Google Maps case study: Refresh Painters Wellington
Refresh Painters' improvement in visibility across Wellington, NZ.
As of May 2025, Refresh Painters are nearly fully booked for the year, thanks to a serious boost in visibility for high-value Wellington searches like "painting company" and "house painters Wellington".
Client snapshot
Business name: Refresh Painters. Industry: residential and commercial painting services. Location: Wellington, New Zealand. Start date with Team Empathy: late November 2024.
The challenge
When Refresh Painters came to Team Empathy, they were feeling stretched. The business owner was spending too much time working in the business and not enough time on it, which was leading to burnout and a lack of freedom. They had a strong reputation and solid workmanship, but they weren't getting enough consistent local leads to sustain growth or ease the workload.
Their Google Business Profile had low visibility and engagement. It wasn't showing up consistently in the local 3-pack, and it wasn't driving enough calls or website traffic. They knew that with better exposure on Google Maps, they could attract the kind of steady, local work that would give them more control, more breathing room, and more confidence in their pipeline.
Our local SEO strategy
To help Refresh Painters get back control of their time and build a more predictable stream of inbound enquiries, we focused on making their Google Maps presence work harder for them. Here's what we did.
We fully optimised their Google Business Profile for local visibility, and built a keyword-rich business description and service offering.
We uploaded high-quality photos and videos to boost engagement and trust, then created and scheduled regular Google Business Profile posts to showcase services and updates.
We replied to reviews and encouraged new customer feedback to build credibility, and generated and answered relevant Q&As to help pre-qualify leads.
Throughout, we tracked rankings and performance to guide ongoing improvement.
The goal was simple: make it easier for customers to find, trust, and choose Refresh Painters, so the owner could spend less time chasing work and more time running and enjoying the business.
The results (Q4 2024 to Q1 2025)
Team Empathy began work in late November 2024. The Q4 numbers include October and November, but a large portion of the growth happened in December, directly following our initial optimisations, and those results laid the groundwork for even stronger gains in Q1 2025.
These results translated into more leads, more trust signals for potential customers, and less pressure on the owner to manually hustle for every job.
Refresh Painters' improvement in visibility across Wellington, NZ.
Now ranked top 3 on Google Maps for:
Exterior painters Wellington, house painters Wellington, interior painters Wellington, roof painting Wellington, painting company Wellington, painting services Wellington, and exterior cladding Wellington.
Being consistently visible in the Google Maps 3-pack for high-value local keywords means Refresh Painters now has a much steadier stream of local traffic, and a growing number of leads landing right in their inbox and on their phone line.
Bonus wins
📸 Uploaded 31 new photos and videos, significantly boosting visual engagement.
💬 Replied to 30 customer reviews, increasing credibility and activity.
❓ Published 12 Q&As addressing common customer queries.
🗓 Shared 28 Google Business Profile posts, highlighting services, updates, and seasonal offers.
👾 Visibility in AI overviews and ChatGPT!
All of these activities helped build a stronger online presence that works in the background, so the team could spend less time marketing and more time doing what they do best: painting!
"Team Empathy helped us finally break through in local search. We're getting more visibility, more calls, and more qualified enquiries than ever, to the point that we're fully booked!"
Want results like these for your business?
Want to see if these results would be possible for you too? Get a free Google Maps audit to see whether your online presence has room to improve, and how we'd unlock exponential growth for your business.
The Team Empathy difference: why we're loved
We prioritise client experience and transparency. We keep you regularly updated on your results and give you strategic marketing advice for the bigger picture of your business. We're fully open about our process, and you get access to live results every month.
We're committed to the relationship, and we operate from a place of core values, which is why we engage so much. Your mission is our mission, and you can rest easy knowing we're here for you when you need us.
We're results-focused. We're committed to the short, medium, and long-term growth of your business. We know what works, and you can trust us to build it out for you with the specifics of your situation front of mind. Our goal is to build the infrastructure you ultimately own into your business, the infrastructure we know you need for sustainable growth.
Visit Refresh Painters to see them in action.
Back to all work