Use Moving company as your main category. Use a real address with a real facility, never a mailbox or a virtual office. Put your licensing in the description. Photograph your trucks, your crew and your warehouse. Reviews decide this trade more than any other.
How customers search for moving companies
These are the searches that produce calls in this trade. Each one has a different value and a different level of competition.
| Search | What it means for you |
|---|---|
| movers near me | The largest search, and the customer contacts three companies. |
| moving company | Similar volume, and it often comes with a city name. |
| local movers | The customer wants a company close to the origin address. |
| long distance movers | Higher price, and the customer reads reviews for longer. |
| piano movers | A specialist search with little competition. |
| packing services | It fills the schedule and raises the value of each job. |
Your categories
Main category: Moving company
Moving company is the correct main category. Add storage categories only if you operate a real storage facility.
Additional categories to consider:
- Moving and storage service
- Mover
- Self-storage facility
- Piano moving service
Use our category finder to confirm, and read the category guide for the method to change a category safely.
The services to list
Add each service as a separate item. Use the words that customers type, not the words that the trade uses. This list covers most companies in this trade.
- Local moving
- Long distance moving
- Apartment moving
- Office moving
- Packing services
- Unpacking services
- Loading and unloading
- Furniture assembly
- Piano moving
- Appliance moving
- Storage
- Junk removal
- Senior moving
Write one or two sentences for each service. Add a price or a price range if you publish prices.
Hours and availability
Customers call for estimates during the day, and they book the first company that answers with a clear price. Set honest hours and answer. A missed call in this trade goes to a competitor immediately.
The photos to take
Take these six photos. Each one answers a question that a customer asks before the call.
- Your trucks with the company name, in daylight
- A crew wrapping furniture with blankets and tape
- A protected floor and door frame inside a home
- Your warehouse or storage facility, if you have one
- Boxes labeled and stacked in a room
- The crew in uniform beside the truck
Add three to five photos each week. Our photo audit shows the gaps on your listing.
Your review system
Ask each customer on the day of the job. Send a direct link in a text message. Ask one time, then send one reminder after three days.
Use our review link builder for the link, and the request template for your trade. Answer each review with the reply writer.
Do not offer a discount or a gift for a review. Do not ask only the customers that you think are satisfied. Google and the FTC prohibit both practices.
Your posting plan
Post one time each week. These are the messages that work in this trade.
Late spring to early fall
The busy season. Post your availability each week, because customers book two to four weeks ahead.
The end of each month
Lease turnover. Post about availability for the last weekend of the month.
Winter
Post about lower rates and faster scheduling. Customers with flexible dates respond.
Before a storm season
Post about storage options and emergency moves.
Suspension risks for moving companies
These are the mistakes that remove listings in this trade.
- A mailbox store or a virtual office address. Google prohibits both, and movers are examined closely.
- A listing for each city that you serve.
- A business name with a city or “cheap” or “best” in it.
- No licensing information. Interstate movers need a USDOT number from the FMCSA. Moves inside a state can fall under a state regulator.
- Reviews that arrive in a group from one location. Google removes them, and the listing can be suspended.
Examine your business name with our free name checker.
What your website must do
Google reads your website when it selects the businesses for the map. Three things matter most.
- One page for each main service, with the words that customers use.
- The same business name, address and telephone number as your listing.
- A page for each area that you serve, with real local detail.
See local SEO for your website.
An example of the work in order
A moving company with two trucks. This is an example that shows the order of the work. It is not a client report.
- The company had a mailbox address, 14 reviews, and photos of stock moving boxes.
- The corrections: the address changed to the real yard with the office, the mailbox listing removed as a duplicate, photos of the trucks and the crew uploaded, and licensing added to the description.
- The plan: a review request at the end of each move, and one post each week during the busy season.
Your checklist
- Main category set to Moving company
- Additional categories added for regular services only
- Each service listed separately, in customer words
- Business name is the real name, with no extra words
- Hours are correct, and they match the telephone that you answer
- Service area covers the places that you drive to
- At least 15 real photos, and new photos each week
- A review request sent to each customer on the day of the job
- Each review answered within 48 hours
- The same business name, address and telephone number on other websites