You should be known in your locality if you also have a physical location on top of running an online business. In our marketer’s opinion, that should be a no-brainer for all business owners, big or small. Your presence on the ground also needs to be as optimized as your online presence. And for that, there is no better way than leveraging Google Business Profile for your local SEO success.
What is Google Business Profile?
Previously known as Google My Business (GMB), Google Business Profile acts as a digital storefront for your business, in addition to your website and social media platforms. As powerful and accessible as it is, unfortunately, it has not been utilized the right way to this date. Whenever any of us goes on a vacation, moves to a new area, or wants to discover new places, we always go straight to Google and check out what is ‘near us.’ Google’s own consumer data insights show that there has been as much as a 500% increase in Google searches about ‘near me,’ ‘to buy,’ and ‘can I buy. ‘ Consumers also tend to believe in Google reviews even though Google claims not to verify those reviews. However, Google does have very strict guidelines for reviews, and they don’t shy away from taking action if any of those are breached.
So, Google Business Profile is a free tool that lets you control how your business appears in Google’s local search results and on Google Maps. When people in your area search for businesses like yours, your Google Business Profile can also make the difference in whether they find you or go to a competitor. With Google Business Profile, you can not only show your address but also other important information like business hours, phone numbers, website, and the type of products and services that you offer, other than customer reviews. This profile also allows you to add aesthetically pleasing photos and videos, respond to customer reviews, share updates, and even connect directly with customers through calls or messages.
If your profile is optimized and complete, it increases the chances that your business will show up in these local search results. This visibility isn’t just about being seen but actually about being found by the right people looking for the services or products you are providing.
Understanding the Utility of Google Business Profile for Local SEO
Leveraging Google Business Profile (GBP) for local SEO is a very convenient method to put yourself out there. It, of course, requires you to follow a signing-up process, but GBP does not make you jump through hoops! So, it is fairly easy for every business, making it a very reachable way that you can market yourself to people living in and around your area. Therefore, your local potential consumer base can find you as soon as they search you up. Local SEO with Google Business Profile focuses on two basic goals: (1) increasing local visibility in Google Search and Google Maps, and (2) improving engagement by providing accurate and credible information about your business.
GBP is not just a static listing. Instead, it is a dynamic and interactive space where you can highlight special offers, answer questions, and keep all of your information updated. Whether you run a small café, a dental clinic, or a boutique, a well-maintained Google Business Profile acts as your digital “hello” to the community. It not only helps you build trust and improve local visibility but also gets you more customers right when they’re looking for you.
How Does Google Business Profile Work for Local SEO Success?
Using Google Business Profile is, inarguably, one of the best ways to boost your local SEO strategy. With over 8.55 billion Google searches happening daily, many of which have local intent, having a well-optimized profile helps businesses go up in local search results and eventually make and then retain new customers. So, how exactly does that work? Here are some direct advantages of using GBP for your local SEO strategy, which can help you get the foot traffic that you want in your store.
Making You More Visible
When you optimize your brand’s Google Business Profile, there are more chances of it appearing in local search results and on Google Maps. This equally increases the chances of attracting locals and converting them into paying consumers. The latest stats by Bright Local show that about 81% of people find local business from Google searches as compared to other search engines. That means that you are more likely to make your business visible if you are already present and thriving on Google Business Profile, other than social media.
Therefore, you not only enhanced your online presence but also gained maximum foot traffic inside your business’ doors.
Higher Chances of Engaging Customers
Google Business Profile has many features through which customers can engage with your business directly from search results. Features like “Call,” “Message,” and “Directions” buttons make it easier for customers to interact with your business. According to Google, businesses with complete profiles receive 42% more requests for directions and 35% more click-throughs to their websites than those without a profile. The ease of engaging directly with a business is a huge advantage that gives you a stronger customer response. So, even if you are a small business owner without a big and flashy online presence, you can still reach people and create your own customer base.
