Having targeted visibility on Google is essential for any business nowadays. While businesses are aware that optimizing their website and Google Ads are necessary for achieving this, many are unaware of the importance of optimizing their Google business listing.
This influential listing, officially referred to as your Business Profile, serves as a dynamic overview of your business, showcasing its outstanding qualities and facilitating swift discovery, understanding, and interaction for potential customers— all directly from the SERP. And the greatest advantage? It comes with no charge at all.
Despite the massive number of searches conducted on Google every month, as revealed by a BrightLocal study, the average Business Profile receives just 1,260 views during that period (which equates to a mere 0.00000075%!). The situation worsens as only 59 actions are carried out from those 1,260 views, amounting to less than 5%.
Not enough businesses take full advantage of the impressive features of the Google My Business platform, which is the problem. Therefore, here are the top optimization strategies.
1. Create a Google My Business account
It is crucial to emphasize that a Google Business Profile and a Google My Business account are distinct entities. The latter serves the purpose of accessing and enhancing the former.
To implement the optimizations described in this guide, it is required to have a Google My Business account and then link it to your Google Business Profile by notifying Google. To establish an account, visit Google.com/business and log in using your regular Google/Gmail account specifically used for your business (not your personal Gmail account if you have one).
2. Complete every section
Providing comprehensive details in your Google Business Profile improves both your ranking in local search results and the likelihood of customers taking action upon finding your profile. As there is a substantial amount of information to furnish, here are guidelines to assist you in prioritizing.
It is important to promptly complete these sections of your profile.
- Name
- Address
- Phone
- Website
- Hours
These sections require additional time and consideration.
- Category and Attributes
- Products and services
- From the business
- Questions and answers (Owner-generated queries)
These sections are currently in progress.
- Posts
- Reviews
- Questions and answers (Consumer-generated)
3. Be meticulous with contact information
These are the actions to take in order to optimize the contact information in your Google Business Profile.
To avoid being penalized by Google, it is important to ensure that your business name on store signage is exactly the same as it appears in the physical world. Adding location names or keywords, unless they are part of your brand name, is viewed as spam.
To ensure your credibility, it is important to ensure that your business name and address are consistent with your other listings on the internet. This entails using the same format, such as “st” or “street,” or “co” or “company.” Google’s algorithm considers these discrepancies when evaluating your credibility.
Please provide information regarding both your regular and holiday operating hours to encourage customer visits and prevent negative reviews from individuals who make the effort to visit your store only to find it closed.
4. Write your “from the business” description
It is important to understand that the brief description displayed below your business name in your Business Profile is not something you can control. Google generates this editorial summary to maintain consistency across the platform.
To optimize the “from the business” section of your Google Business Profile, you have control over the description in your Google My Business account dashboard. This section is usually found lower in your profile, typically below the reviews section.
- Use all 750 characters, with key information in the first 250 characters.
- Repurpose content from your “About Us” page or mission statement.
- Use keywords your audience uses to find businesses like yours.
- Don’t repeat any information already visible in the other sections of your profile. Use this space to talk about what sets you apart from competitors and what customers like most about your business.
- Don’t include links or HTML.
5. Choose a category
It is essential to select a category in order to optimize your Google Business Profile. The following explains why this is important:
A staggering 84% of Google Business Profile views result from discovery searches, where consumers search for a specific product, service, or category and come across the business profile. In contrast, only 16% of views come from direct searches, where consumers directly type in the business name or address.
By selecting a category, Google offers you category-specific features that enhance the appeal and effectiveness of your profile.
Restaurants can enhance their websites by adding a menu or reservation button; hotel profiles can display star ratings; hair salons can assure customers of their expertise in managing thin or curly hair. Such information can influence consumers to choose your business over rivals.
To optimize your Google Business Profile, it is crucial to make the right selection among the limited categories provided by Google. Follow these guidelines to maximize your profile’s effectiveness.
Ensure that you provide specific details when selecting your business category. For example, if your establishment is a nail salon, please specify it as a “Nail Salon” instead of simply labeling it as a “Salon.” Similarly, if your business is a restaurant, make sure to be more precise by choosing terms like “Egyptian Restaurant,” “American Restaurant,” or other descriptors that accurately represent your cuisine, rather than using a generic term such as “Restaurant.”
Once you begin typing, a drop-down menu will show a range of categories. However, to ensure you find the most appropriate one for your business, you can also view a complete list of GMB categories (which comprises over 3,000 options). It is beneficial to take a look at the comprehensive list.
When selecting categories, it is common for businesses to have multiple options. Prioritize your main offering as the primary category (e.g., “Grocery Store”), and subsequently select other relevant categories such as “Grocery Delivery Service” or “Gourmet Grocery Store.”
Avoid going overboard. Your aim is for Google to connect you with potential clients who require your service, so make sure to only select categories that accurately align with your offering. To illustrate, if you run an appliance repair company, pick only the category of “Appliance Repair” and not “Appliance Parts Supplier.” While you do provide service parts, it is not the primary focus of your business.
