Why should you optimize your Google My Business profile?
Every business needs a Google My Business listing and if you don’t have one you’re seriously missing out on an incredible opportunity to market your company.
Setting up a Google My Business listing is quick and easy and most importantly it’s completely free.
Optimizing your GMB profile is about updating and using your listing to share accurate information about your company to impress any potential clients that come across your business.
You want them to know just by scanning your GMB profile that you can provide them with the service or product they need.
Google My Business is also one of the defining factors for success in local searches. By optimizing your GMB profile you can be sure that your business will show up for your audience as soon as they search for a relative keyword.
Optimizing your Google My Business
Make sure your NAP is correct
We know this point might be a bit obvious but you’d be shocked with the number of businesses who might have this information wrong on their account.
When optimizing your GMB double-check that your name, address and phone number is correct. Having one digit wrong in your phone number is a catastrophe and you’ll lose a lot of potential clients this way.
If your NAP is wrong on your account you’re losing out on so much local business.
Check your NAP by simply logging in to your Google My Business dashboard, click on the ‘Info’ icon on the left-hand side of the screen and check that all the information displayed is correct.
Claim your short name
If you haven’t already done so the next job to help optimise your GMB profile is to claim your short name. This is a short, custom name designed to make it easier for local consumers to find your company.
Google requires that your short name is something associated with your business or a name that customers usually call your business.
For example, you could have your business name followed by your location.
Write the perfect description for your business
Google My Business gives you 750 characters to describe your business with and you need to make the most out of this description. This text should be the first glimpse your audience has into how perfect you are for them.
You need to describe your business in an engaging and authentic way to encourage your clients to visit your site and make a purchase or sign up for a service.
This text box is the perfect place for you to show off all your USPs (unique selling points), your brand story and your history. We want to attract local customers to your website so you will want to include some location-specific keywords as well as a relevant keyword phrase.
Choose the appropriate category and subcategory
Categories and subcategories play an important role in optimising your account for local interaction. They allow Google to know which searches your business could be relevant for.
The category will outline what it is your business mainly does, for example, let’s say you run an Italian restaurant. Your main category would probably be ‘restaurant’.
The subcategory then highlights a more specific feature of your company so in the case of this Italian restaurant the subcategory could be ‘Italian’ or ‘Pizza’.
Upload high-quality images
A picture has often been described as being worth a thousand words. Where this true, if the picture isn’t high-quality it isn’t really worth much at all.
Having low resolution, blurry and badly shot photographs on your Google My Business is almost as bad as having none at all. When uploading photos to your profile make sure they’re high-quality pictures that actually show your business in a good light.
Having poor photos on your account will only make your business look untrustworthy and it’ll make you come off as a low-quality company yourself.
If you don’t have any images on your Google My Business listing then you should really start looking into adding some.
GMB has a lot of options when it comes to uploading photos and we suggest that you upload the following images for your business:
- At least three exterior shots of your business
- At least three interior shots of your business
- At least three photos of your team working with your clients
- At least three images of products you sell or the services you provide
- At least three images of your team
Generate and respond to reviews
Responding to reviews whether they’re negative or positive is great for your business. It shows your customers and potential customers that you really care about their opinions and views.
Add your social media profiles
An important part of optimizing your GMB profile is making sure it’s as up-to-date as possible which is why adding your social media pages is a great idea.
Customers love to see what you’re doing and by linking your social media accounts they can check-in and see what you’re up to.
To make the most out of this feature only link social media profiles that you update regularly so your customers and potential customers can interact and engage with your new content.
This will make them more comfortable with your company and hopefully get them to make a purchase.
Want to know more about Google My Business and how you can optimise it to best suit your business? Get in touch with us today and we can help you out.
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