the question. That way he controls the narrative and fills the Q and A with useful content before anyone else asks. Luna: That's genius. Seed the section with your own frequently asked questions. Lucas: It's not against the rules. Google wants the Q and A to be useful. If you're providing genuine answers to genuine questions, even if you initiated them, it still helps the customer. Luna: What's the most unexpected question he's gotten? Lucas: Someone asked if they could bring their parrot. Marcus said yes, as long as it's on a leash or in a carrier. He answered with a joke about ordering a seed latte. That answer got thirty-seven upvotes from other users. Luna: Upvotes on a Q and A answer? I didn't even know that was a feature. Lucas: It is. Users can upvote helpful answers, and Google treats upvoted answers as more authoritative. So a funny, helpful answer can get boosted. Marcus now has over two hundred upvotes across his answers. That's social proof that his business is responsive and active. Luna: So it's not just about answering — it's about answering well enough that strangers endorse it. Lucas: Exactly. And the best part: this whole strategy is replicable. Any business with a Google Business Profile can do it starting today. No special access, no budget. Just a commitment to being helpful in public. Luna: I love that. It's almost old-school customer service meets modern search optimization. Lucas: Yeah. And the data backs it up. Marcus's shop now gets about forty percent of its new customers from Google Maps discovery — people who find him through search, not through a direct search for his name. That's huge for a small business. Luna: Alright, I'm convinced. I'm going to check my own profile's Q and A tonight. Lucas: Do it. And if you find a question you ignored three months ago, answer it anyway. Google will still index it, and it's never too late to start.