Your Google Business Profile, or GBP, is the gateway to improved local visibility and increased sales, all through a free and effective tool. Putting your business on the map, literally, as profile listings appear directly in Google Maps, makes you easier to find and easier to contact. However, not all profiles perform as well as each other, and the secret is optimization.
A well-optimized Google Business Profile puts you at the top of local searches, which means your business appears in the Local 3-pack on Google Maps, and ensures you are ahead of your competition when it comes to getting noticed by local customers.
So, you want your Google Business Profile optimized, right? Don’t worry, it’s not complicated, here’s the inside information on getting the most from your GBP:
17 Ways to Optimize Your Google Business Profile to Attract More Customers
When it comes to a Google Business Profile, every little bit helps, so don’t miss any out, just follow these 17 ideas to optimize your GBP.
Claim and verify Your Business
You can’t optimize your Google Business Profile if you don’t have one. Claim your profile, and make sure you verify too. Without verification, you can’t add content, or respond to reviews or messages, and that means you can’t follow the recommendations. So, get verified and get started!
Complete Your Business Information
Accuracy is really important when it comes to your Google Business Profile. Google itself will not promote your listing if it believes any details are inaccurate. If your address, phone number and so on don’t match with your website for instance, it will be flagged as a problem. So, enter everything carefully, and if any details do change, update your GBP immediately.
Use a Local Number
Even if you do most of your business through a mobile, get a local number for your profile. Google likes to see local numbers, as it associates them with local services. Not only that, but a local number inspires confidence in potential customers, they are much more likely to make contact with you.
Maximize GMB Call Tracking Features
Google lets you add a call tracking number to your profile for enhanced analytics without it affecting what it sees as the consistency of your details. Through this, you can track how many calls you receive, listen to recorded calls, and follow each lead to understand things like conversion rates with ease.
Choose a Specific Business Category
Never leave this on the default options. Choose the primary business carefully, as it influences which keywords your profile will appear in the searches for. But also set secondary categories too. Each choice you include adds to the keywords your profile will be connected to, so you need to make relevant sections. Don’t just choose the most popular, you may get lots of views, but if you are not offering what people are searching for, you won’t get any sales.
Write a Comprehensive, Engaging GMB Description
Google My Business as it used to be called, or Google Business Profile as we know it today, are powerful free tools when used correctly. One of the most important opportunities they give is the business description section. This is your chance to bring your business to life, to show potential customers who you are, what you do, how you do it, and why they should get in touch.
Be bold, if you are the best, say so. Tell people why your service is better, the things you do that no one else does. You are great at what you do, don’t hide it, show everyone right here. Choose a couple of important keywords to use throughout, but don’t be tempted to just repeat them through the description. Google detects keyword stuffing and penalizes you for it.
Upload High-Resolution Images
Images are a great way of providing a window into what you can do for a customer. Whether it’s products or the finished results of your services, your team or your building, photos will humanize the brand and let people see, instead of reading, what to expect.
We are way past the days when people were happy to see tiny images online. Even on your phone, what is the first thing you do when you look at a photo? You zoom in. So does everyone else, so use high-resolution photos that are crisp and clear even zoomed in, so that visitors can see exactly what you are showing them.
Post Relevant Content on Your GMB Posts Section
Think of your Google Business Profile as a form of social media. If you post engaging content regularly, you’ll get more visitors. Google places a higher value on profiles with regularly added content, but to really get your profile to the top, you need quality content that visitors will find useful. Updates about your business, content on using your products and so on, if they add value to the reader, they add value to your profile.
Monitor Your GMB Q+A Section
Interaction boosts your rankings, and luckily Google provides several ways to interact with visitors right inside the profile. One of these is the Q+A section, where consumers can ask questions for you to answer. It can be something about parking near your store, or about a product you sell and so on. Make sure you respond as quickly as possible, with clear answers. These questions and answers are publicly visible, so provide valuable information, and show you are actively supporting potential customers.
Generate Positive Google Reviews
Google reviews appear directly in your profile, so begin encouraging your customers to leave reviews with Google. There are some rules around this, you can’t offer rewards for reviews, just point out how much it helps you, and request a review from customers when convenient.
Add Links to Your Social Media Profiles
Links are a great way to boost your ranking, but by adding social media links, you also add more connections to your business. A potential customer can quickly find your Facebook page and message you, look at comments about your business and so on, as an example.
