Could you please review us on Facebook? Make sure that your employees know that phrase by heart. Facebook has softly launched a new adaptation for their users called Facebook Professional Services. This new section of Facebook is adapting best practices from other direct competitors such as Yelp, Angie’s List, Google+, and Home Advisor, to provide personalized recommendations from your Facebook friends.

The evidence is clear why both Plumbing and HVAC companies must engage with third-party review sites. Consumers rely on the experiences of others when deciding if your business is worth working with. Since 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations, Facebook’s new Professional Services section is leveraging this insight by turning online reviews into personal recommendations in order to help customers make decisions.

Facebook Professional Services has already segmented a large amount of different categories in their local search platform ranging from “Photographers” to “Heating, Ventilating & Air Conditioning” and “Plumbing.” What’s more, the user’s location is automatically detected by IP address.

Once a user conducts a search, Facebook pulls the most relevant information. In each search result, there will be snippet with the following information:

• Business Name
• Logo
• Rating (star & quantity)
• “Short Description” associated with page
• Phone
• Hours of Operation
• Address
• Detailed Review

Should Your Plumbing or HVAC Business Be on This New Platform?

Yes, absolutely! But the challenge comes down to two points:

• What businesses are eligible for Facebook Professional Services?
• How does Facebook’s algorithm determine the ranking order of results?

It’s not clear how many customers use this review engine. Facebook has been incrementally innovating their platform to provide the best user experience, so it will be interesting to see how they use this information. At the moment, it’s hard to say how this platform compares to its competitors, such as Google and Yelp.

How Do I List My Business on Facebook Professional Services

Since this is a soft launch and there is no official information, you'll have to experiment with it yourself. But the guide below is based upon common optimization traits that I have noticed among our clients currently listed on Facebook Professional Services. 

1. Since this is a search engine designed around local businesses, claim your page as a “Local Business or Place.”
2. Make sure that the category listed in “Page Info” matches the directory. For example: Search Category = Home Improvement > Plumber should match Page Category = Local Businesses > Home Improvement + Subcategories = Plumber.
3. Complete your profile. Use keywords (e.g. plumbing, plumber, plumbers, etc.) to help Facebook determine what kind of business you are.
4. Let your customers know that you're on Facebook so that you can begin gathering reviews. The quantity of reviews has been a major factor across all third-party review websites, so I wouldn’t accept anything less from Facebook Professional Services platform.

One of the most difficult challenges that most Plumbers and HVAC companies struggle with is review generation. That's why we developed Recommend Me, an easy-to-use application that integrates reviews into your website and directs your happiest customers to share their experience at third party review sites (such as Facebook Professional Services, Yelp, Google+, etc.).

Our Reputation Specialists are here to assist you towards increasing your online reviews and improving your reputation. Let’s prove that your business is worth working with. Call us today to learn more 800-727-3920.