SEO Tips for Commercial Sign Companies

• Rank in the normal results, not only on the map. The map shows a median of 3 businesses for "channel letter signs" and 1 for "pylon signs".
• Get your shop on the directory pages that show for commercial searches: MapQuest, Yelp, Facebook, Yahoo Local and Yellow Pages, with the same name, address and phone number as your Google profile.
• Give each commercial sign type its own page: monument, pylon, channel letters, ADA and wayfinding.
• Ask every commercial client for a Google review once the install is done.
• Keep "sign" in your real business name and "Sign shop" as your main category, and never add words to the profile name.
• Target the words buyers type, such as "pylon signs" and "monument signs", in the pages' headings.

Some do, but the map gives them very little to pick from: for "pylon signs" it showed a median of 1 business per town, and in some towns none at all. So for commercial work, visibility comes from the normal results.

The good news for a retail shop: the same Google profile can show for both. Half the top-3 sign businesses for "sign shop" were also top 3 for "channel letter signs".

Mostly on sign companies' own websites, then on directory pages such as MapQuest, Yelp and Facebook. So a sign company's website can win a commercial search without a place on the map, and in my experience a well-built website beats a directory page.

Still, be on the pages the buyer clicks. Claim your shop on MapQuest, Yelp, Facebook, Yahoo Local and Yellow Pages, use the same name, address and phone number as your Google profile, and add your commercial sign types and photos of installs.

A page for each commercial sign type you make, because commercial buyers search by sign type: monument, pylon, channel letters, ADA and wayfinding. The top channel letter shops on the map have a monument page and a pylon page more often than the shops below them.

Each page is where a buyer who searched that sign type lands and asks for a quote. Show your installs, say which towns you cover, and end with a quote form asking for the size, the location and the deadline. More on the build in website design for sign shops.

There's no set number, and you don't need hundreds: most of the top-3 sign businesses on the "channel letter signs" map had fewer than 50. More reviews went with a higher place in every search I tested.

Ask every commercial client: send your Google review link once the install is signed off, and ask for an honest review. Google doesn't allow paying for reviews, offering a discount in exchange, or asking only happy customers. The full how-to is on Google Business Profile for sign companies.

Yes, but only your real name counts. "Sign" in the business name went with a higher place for "channel letter signs", and most of the top-3 channel letter shops have it. Google says your profile name should be your real-world name, "as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery", and adding unnecessary words to it can get the profile suspended. Naming a new shop? Put "sign" in it. Already trading and want the most out of your SEO? A DBA (a registered trade name) with it is an option, used on your storefront, website and paperwork too.

Use "Sign shop" as your main category: nearly every top-3 channel letter shop does, so it's the standard to match. Which extra categories to add is on the best Google Business Profile category for a sign company.

Sign types, not "sign company": "pylon signs" alone gets about 5,400 searches a month in the US (Google Ads estimate). Put each sign type in the heading and the title of its own page, so the page matches what a property manager or architect types.