Any business today needs targeted visibility on Google. Most businesses know that this requires optimizing their website and Google Ads, but what most don’t know is that there is a third entity that also needs optimizing: their Google business listing. Officially known as your Business Profile, this powerful listing is a dynamic snapshot of your business that highlights your best features and enables potential customers to quickly find, learn about, and engage with you—all from the SERP. The best part? It’s completely free.
And yet, despite the 167 billion searches performed on Google each month, a BrightLocal study showed that the typical Business Profile only averages 1,260 views during that same period (that’s 0.00000075%!). Even worse, only 59 actions are taken from those 1,260 views. That’s less than 5%.
The problem is not the Google My Business platform; it’s that not nearly enough businesses take full advantage of its impressive features. And that’s why we’ve written this guide.
Why you need to optimize your Google Business Profile
The comparison above makes it clear that an optimized Business Profile on Google helps consumers to choose your business over competitors, but there are other benefits to optimizing your Business Profile for effective local marketing.
Improve engagement
More and more, consumers are entering and exiting Google without going to any other website. Why? Because the information in search results pages themselves is fully answering their questions, resulting in “zero-click searches.” With potentially more consumers interacting with your businesses through your Google Business Profile than your website, you’ll want that profile to be optimized for quality engagement and conversions.
Boost your local ranking
Google’s algorithm for ranking Business Profiles does not just consider proximity and relevance but also activity and quality of information. Optimizing your Google Business Profile sends these signals to Google to rank you higher in local results. And higher rank, as you know, means more visibility and engagement with your business.
Convert more customers
A regular Google Business Profile alone doesn’t offer much in the way of acquiring customers. They can find out where you are located and read your reviews—if they know to search your business name in the first place (creative business name ideas here!). But with an optimized Business Profile through your Google My Business account, consumers can discover you in keyword searches, call you, visit your website, research your products and services, view/contribute FAQs, request a quote, book an appointment, make a reservation, and more. Plus, you can track clicks to your website, appointment, or menu link using UTMs and Google Analytics.
How to optimize your Google Business Profile
Now that you see that optimizing your Google Business Profile is the key to getting found in local search, standing out above competitors, and winning customers online, it’s time to get to work on doing just that. Here are 8 ways you can turn your Google Business Profile into a 24/7 marketing and lead generation tool for your local business.
1. Set Up Google My Business Page
Priority number one for SEO is setting up a Google My Business (GMB) account to tell Google and Google Maps where your business is located, provide other basic business information, and to populate the Google Knowledge Graph panels that appear when users search for your business. Setting up and populating your GMB profile helps your business show up in Google’s local search results, Google Maps, and in the general search results.
Start by going to https://www.google.com/business , and then claim your local business. Don’t make the mistake many businesses make of claiming your profile and ending the process there. After claiming your GMB account, be sure to populate every field so that the search engine has as much information as possible to work with.
Be sure to check your GMB notifications to see if any users have suggested any edits to your profile and to verify that they are accurate if so.
Include a large number of photos and videos, business hours, and verify your contact and location information. GMB also incorporates Q&A, so be sure to answer any questions that your customers may have posted.
Encourage your customers to leave reviews on your GMB account, making sure to abide by Google’s guidelines on how to do so.
Remember to take advantage of every field that is relevant to your business, so that your Google Knowledge Panel is fully populated and users can find as much information as possible through your GMB listing.
2. Create Google Post
A relatively new feature available within your GMB account is the ability to create posts to publicize events, products, and services so that they are visible right from Google search results and through Google Maps.
To create a post, log into GMB, open the associated location, click “create post,” and select the type of post you want to create. If possible, incorporate a video, image, text, and the associated event, offer, and button as relevant. You may need to test your image size to make sure that it displays correctly in the Google Knowledge Graph panel.
Bear in mind that each new Google My Business Post will bury the older ones. While they are still accessible, it is unlikely that most users will encounter them. Posts “go dark” after seven days, or when the event has passed. Google sends reminders to create new posts when the old ones fall off, so be sure to create a new post when you receive these reminders. The added visibility is worth it.
To track users who respond to CTAs from your GMB posts, be sure to use a link with a campaign tracking code so that it is tracked in Google Analytics.
3. Get Consistent NAP Across All Channels
Your NAP is your name, address, and phone number. Aside from the NAP listed in your GMB account, Google local search results and Google Maps use information from the NAP listed on various other sites throughout the web. When the NAP is not consistent across all of these sites, it can reduce trust with the search engine, meaning that your result is less likely to turn up near the top of Maps and local pack results.
For this reason, it’s important to verify that your NAP is consistent not only in GMB but also in the various directories and other authoritative listings where it can be found, as well as on your own site.
Perform a search for your business name within the area it is located and verify that any listings that turn up in the search results use the same NAP, as well as the correct website URL. Be sure to contact these listings and let them know if the listing is inaccurate.
4. Use Schema Markup
Using schema.org markup, you can tell the search engines more about your local business to support what you have added to your GMB account.
