Starting a business in the digital age comes with unique challenges and opportunities. One tool that has become necessary for companies of all sizes is Google My Business (GMB). Businesses across the globe are leveraging this free tool from Google to boost their online presence. But are you making the most of it? Optimizing your Google Business Profile (GBP) is a game-changer, and here’s why.
Understanding Google My Business
As the name suggests, Google My Business is a tool by Google that allows businesses to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. Verifying and editing your business information can help customers find you and learn about your business.
The Importance of Optimizing Your GBP Google Listing
A well-optimized GBP Google Listing can have a significant impact on your business. It can help improve your local SEO, bring in more traffic, increase your online visibility, and enhance your brand’s reputation. It is a key component of your digital marketing strategy, improving your online footprint and driving conversions.
Steps to Optimize Your GBP Google Listing
Optimizing your GBP Google Listing involves several steps. First, verify your listing to confirm your business’s credibility. Next, ensure your business information is complete, accurate, and up-to-date. This includes your business name, address, and phone number, hours of operation, and website link.
Your GBP listing is also an opportunity to showcase what your business does. Be sure to add a clear and concise business description that includes your services, products, and unique selling points.
Don’t forget to use photos and videos to attract more attention. According to Google, businesses with images receive 42% more requests for directions and 35% more click-throughs to their websites than businesses without.
Finally, use the posts feature to update your customers with the latest news, events, offers, and products.
Monitoring Your GBP Google Listing’s Performance
Optimizing your GBP Google Listing doesn’t stop at setting up the profile and adding information. It’s essential to monitor the performance of your listing using Google My Business Insights. This will help you understand how people are interacting with your listing, where they found it, and what actions they took.
Conclusion: The Power of an Optimized GBP Google Listing
In conclusion, a well-optimized GBP Google Listing is a powerful tool in your digital marketing arsenal. It enhances your online visibility, helps attract more customers, and drives conversions. By optimizing and actively managing your GBP Google Listing, you can take control of your online presence and unlock the full potential of your business.
From understanding the basics of Google My Business to optimizing and monitoring the performance, we’ve covered the key aspects of GBP Google Listing. It’s now up to you to implement these strategies and watch your business grow.
Optimizing Google Business Profile Account
Salterra believes having a Google Business Profile listing is crucial, incredibly important, and critical for successful local SEO and the digital marketing presence of your business.
This free and powerful tool from Google will allow businesses to manage and track their online presence – especially for local companies that want to rank and show up on searches by people looking for their service. It complements your existing website and boosts your business’s public identity; as 90% of all organic online searches come from Google, according to a source – this is a spot you don’t want to miss.
Getting started with GBP
Search and see if your business is already on Google Business Profile
If your company has been around for a while, it likely is. If so, you’ll want to claim this listing as yours, so you can edit and update all the details and information and have stronger management over it.
If you’re not, creating a new listing is a straightforward process. You’ll need to enter your business’s details–including address, business hours, etc. Google will then send a confirmation postcard to the business address for verification. This will include a verification code, and once your address has been verified, you can claim your business listing officially. This process should take less than a week.
Be as detailed as possible with your information.
Enting as much detailed information about your business as possible on your listing is essential. Google favors the most complex and accurate listings, which will help you rank higher and match search keywords and customer needs. Ensure you communicate to your target customers: what you do, where you are, and how they can obtain your services and goods. Including important keywords in your listing will also be highly beneficiary.
Categorize your services
In this section, the more you list, the better (related, obviously). Select all the categories in the categories list that relate to what your business offers. This will allow you to show up with more results. Be as specific as you can. For example, ‘Buffet Restaurant’ is better than ‘Restaurant.’
Upload Company Photos
Again, with Google My Business, the richer and more varied your information, the more it will serve you. According to Google, businesses with photos on their listing receive 35% more requests, contacts, and actions and 42% more driving directions than businesses that don’t. Try to have as many well-lit and realistic photos of your business/venue as possible. This communicates a well-established company.