6. Add photos
In order to provide prospective customers with an authentic glimpse of your business and encourage them to visit you in person, photographs serve as the most effective means. Along with a cover photo and a logo, consider incorporating the following categories of images.
Pictures of the outside
To facilitate easy recognition of your business, ensure to capture images of your storefront from various angles. In case you operate during both day and night, it is advisable to upload photographs depicting both time periods.
Pictures of the inside
Give searchers a glimpse of the interior of your store, showcasing the ambiance they will experience during their visit.
Photographs of the product.
Share pictures of your most popular merchandise with potential customers.
Photographs in motion.
Film your staff engaging with your customers, delivering service with a smile, or assisting in choosing the ideal gift.
Photos of food and beverages.
Offer images that will make viewers crave the delicious dishes you are preparing.
Areas that are shared or used by multiple individuals or groups.
Do you have a beautiful lobby? Are there comfortable couches in your bookstore? Demonstrate the experience of spending time at your establishment.
Photos of the team.
Share pictures that showcase the unique personalities of your team. Including photos of yourself and your staff will create a personal connection and foster a friendly atmosphere even before customers enter your establishment.
Technical guidelines for Google My Business Photos
Make sure your photos are presented at their best potential by adhering to these straightforward guidelines.
- Format: JPG or PNG
- Size: Between 10 KB and 5 MB
- Minimum Resolution: 720 px x 720 px
- Quality: All of your photos should be well lit, in focus, and filter-free.
- File names: Photo file names are a great place to incorporate keywords relevant to your business and its location.
Geo-Tag Your GMB Photos
To gain an advantage over your competitors, take an additional action of geo-tagging your images. Geo-tagging involves adding geographical data such as latitude and longitude to the metadata of your image files.
Why is it important to add location metadata to your images? This helps search engines link that photo to a particular location.
To enhance your visibility in local SERPs, it is common for individuals to include location-specific keywords in their search queries, for instance, “gift shop, times square.” Thus, establishing a strong connection between your business and its location is crucial. It is important to remember that photos can also appear in search results, therefore employing a geo-tagging technique for your images can significantly improve the chances of them ranking at the top.
7. Add your products and services
By incorporating products and services into your Google My Business profile, you can effectively feature your offerings and enhance customer engagement. This is particularly beneficial when the name of your business does not effectively convey your product or service. In terms of SEO, this supplementary information provides Google with more data to assess the relevancy of your business to search queries within your vicinity.
8. Engage with your customers
Once your GMB profile is optimized for search success, you can proceed with the task of crafting a captivating and immersive experience for both existing and potential customers.
9. Post to your Google Business Profile
Similar to how posting regularly on your social media platforms captivates and involves customers, updating your GMB profile is a great method to ensure everyone is informed about your business happenings.
The objective is not to gather a series of posts like a social media feed, but rather to ensure that your profile remains current and up-to-date.
Choose a post type
Add a photo or video
For photos to be effective, they need to be easy to understand, clear, and have good lighting. Bright colors are more likely to catch people’s attention as they browse through local search engine results. When uploading photos, make sure they have a minimum size of 400 pixels in width and 300 pixels in height, and they should be in either JPG or PNG format.
Videos must not exceed the size limit of 100 MB and can be uploaded in various file formats.
Write a title
Please provide a brief description of your event using 4-5 words and a maximum of 58 characters.
More details
Although you have the freedom to utilize a maximum of 1,500 characters to portray your event/offer/announcement, endeavor to limit it within the range of 150 and 300 characters.
Call to action
Make sure you avoid leaving people uncertain about their next step. Conclude your post by providing a distinct call to action, instructing them to “Learn more,” “Book now,” or “Schedule an appointment today.”
10. Ask and answer questions
Do you often observe a section for questions and answers on product pages of a popular online retailer (hint: it begins with AM and ends with ZON)? GMB also provides your business with a similar feature.
Having the capability to ask questions and receive responses could potentially be the determining factor in a customer’s choice between your business and a competitor.
Keeping a close watch on this section is crucial because, as demonstrated in the example mentioned earlier, anyone can respond to these inquiries. Despite our appreciation for local advocates, there may be instances where their information is lacking completeness, accuracy, or worse, the tactfulness you would typically exhibit when engaging with potential customers.
11. Get Google Reviews for your business
Engaging with both positive and negative reviews helps establish trust among your customers and with Google. As Google aims to endorse the most trustworthy businesses to its users, it values business owners who actively respond to feedback, going the extra mile in public interactions.
Responding to positive reviews
- Say thank you! Show your appreciation that they took the time to leave you a kind review.
- Be specific. A generic response is better than no response, but a response that touches on something the customer specifically said in their review helps them feel heard and appreciated.
- Invite them to come back. Show gratitude for their support and let them know that you’re looking forward to serving them (and their friends!) again.