By broadening the access they have to your business, it helps build the confidence and trust that leads to purchases, and social media is something everyone is used to and comfortable with.
Avoid Google Penalties
When trying to get the highest ranking possible for your Google Business Profile, the last thing you want is a penalty from Google that reduces your ranking. Things that can really hurt your profile include:
- Keyword Stuffing – Google detects overuse of keywords and out-of-context placement, so make sure you use them in a limited way and always make sure they are relevant to the content itself.
- Multiple Listings – You want ONE listing for each location your business has. You might think multiple listings would help, but they have the opposite effect.
- Redirects – Don’t mislead people when it comes to links they click on. Google doesn’t like that approach and will penalize you for it.
Optimize your Website for Search Engines
One of the key things your Google Business Profile offers is a direct link to your website, appearing right on Google Maps or in local searches. That makes it as easy as possible for those searching to find your business and then look at your site for what you have to offer. This is a great benefit to you, but it does mean you need to make sure your website is working as well as possible too.
Make sure that the page you direct to from your profile, and the main home page if they are different, feature relevant keywords and localized data to further implement relevant SEO strategies that complement your profile. Google’s automated systems examine all outgoing links to assess quality and will penalize you for linking to a poor-performing site. Their goal is always to provide a consistent, quality experience for their users, and by making sure you provide that, Google will be more likely to promote your profile.
Update your Business Information Regularly
A mismatch between your website or social media pages and your Google Business Profile is one of the easiest ways you can get penalized by Google. If you change anything at all on your website, from something minor like business hours to an important contact point like a phone number, the products or services you offer and so on, then change it on your GMB immediately too.
Keeping the profile updated to be accurate at all times is essential if you are to get the best performance from Google’s tools.
Select Applicable Attributes
The more details about your business the better, so don’t ignore the attributes field. Some, like payment options, what services such as Wi-Fi you have on-site and so on are useful information for all potential customers. Others, such as wheelchair access, ownership attributes and so on, are quite specific, but they are a powerful incentive for those minorities they focus on. Make sure you include all that apply to your business because each one can generate unique interest in your business.
Don’t forget the unique features, the things you do that no one else does. If you go the extra mile for your customers, make sure everyone knows about it.
Ask Customers to Leave Reviews
Get into the habit of asking customers for reviews once they are happy with your service. Think about your own buying experience online, how many times have you wondered if the business you found is as good as they claim? All the time probably. Google reviews verify their customers, so reviews on your profile can be trusted, and are a great way to help show people that your business is authentic and will deliver for them.
Set Up Messaging
One of the best things about your Google Business Profile is that someone can search for something, find your business and even get directions to you, all in one place. If you set up messaging, they can even get in touch without leaving your profile, or the Google platform that they trust.
By eliminating the barriers to a sale, you increase the chances of making a sale, and with messaging right there, it is one less barrier to a visitor making a purchase.
Google Business Profile: Ultimate Guide to List Your Business
Google Business Profile is a proven, highly effective tool for bringing more local consumers to your business. Entirely free, it can help every kind of business, whether you are just starting out or have been around for decades. We’ve shown you how to optimize yours, but to get the inside story and all the tips and tricks you can do with it, check out our other post, Google Business Profile: The Ultimate Guide.
As you can see, while it is straightforward to manage your Google Business Profile, there are many things to think about and keep up with. If you’d rather be focused on your business, our Google Business Profile optimization service can take care of everything for you. As GMB experts, we offer a comprehensive solution that can take you from claiming your profile to appearing on Google Maps in the local 3-pack.
Our expert team are highly experienced in all aspects of Google’s tools and works with you to deliver the results that your business needs. Let Grid Rankers take care of your GMB while you take care of your business, just get in touch today to see how we can help you achieve your business goals.
Conclusion
A well optimized Google Business Profile works 24 hours a day on your behalf, putting your business in front of potential customers who are actively looking for your products or services. If you want local business, this is the best way to connect with those consumers, and best of all, Google provides it without any charge, it is completely free to use!
However, with millions of competing profiles out there, just having a GBP for your business is not enough. It must be well optimized to put you ahead of the competition and get noticed. If you don’t have the time or experience to do this, it can seem like a barrier to success, but there is an alternative.
Grid Rankers Google Business Profile solution offers a complete end to end management service for your GBP. We can set up, optimize and maintain your profile, or carry out any specific task you need, with our flexible, proven service that delivers exceptional results for our clients. Just talk to our team today and you can enjoy the best results from your Google Business Profile too.