Get Customer Reviews
This is another big one. As word of mouth plays a more significant part in business, reviews on Google do, too. Interacting with your customer’s reviews show you care and value your customers and their thoughts and feedback, as well as showing your presence. Also, encourage your customers to leave reviews, do social checks in’s, and upload photos. This will add up, and businesses with more/higher reviews get a big step ahead in search results.
Use Google Insights
Now that you’ve established a Business Listing, you can do more to manage and monitor it! Google Insights has been developed over the past years to allow business owners to see and track how their presence is doing. Google Insights has features such as how and where customers searched for you, customer actions, direction requests, calls, and photo interactions. This is the next step in managing your online marketing and will help your business track its search and Google presence.
Conclusion for your GMB Listing
Setting up and keeping an up-to-date Google Business Listing is a foundational and crucial way to amplify your business and SEO. Following these steps to optimize your business listing will surely give your business a kick boost online. You can expect higher rankings, more search results, and an increased click-through rate on your business website. Overall, it will allow your next potential customer a better search experience and lift the chances of coming across you over another.
Optimizing Your Google Map
A map on your website is a great way to get people to find your business. However, there are some things you should keep in mind to make sure you’re optimizing your Google map.
Include your business name, business address, and business phone number (NAP)
Adding your business name, address, and phone number (NAP) in My Google Map is an important part of your local SEO. Google compares the information across third-party directories and websites to ensure the business information is correct. An accurate NAP can improve your ranking and help customers find your business.
You should also check your Google My Business (GMB) listing to ensure accurate business information. If you have a business that has multiple locations, you may need to add each location to Google My Business. This will ensure that your listing appears in search results when customers seek businesses that service specific areas.
You should also check your business listings on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter to ensure that your NAP is accurate. These sites can have a significant impact on your local SEO ranking.
Upload high-quality and compelling photos.
Adding photos to your Google My Business is a great way to improve your rankings and get discovered by your ilk. Not only will you be able to see your name and photo in the mobile version of Google Maps, you can also take advantage of a variety of other Google Maps features. For example, you can opt to have Google add a new photo to your My Google Maps page each time you open and close a certain window. This is especially handy if you are a brick-and-mortar business that has moved locations.
A good rule of thumb is to upload at least one photo monthly. Utilizing a geo-tagging feature such as “Way 2” is also a good idea to help you do so.
Use local keywords in the description.
Getting a top-three ranking on Google Maps is not always easy. It would be best to contend with local businesses in your niche with authority to get higher rankings. With the right SEO tactics, your business can rank and gain a competitive advantage in your local market.
Google prioritizes local search results based on relevance, prominence, and distance. You can improve your ranking by incorporating local keywords in the description of My Google Map.
A good local SEO strategy involves using keywords and modifiers to optimize your business for local search results. Proper keyword targeting will help drive authority to your local business website and elevate you to the top search results.
The best way to optimize your Google My Business page is to create a backlink to your website. You can also boost your listing by reaching out to long-time customers. Reviews are another important factor to consider. Google uses reviews to determine prominence and will factor them into your rankings.
Embed a Google map on your website.
Adding a Google map to your website can help customers get directions. Adding some HTML code lets you easily embed the map into your website. You will need some HTML knowledge to get started. The map can be customized with several settings, including zoom, size, and position.
Google Maps is one of the best online mapping services. It features interactive zooming, directions, and street-level panoramas. There are also several search options available. You can search for an address, business name, city, or neighborhood. You can also enter zip codes.
Google Maps can be added to your website in several ways. The easiest method is to use the standard embed code. You can add the embed code to your website using a widget box or by copying the code from the widget box.
Get a mobile-responsive website.
Adding Google Maps to your website is a simple and easy process. This plugin helps customers find locations, events, and more. It also allows you to add as many pins as you want.
A mobile-responsive website increases conversion rates and improves SEO. Visitors are more likely to stay on your website longer. They will have a better user experience and be less likely to leave.
The easiest way to add Google Maps to your website is to use the POWR Map Plugin. This plugin allows you to embed a map on your website and allows you to drop pins at any address. It also allows you to tag specific locations and add useful features. It is 100% cloud-based and allows you to modify and update the plugin from anywhere.