Use Customer Reviews to Get More Credibility
Customer reviews are known as one of the most influential factors for local SEO and also for credibility. Positive reviews tell both customers and Google that your business is trustworthy, which can improve rankings in local search results. Even negative reviews are not bad for your business because it matters how you resolve them. If you resolve any issues that your customers face about your services, products, or generally about your dealings very promptly and efficiently, you will come off as trustworthy and responsive. A study by Moz indicates that review signals (including review quantity, review diversity, and review freshness) are one of the top factors impacting local search rankings. Additionally, BrightLocal reports as many as 50% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. This increase in credibility, as a result, improves local SEO and also helps you win the customer’s trust.
Correct Information Equals Better User Experience
A complete and accurate Google Business Profile ensures that potential customers see all the necessary details about your business, such as hours, location, and contact information. This not only makes it easier for customers to reach your business but also prevents frustration due to outdated or missing information. Google data shows that nearly 88% of users visit a business the same day they perform a local search, emphasizing the importance of up-to-date and accurate information. Businesses that update their hours and other details regularly are less likely to face negative reviews due to misinformation and more likely to gain customer loyalty.
Setting Up and Optimizing Google Business Profile for Local SEO Success
1. Claim and Verify Your Business
The first step in leveraging Google Business Profile for Local SEO is claiming your business. By claiming your profile, you prove your authority over the information Google displays and can make sure that it is accurate and complete.
How to Claim
For claiming, the first step is to visit Google Business Profile and search for your business name. If a profile already exists, you can request ownership. If you still need to, you can create a new profile from scratch.
How to Verify
Google verifies business ownership to prevent unauthorized and fraudulent access. They will send a postcard with a unique verification code to the business address you’ve provided. This process can take 5-14 days. Once verified, you gain full control of your profile, including access to tools for posting updates, responding to reviews, and monitoring your performance through insights. But you can also be eligible for a phone call, text, or instant verification, depending on your location and the type of business that you run. You can only make changes or updates about any feature of your Google Business Profile only after you are verified, so it should be your first priority.
2. Add Complete and Accurate Information
Making sure that every section of your Google Business Profile is filled out accurately and consistently is extremely important for local SEO. Google prioritizes business profiles with complete information because it not only makes you look credible in the eyes of both users and Google itself but also gives your users a better experience of interacting with your website or your store.
Information to Include
- You should use your official business name. Avoid using keywords in the name unless they are part of the legal business name, as this can violate Google’s guidelines.
- Choose the most accurate primary category and additional subcategories to help Google understand what services you offer.
- NAP (Name, Address, Phone) consistency across all online listings (website, social media, directories) is also pretty vital because inconsistent NAP details can confuse Google’s algorithms and hurt your rankings.
- It should also include your website URL to direct customers to your official website, where they can learn more or make purchases.
- Last but not least are your business hours. Keep hours updated according to holidays, special events, or unexpected closures.
3. Choose the Right Categories
The categories you select play a major role in your Google Business Profile’s effectiveness. Categories help Google match your profile to relevant search terms, guaranteeing that your business shows up in relevant local search results.
Primary Category
This is the most important and should accurately represent your main service or product. It should be the thing that your business is based around. For example, if you own a gym, you would select “Fitness Center” rather than a broad category like “Wellness.”
Additional Categories
Additional categories help businesses to provide further context on your products and services. For example, a bakery can add “Dessert Shop” as an additional category if it specializes in cakes and pastries. Similarly, an Italian restaurant can initially select “Restaurant” as its primary category after adjusting to “Italian Restaurant” and adding “Pizza Restaurant” as a secondary category for a better-optimized Google Business profile.
4. Optimize Your Business Description
The business description also helps you to provide more context about your brand, services, and unique selling points (USPs). This section should be brief yet informative. It means that you should focus on what makes your business stand out without overusing buzzwords and keywords, as that can harm both readability and engagement. Your consumers need to understand what you offer in a nutshell clearly from your business description.
Best Practices
- Write naturally and include relevant keywords without overstuffing.
- Highlight your unique qualities, such as locally sourced products, award-winning services, or exceptional customer experiences.
- You should go for a tone that matches your brand personality, whether it is formal, funny, friendly, or casual.
For example, if you primarily offer horse riding lessons but also specialize in handling anxious pets, training horses, or offering eco-friendly grooming products, you can include that in your description to target the right audience for your business.
