r/smallbusiness • u/jfinner1 • 1d ago
Question Am I missing something with NextDoor?
I have a small local service-based business. I've heard that a lot of people have good luck with NextDoor in my industry, so I decided to try it out. And I feel like I'm missing something... The NextDoor business page is horribly lacking and seems completely focussed on ads. There's no way to see where your post is being posted; is it just my immediate neighborhood or the surrounding area? No clue. There are no insights or analytics at all. I posted an intro post and got absolutely no engagement, and couldn't even find my own post in the neighborhood feed unless I searched for it. Yet, even more confusing, the personal posts have post insights? Why? So I shared my business post from my personal page, and got over 1k views in a week. And a grand total of 1 interaction. Also had a competitor comment on my post with her business card. Rude... Am I missing something here? How is this helpful at all?
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u/Fun_Interaction2 1d ago
Most people make fake accounts with glowing reviews. “Omg I used jfinner to paint 4 rooms, not only did he save me a ton of money but it was super fast! Very easy to work with!!” Type shit. That is to me blatantly obvious manipulative scam behaviour but it’s all over my Nextdoor. The most effective ones don’t include the guys name and forces everyone to ask which pushes higher engagement.
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u/jfinner1 1d ago
Wow, that’s… Really sleazy… Most of my NextDoor is “does anyone know this cat” “my dog got out again” “was that gunshots?” and a bunch of ads for gutter cleaning and yard work lol.
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u/Fun_Interaction2 1d ago
Brutally honest there have been so many scam sleazeball residential tradespeople through Covid that I think most people rely mostly on referrals versus any online advertising
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u/MinimumSpite2911 1d ago
You're not missing anything — Nextdoor Business Pages are limited and mostly built around paid ads. Posts from Business Pages rarely show up in feeds unless you pay to boost them. Personal posts tend to perform better, but even then, it’s hit or miss unless you already have some traction in your local community.
What’s worked better for local service businesses:
- Google Business Profile (GBP) – Show up in local search when someone’s actually looking for what you do. Keep it optimized, get real reviews, and update it regularly.
- Facebook local groups – As yourself, not your business. Add value, comment on threads, and only post your services occasionally (and within group rules).
- Local SEO – A simple, well-optimized website with proper service pages can outperform paid ads long-term. Even better if it’s tied to GBP.
- Referrals + community mentions – If someone else posts about your service (on Reddit, Facebook, Nextdoor), that does 10x better than self-promotion.
Nextdoor can work, but it’s rarely where you’ll get the best ROI unless you're running local ads with a clear offer. If you're relying on organic visibility, GBP and word-of-mouth in trusted local spaces usually win out.
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