For the technical details, see the Google Developer guide on markup for local businesses . This markup should be added to your website so that it can be crawled and associated with your GMB account when it is indexed.
You can use schema.org markup to tell Google about your business hours, multiple departments at your location, to create restaurant lists, and to allow users to set up orders or reservations. Be sure to take advantage of as many schema.org properties as relevant to your business, so that the search engines can use this information to better understand your business and to take advantage of any future features and rich results that could be associated with these properties.
5. Practice On-Page Optimization
Local information about your business location or locations should be readily listed on your website. This information is then used to rank your GMB listings in local search results and Maps results, and to populate the Knowledge Graph. But properly optimized pages on your site also allow your own site pages to turn up in Google search results so that you can take up even more real estate in the search listings.
A properly optimized local business page will address the following:
- Title Tag: The title tag should incorporate keywords associated with your brand, your products and services, and your location. It should also act as a call to action that will entice users to click through from the search results.
- Meta Description: Your meta description populates the snippet listed below your title in the search results. The information in the meta description isn’t used to rank search engine results, but if it includes keywords that the user searched for they will be bolded and stand out to the user. Be sure to include an enticing meta description that will encourage users to click through.
- URL: Your URL should include your brand name, location, and keywords associated with your products or services. If your business has multiple locations, use a consistent folder architecture organizing locations by state or province and city. Use the appropriate country code top-level domain if you have locations in multiple countries.
- Landing Pages: Make sure that your landing pages address any possible user objections, make it easy for users to find the information they are most likely looking for, and incorporate user reviews, testimonials, and any other social proof if they are available.
- Schema.org: Use schema.org markup on your user reviews for a chance to get star ratings in the search results.
6. Choose a Category
Google offers a set number of categories, so it’s important to choose the correct ones. Here’s how to optimize your Google Business Profile using categories:
- Be specific. If you’re a nail salon, choose “Nail Salon” and not just “Salon.” If you’re a restaurant, choose “Egyptian Restaurant,” “American Restaurant,” etc., rather than simply “Restaurant.” A drop-down list of categories will appear once you start typing, but you can also see a full list of GMB categories here to ensure you find the most specific one for your business (there are over 3,000 categories so it’s worth the look).
- Choose secondary categories. Many businesses fall into multiple categories. Set your primary category to your chief offering (for example, “Grocery Store”) and then choose additional categories that apply, such as “Grocery Delivery Service” or “Gourmet Grocery Store.”
- Don’t overdo it. You want Google to connect you with consumers who need your service, so choose only categories that match your offering. For example, if you’re an appliance repair business, select “Appliance Repair” only, not “Appliance Parts Supplier.” Technically you do supply service parts, but this is not a standalone offering of your business. (Pro tip: Don’t confuse categories with products or attributes, which are separate sections.)
Also, keep in mind that Google might ask you to verify your business if you edit your category list or add multiple. This is just to ensure accuracy across their platform.
7. Get Google Reviews
Google knows that reviews are the #1 influence on consumer buying, so this is a key ranking factor in their algorithm. You can also see for yourself the impact of reviews on ranking. For most searches performed on Google, the first three local results that appear (in what is known as the “Local 3-Pack”) are the ones with multiple reviews and solid star ratings:
In addition, Google may also display a Business Profile in search results if it has reviews that contain those keywords.
To optimize your Google Business Profile with reviews, follow these tips to stand out from competitors:
- Start with your long-time, loyal customers to get the momentum going.
- Make it as easy as possible for customers by creating a review shortcut link or using Whitespark’s shortcut link generator (both are free).
- Ask! 62% of customers will write a review if asked. Do so via email, text, social media, and in-person conversations.
- Remind customers that reviews aren’t just for your benefit; they help people who have the same pain points as them to find a solution and make informed decisions.
- Have a “Reviews” page on your website with a CTA to leave one.
- Respond to reviews. This feedback incentivizes additional customers to leave theirs, reveals a lot about your business to prospects, and improves your local SEO.
For a deeper dive into this optimization strategy, check out this post on how to get more Google reviews.
Be careful not to incentivize reviews with discounts, gifts, or cash, though—that’s not allowed.
8. Maintain Your Business Profile with a Solid Google My Business Strategy
As you can see, a Google Business Profile is not a one-and-done marketing task. It’s a local marketing tool that requires ongoing action in order to increase your online presence and maximize your benefits. This includes:
- Updating information, even as minor as a change in suite number.
- Publishing posts and uploading photos each week.
- Keeping a steady stream of reviews coming in.
- Monitoring and responding to reviews.
- Staying on top of new features so you can ensure you’re using your profile to its fullest potential.
Just like any Google SEO strategy, your Google My Business strategy should center around providing as much quality information about your business as possible, not just in your Business Profile but in the sources that Google uses to populate it—your website, review site profiles, and even your social media accounts. We can’t ever know every specific ranking factor, but we do know their ultimate goal: to connect searchers to the best business for their needs through detailed, trusted information. So focus on using your Google My Business dashboard to get your Business Profile to represent your business as accurately and thoroughly as possible, and then make sure to maintain this, and you will reap its benefits.
