Not showing up in search results

Mattacus

hello,

I am not sure where to post this but I need help.

I have my profile set up properly, I am a top pro with platinum awards and am usually getting 150-175 views per week. That dropped significantly to 1 the last week.

I tried to look myself up and did not come up in the search results, so I had friends and family search for “engagement photography in Charleston SC” and I did not show up on their list either. As I mentioned I am a top pro with 5 stars etc…. I should be showing up.

Customer support are about as useful as a chocolate frying pan and don’t seem to get that there is a technical issue at hand. Has anyone else experienced and solved this?

Mattacus

I set up a secondary account and that one is showing up in the search but obviously doesn’t have my reviews and top pro status. This tells me it’s not because the market is competitive or any other generic excuse support makes.

Do I have to start from scratch. Seems a few people having lead issues and I’ll bet it’s for the same reason, if you don’t show up in search you can’t get leads.

kostlover

Hello Mattacus!

How long have you been with Thumbtack? I have been a Pro with them since 2015. There are certain times of the year where lead requests seem to drop off significantly. One of them is between the December holidays and tax time. People begin to fret about the money they need to pay for taxes or the worry of a looming recession and this will have a huge impact on many services. The lead requests for work drop off significantly because of this, but pick back up beginning in April and May. There is also the factor of it being Winter, but it depends upon your profession.

mken

I am having the same issue. Direct search results don't even work. Searching my direct business name, I appeared on google search usually at the top, now not at all. I can't even find my business searching within Thumbtack. What is going on????

DustiO

@mken When I did a search in Thumbtack for floor painting or coating in your zip code you showed up in the top spot. All of your other categories have targeting turned off, so you won't show up in those categories. Hope this helps.

mken

I didn't even realize I had them shut off. thank you

mken

Ok, so I guess I did realize I had targeting off, as I don't want direct leads and have to auto pay. I like to decide if I want to purchase the lead first. It doesn't explain why I don't show up on google search results though. It use to be 2nd on the search page.

Is there a way to still view the leads first, and still show up in searches, on google and in thumbtack???

DustiO

@mken the only way to show up in Search Results is to have targeting turned on. I would recommend testing it out in those other categories (maybe try a lower budget to test it out) - make sure you have your preferences set to exactly the types of jobs you'd want to get and give it a go. You aren't locked in and can turn targeting off whenever you like if you don't see good results.

The only other option is just relying on "opportunity" leads, which are not great as they are customers who have already reached out to a pro, versus targeted leads which mean customers have chosen you specifically to reach out to. With those targeted leads you pay automatically, with opportunities you don't pay unless the customer responds to you (but the response rate on those is pretty low). Hope this makes sense!

As far as Google results go - that varies greatly based on what google is doing with their algorithms and there really isn't anything you can do to change where you show in google searches...

mken

I turned on the targeting, for interior painting, and still not showing up on Thumbtack site. What could be the problem?

DustiO

@mken it can take a few days for you to show up once you turn it on - I would wait like 48 hours and if you're still not showing up, check all of your preferences and your budget and max lead pricing in that category and make sure everything looks good.