Google My Business Optimization for Local Search

Local Search remains the most relevant means of attracting traffic and customers for millions of small and medium businesses around the world. When we talk about Search Engine Optimization your success is not decided by how many users visit your page, but the relevance of those visits. If you run a Car Hire in East London, South Africa website visit from those looking for this service in London, UK won’t don’t offer you any benefits. The vast majority of businesses cater to customers in their vicinity and that makes the appearance of business listing websites important for increasing their discoverability on the search engines.

You might ask – “what is the best way of local search marketing in 2020”? The answer to that is – Google My Business Optimization. Ask any local SEO agency for small business and they would tell you the importance of creating a powerful business profile on Google. While you need to sustain your efforts in website optimization, it needs to be complemented with Google My Business Optimization. In fact, most small businesses and agencies see this strategy precede on-site optimization, reputation management, and web designing in terms of importance in local searches.

What is Google My Business?

You shouldn’t confuse Google My Business with other listing sites as many businesses tend to do. It is a set of tools that lets you optimize your business’ profile on Google. Your business profile can appear on Google Map and Google search listing even if you haven’t added it manually as the search engine’s crawlers are constantly adding new businesses to their list for the benefit of millions of users around the world. The source information from various directories and add a business profile to their ever-growing list.

Once a business profile has been created users can rate your business, add photographs, write reviews, and report discrepancies in the information they view on the profile. With time Google would draw data from various sources and populate the profile with information. Hence, you need to take complete command over your business profile instead of letting Google and their users decide how your profile appears to the masses. 

Benefits of Google My Business Optimization

Like most other things with Google, your business profile is dynamic. They appear differently on different devices and also platforms. For instance, what would appear on search results would be significantly different from what you see on Google Maps.

The profile keeps changing as and when users add data and feedback and you need to constantly monitor it to attract potential customers to it. There are several benefits you can draw out of Google My Business Optimization and they are –

• Target Your Customers – Targeting the right customers and in the right geography is important for any small and medium business. This is where Google My Business profile helps reach out to the right set of customers and grow your business. You will increase visibility and trade inquiries in local searches.
• Control Information – By taking command over your business profile you will be able to control what’s said and written about your business. If you don’t do so, your services and product information may be misrepresented. You must remember that user-generated information doesn’t always represent businesses in a fairway.
• Earn Customers’ Trust – In this information age, customers want to trade with businesses that offer them maximum information about products and services. They prefer businesses that enjoy good ratings among existing customers. Creating a good business profile and updating it regularly will help you earn the trust of your customers.
• SEO Score – How can we forget SEO in all this? Google My Business optimization helps in improving your SEO score and brings more traffic to your website. According to experts Google My Business profile contributes as much as 25% for local search engine rankings! That’s encouraging, isn’t it?

Tips for Google My Business Optimization

A local SEO agency for small business with its feet on the ground would help you get the best out of Google My Business listing. They would implement the right optimization tricks and strategies that boost your discoverability and engagement. But as a business owner, it would be wise for you to learn the tricks of this trade.

Let us take you through a few tips that will help you optimize your profile –

All Details Must Be Keyed In

Would you print a business card without your address or phone number? But when it comes to Google My Business profile this is one of the mistakes many small businesses make. The completeness of your profile is one of the most important optimization steps you need to undertake. When you have your name, address, phone number, website, business hours, etc. it not only improves your discoverability but also leads visitors to actions such as visiting your office/store or calling you up for inquiries. 

Create a Rockstar Business Description

How well you describe your business would determine the amount of mileage you draw from your profile. You have 750 characters to play around with and use them all to describe your business to its best. Make use of keywords relevant to your business as this improves discoverability. This is extremely important for businesses whose brand names don’t reveal their products and services. Be genuine and unique with your business description, and make sure you have a CTA to attract new customers.

Choose the Right Category/Sub-Category

An automobile-restoration business is different from an automobile repairer, an accounting school is different from an accountant, a Chinese restaurant is different from an Asian cuisine restaurant. Hence, you need to choose the right category of business from the list Google offers you. There would be dozens of sub-categories under each category and you must make sure you are getting it right. Along with the categories and sub-categories you also need to choose the right attributes from the list Google offers you. For instance, if you running a bed and breakfast you need to choose attributes such as Pets Welcome, Airport Shuttle, Baggage Storage, etc. relevant to your business.

Update Photos

Photographs are one of the best ways to attract new customers to your fold. Your image might serve as the perfect guide for customers to find your business on a busy street. These also help you attract users who search for a business using Google’s image search. Photographs also give users a sneak peek into your business. For instance photographs of your restaurant shall offer users a glimpse of the ambiance inside. From location to parking availability and overall image of your business, there are dozens of clues that potential customers look for in photographs. Make sure you update the photos regularly with the latest ones to help your potential customers.

Use Profile To Market Your Business

When you have discounts and offers lined up, you’d usually take to social media to reach out to potential customers. You can do pretty much the same on Google My Business profile. For instance, if you are offering discounts during holiday seasons or special days in the calendar you can post the same on your description. This serves as an additional pull factor for the customers and is also one of the best ways of keeping your profile page updated.

Activate Messaging

This is one of the features that few businesses leverage but it has got immense potential. There is a messaging option on Google My Business that allows customers to reach you through text messages on your phone directly. This is the easiest way to respond to users and turn them into full-time customers. Active this feature and you will gain a lot of traction.       

Ask Customers for Reviews

Ratings and reviews are one of the most important factors when it comes to leveraging Google My Business profile. Here you have to be proactive and ask you’re satisfied customers to write reviews. This is very important as satisfied customers often don’t care to leave behind reviews but disgruntled ones do hurting your business. Positive reviews will attract more customers to your business and also boost the ranking of your profile page. They also help burry negative reviews and improve your ratings.

Respond to Negative Reviews, Answer Question

Like all businesses yours too won’t be able to satisfy all customers, and they are well within their rights to write adverse reviews about your business. In such cases, you should respond to those reviews in a polite and professional way. Tell them why you weren’t able to live up to their expectation and the lessons you have learned. This is a sign of a professional business that is constantly working towards self-improving. If a question has been asked, respond to them immediately as you’d do on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

Don’t Try Fooling Google

Last but not least you should avoid playing mischief while optimizing your Google My Business Profile. Do not try and stuff keywords to boost your discoverability especially when those keywords have no or little relevance to your business. Don’t get fake reviews written to boost your ratings as Google’s advanced algorithm can easily distinguish a genuine review from a fake one. You can invite a penalty where your profile might be flagged.

Final Words

To conclude, you clearly see the idea and benefits behind Google My Business profile optimization. All you need is a good local SEO agency for small business by your side to optimize your profile and complement it with other SEO strategies to get the best out of Google’s local search results.

Learn more about Google My Business Attribute in Google My Business Profile

Author: SEO Services Consultants