Why do you need to Optimise Google My Business?
Google My Business (GMB) is one of the primary tools for boosting local SEO and increasing Google search results for your business.
Yet, so many business owners fail to take advantage of the free-to-use Google My Business platform.
There are several benefits of setting up Google My Business, so whether you’re considering creating a listing for your business profile or looking for the best ways to boost your local presence on search engines, this article will get you started in optimising your local business and improving your local SEO presence.
Google My Business Landing Page
Did you know
64% of consumers use Google My Business to find contact detailsSource: BrightLocal
Apart from Google’s search engine, businesses can also take advantage of GMB to boost their online presence on various other search engines. Therefore, many companies use the GMB listing to make their businesses visible on Google Maps while increasing their chances of getting top rankings in search engine results.
In this article we will explore some of the ways your business can benefit from optimising your GMB listing.
Here are seven ways you can use this platform to improve your local ranking.
Note: This article assumes you have already verified your listing. If you have not done so already please Verify your local business on Google.
1. Complete Your Business Profile Information
The first step to optimising your company’s Google My Business listing is creating and completing your business profile information. You need to gather some key pieces of information to list your business.
This includes the following:
- Business name
- Website
- Business contact number
- Business location
- Business description
- Business category
- Business hours
- Photos
- Questions and answers
- Additional information based on your field or industry
Once all of your local business listing information is applied, it will be easier for potential customers to locate your company. Filling out these sections on GMB also means that your business will attract potential customers that use the platform as a starting point to evaluate you amongst other local businesses.
2. Choose A Relevant, Primary Category for your Business Listing
Select the most relevant primary category for your business, as this enables Google to decide what kind of search results to display based on the search query.
Unfortunately, you cannot create a category of your own, so you will need to choose from the ones already made available by Google.
If none of the available categories matches your business field, you can choose a broad classification. However, ensure that you regularly check back as Google regularly update categories. The newer options may match more closely to your business specialisation.
3. Interact with Users by Posting Relevant Content
Google My Business allows users to post relevant content to engage with other users directly in search engine result pages. After creating your profile, all you need to do is select the type of content you want to post.
You can post about your products and services, special offers, blog content, upcoming events, and promotions, as well as any other relevant updates that may interest and are relevant to your potential customers. The Google Post Section feature allows you to use text, videos and photos to create the relevant information you want to publish.
4. Upload High-Quality Photos
As mentioned, the Google My Business Post Section allows you to post relevant content in different formats, including photos. This is a great opportunity to optimise the images you upload for SEO purposes.
To get the best out of your photos, ensure that you only upload high-resolution images with excellent cropping or editing. It is best to stay away from stock photographs.
According to Google, customers are 42% more likely to request driving directions to a business if its Business Profile has photos, and 35% more likely to click through to its website.Source: Wordstream
You can also use images to showcase your brand and business. For example, you can upload pictures of your company logo, team, or a 360-interactive tour of your business.
Image specifications
You need to adhere to the best practices for Google My Business photos while following the recommended specifications. Some of the specifications include the following:
- Images should be in JPEG or PNG format.
- Image size should fall between 10KB and 5MB
- Image should have a minimum resolution of 720 px wide x 720 px tall.
- Images should not have excessive editing or alterations and, they should be very high-quality.
Pro Tip: Geotagging Images: A huge component of successful SEO is optimising location information of images, known as EXIF data.
You should always rename each image with the proper keywords before uploading to your Listing.
If you’re not already, you should be geotagging all of your photos. This adds location data to your image using exact coordinates of your business location.
This is essential for your Google My Business listing, since your listing is based on your location and Google Maps. This data will link your photo to your business location, which can strengthen your search ranking position.
There are many free or paid software applications that can help with this.
Taking the time to optimising your images before uploading to your listing will help Google understand that you are one of the most relevant businesses in the area, and can help you rank higher than your competitors in search results.
5. Add Products and Services
Google can often provide the option to add products and services to your business listing. If you have products and services that you would like to highlight to your potential customers, it is worth completing this section because it can help your business listing display for relevant searches.
Add all relevant details to this section, including the product or service name, price, category, description, and a link to the related product or service page on your website.
6. Monitor Your Google My Business Q & A Section
Google My Business Q & A section is one of the most underutilised features on the GMB platform. Businesses should take advantage of this section to build their online presence, optimise their local search strategy, and get ahead of their competitors.
The Google My Business Q & A section makes it possible for potential clients or anyone with a Google account to leave important questions concerning your business through this section. These questions and the answers you provide, are made public and available on your listing.
As a business, you should take time to monitor this section, read the questions, and provide the needed answers as soon as possible.
Create FAQs lists: Try to answer all the questions your customers currently ask about your business or services. Doing this allows you to provide questions and answers proactively to address what you can pre-empt as possible questions about your business from a potential customer.
You can use your sales team to identify enquiries and queries that people usually make and have them available on your GMB listing as Q & As.
7. Gather and Collate Google Reviews
Online reviews that people leave on Google concerning your business can affect your ability to attract more customers.
Collecting Google Reviews is one of the most important areas of your listing as you can read in this post Google Reviews – 5 Reasons Why they Lead to Business Success
If your reviews are arriving with a perfect 5-star rating, this is your opportunity to show a potential customers your track record of happy customers.
These star ratings and the online reviews make it easier for consumers to quickly compare competitors, and know whether a business can be trusted and if their products or services are good or bad.
Positive customer reviews on your local listing encourage potential clients to do business with you, while the negative ones will turn people away. Positive reviews can also be a ranking factor that can result in higher search rankings.
Therefore, it is essential to collate reviews on your business to help optimise Google My Business.
Encourage your customers. Anytime you make a client happy, encourage them to leave reviews on Google about doing business with you.
You may receive a negative review. If this happens, it is important to remain as calm and professional as possible when responding to negative reviews.
We recommend responding to all reviews, be it positive or negative or somewhere in between.
Conclusion
There are a number of more ways to Optimise Google My Business. Even the smallest change is capable of a positive impact on your Google search optimisation.
We have listed some of the techniques you can use to enhance your business listing on GMB and boost your company’s online presence. If you need help with optimising Google My Business, get in touch today.