5. Use High-Quality Photos and Videos
Adding photos and videos that are of good resolution, professional, and show off your place of business makes your profile instantly more attractive and gives customers a preview of your services and products. Google data shows that profiles with images receive 42% more requests for directions and 35% more click-throughs to websites.
Types of Media You Can Add
- Adding a logo and cover photo is absolutely necessary because your logo helps reinforce your brand identity, and a cover photo gives users an immediate overview of your business.
- Interior and exterior photos help customers recognize your business when they visit in person.
- Product and service photos show off popular items or main services to attract specific customers.
- Videos can help you provide virtual tours or showcase team members in action. They are especially engaging and can create a deeper connection with potential customers.
The theme of your interior and exterior, as well as your logo, should always match and complement your business’s identity and personality. It should also always go with your services and products because only then will you be able to create a cohesive look for your business, which not only helps establish your credibility but also integrates trust in your audience.
Maximizing Local Visibility Through Google Maps Marketing
Google Maps is one of the most popular tools for local search, and a well-optimized Google Business Profile significantly boosts your presence on Google Maps.
Add Relevant Attributes
Attribute is a term that is used for additional information. This additional information about your business will help it stand out in searches that involve specific features or services. Examples of attributes can be “Outdoor Seating,” “Women-Led,” “Free Wi-Fi,” “Wheelchair Accessible,” or “Vegan Options.” These attributes can be selected depending on what niche or industry you are in; in this case, it can be a restaurant. By adding relevant attributes, you can significantly improve your profile’s visibility in specific searches. For example, if you run a restaurant with vegan food options, “vegan restaurant with outdoor seating near me” can help your business show up higher in Google searches.
Keep Your Profile Up to Date
Regularly updating your profile with the latest hours, seasonal offers, and new products signals to Google that your profile is active, which can improve search rankings. The best practice to do that is by constantly being on top of updating your business hours for holidays or special events. You should be adding new products or services as they become available. And, you should also share any special promotions or events, as Google highlights updated profiles.
Leverage Posts on Google Business Profile
Google’s “Posts” feature lets you share updates, events, offers, and more directly on your profile. Each post will increase your business visibility in the search results.
Types of Posts
- What’s New: Great for sharing general updates or introducing new products.
- Events: Ideal for promoting events such as in-store sales, workshops, or special promotions.
- Offers: Feature limited-time deals to get more customers.
- COVID-19 Updates: Provide information on any safety measures or changes in operations.
Importance of Reviews for Google Business Listing SEO
Customer reviews play an essential role in building credibility, trust, and visibility. High-quality reviews can significantly impact Google’s ranking algorithm for local searches.
Encourage Satisfied Customers to Leave Reviews
Asking satisfied customers to leave a review can boost both visibility and trustworthiness. You can do that by politely requesting reviews through follow-up emails or at the end of a transaction. You can place review request signage in your physical store or on your website. However, you should always avoid incentivizing reviews, as it can result in penalties from Google.
Respond to Reviews, Both Positive and Negative
Responding to reviews, whether they’re positive or negative, shows potential customers that you care about their feedback. Thank customers for positive feedback and acknowledge specific points they mention in your response. For negative reviews, apologize where appropriate, offer satisfactory solutions, and also invite them to reach out directly to resolve the issue. This can convert a dissatisfied customer into a loyal one.
Analyze Feedback for Insights
You can also use reviews as a source of valuable feedback to improve your services or products. Consistently high ratings signal trust and reliability and take negative reviews as constructive criticism that will then give you many growth opportunities.
Using Google Business Profile Insights to Improve Your Local SEO Strategy
Search Queries
Understand which keywords or search terms bring visitors to your profile. And you should be following that to adjust your profile description and posts according to those search queries. It will also bring your business much more visibility when anyone else searches those terms.
Customer Actions
This metric shows what actions people take on your profile (e.g., website visits, directions requests, phone calls). If directions requests are low, make sure to keep updating your address or also give clear directions like pin pointed on Google Maps and an alternate phone number in case your primary number doesn’t work for someone.
Photo Views
Comparing your photo views to similar businesses can highlight the need to add more engaging images. That means your photos should never be generic. Instead, they should be instantly recognizable as belonging to your business. For example; Lush is a popular brand, and you can recognize them if you see photos of their store online, practically anywhere.
Phone Calls
To measure customer engagement, you can keep an eye on how many calls you receive through your profile. Introducing an additional or, better yet, a toll-free number also works. Adding an option for email and a messaging portal also works, especially for people who prefer a message over a call.
Building a Successful Local Business SEO Strategy with a Google Business Profile
Use the Right Keywords in the Right Places
Integrate local keywords strategically in your business description, posts, and services offered. Make sure that your keywords do not look robotic or planted and that they actually appear naturally and casually to improve the readability of your target audience.
Take Advantage of Google’s Q&A Section
The Q&A feature on Google Business Profile helps potential customers to ask questions about your business. You can also encourage common questions to be answered directly on your profile to build transparency and trust about your business.
Highlight Products or Services Using the “Services” or “Products” Sections
If you offer specific products or services, list them on your profile. This improves your chances of appearing in searches related to those services and products. You should aim to list every single thing, no matter how small you think it might be. For example, if you offer glass straws to take home for your consumers at your cafe or a reusable cup, you should also mention that, and not just use it in your description as an attribute.
Book an Appointment
For service-based businesses, Google allows you to add a booking link, enabling customers to schedule appointments directly from your profile. For example, if you run hair salon can use this feature to allow clients to book haircuts, making it easy to convert profile views into appointments. You can do that for practically any service, whether a restaurant or a gym.
Enable Direct Messaging
Google Business Profile allows customers to message you directly. By enabling this feature, you create an additional communication channel that encourages customer engagement.
But, you should make sure to have an ideal response time and that your team is available to respond promptly to inquiries.
Common Mistakes to Avoid with Google Business Profile
Like every other thing, Google Business Profile also comes with its margin or errors, which you should keep in mind. While Google Business Profile offers numerous advantages, certain common mistakes can nullify your local SEO strategies, no matter how great they are.
Not Verifying Your Profile
Without verification, you can’t access essential features or make your profile visible in searches. So, you cannot do anything to change any detail, big or small, on your page. You cannot appeal if you are getting fake reviews or if you have changed your location. There is essentially no way to update any of the information. That is why we stress verifying yourself as soon as possible.
Ignoring Negative Reviews
It can be tempting to ignore reviews that are negative or have a complaint. But you should know that unaddressed negative reviews can tarnish your reputation. You should always respond professionally to such reviews to resolve the matter and offer as many reasonable solutions as possible to appease the reviewer. It cements your reputation as a problem solver, but you might convert the complainant into a loyal customer.
Inconsistent Information Across Platforms
Inconsistent details (especially NAP) can harm your Local SEO. If your website shows NAP different from what your GBP or your social media shows, it not only looks unkempt but also comes off as inconsistent and untrustworthy. This idea should also extend to your logo and other digital products that you are using to establish your business. Overall, your goal is to have a solid, cohesive image.
Overlooking Regular Updates
Failing to update your profile can cause customers to find inaccurate information, leading to frustration and potential loss of business. Similarly, follow Google updates algorithms to avoid leaving your business behind in the dust! You can also easily lose your ranking, which can be harder to establish, not to mention remarketing or retargeting the lost customers.
Conclusion
Optimizing your Google Business Profile is essential for any local business owner who wants to stand out in search results. By following the strategies outlined here, you can create a comprehensive and engaging profile that not only attracts local customers and improves engagement but also boosts your rankings in Google’s local search and Maps. Using Google Business Profile for SEO requires consistency, engagement, and a special focus on customer experience. When done right, there is no denying that it is an incredibly powerful tool for both local SEO and Google Business Profile that improves your local business visibility, help you reach more customers, and ultimately drives growth in your local market.
If you need help with the step-by-step or curating an effective strategy, reach out to our expert marketers at bmymarketer. With years of experience, we have not only helped many businesses start their Google Business Profile to optimize local SEO journeys but also successfully improved their performance metrics within record time! Our professional team can help you outshine your competition and, at the same time, boost your local search engine rankings by leveraging the Google Business Profile the right way. Contact us today to book your free initial consultation or even request a demonstration to get a feel of how we can help you.
