Google My Business (GMB) is a platform that allows businesses to create a Google profile that users can access directly. This makes it easier for users to find your business and check its details, such as address, phone number, and website. These profiles also help Google users find your business when they search for local businesses on their phones.
With over 320 million small businesses in the world, local search has become a critical channel for businesses to attract new customers and grow their visibility. With that in mind — let’s get started with our top 12 Google My Business tips!
Google My Business Tips That Will Boost Your Local SEO
Your business is now located in a prime location. You’ve set up your website, built an online store, and started a blog. Now you’re ready to take the final step and get your business that all-important visibility by making it visible on Google. After all, everyone searches for local businesses on Google; so why not make sure yours comes up first? Unless you want to be buried beneath layers of unhelpful search results and see your potential customers flock to another location instead of yours. With this in mind, here are 11 Google My Business tips that will boost your local SEO and bring customers flocking to you instead of your competitors.
Make your Google My Business page awesome
This may seem like an obvious one, but creating an awesome GMB (Google My Business) page will help you get better Google reviews and also can boost your SEO in so many ways, it would be silly not to. First off, a cool, informative, and visually enticing page will persuade customers to click on your listing and visit your page, in turn boosting your click-through rate (CTR). That’s not all, though. The content on your page also plays an important role in Google’s algorithm, so make sure it’s top-notch. A page that is well laid out, visually attractive, has lots of high-quality images and plenty of useful information will rank higher than pages with little to no content.
Add lots of high-quality photos
Your GMB listing is your business’s online storefront, so it’s only natural that you want it to look as attractive as possible. And a great way to do this is to add some high-quality photos. In fact, Google itself recommends using GMB photos for your Google Maps listing. This is because when someone clicks on your listing, you don’t have to worry about the zoom feature reducing your images to pixelated blobs.
Write a great (and optimized) description
You’ve probably heard by now that Google is working on adding more voice recognition to its search results. This has led many businesses to start adding a short audio clip to their GMB page. This is a great move, but there’s another thing you can do to boost your SEO: Write a great description. Apart from being engaging, a long and optimized description may also convince Google to include the text in the search results. This means that if someone searches for a nearby product or service and clicks on your Google listing, your description will appear in the results page. So what should your description be about? The name of your business and what you do, of course! But it should also entice potential customers with your special offers, prices, and a link to a special/coupon code if you have one.
Add your physical address and opening hours
Adding your address and hours of operation is another simple but effective tip for boosting your SEO. The address and hours of operation, after all, are pieces of useful information that people may be looking for, so including them in your GMB listing is a good idea. What’s more, if you don’t add your location, you may find that someone else takes advantage of the situation and adds an incorrect address. This is called a Google Business takeover, and it’s pretty much exactly what it sounds like: Someone else places their address in your listing, steals your traffic, and ranks above you in search results.
Don’t forget to list your website
If you want customers to visit your website, you should list your website address in your GMB listing. If you don’t, you run the risk of people visiting your listing, clicking on the website link, and discovering that the website doesn’t belong to you. However, listing your website on your GMB page doesn’t just boost your SEO; it also gives you the chance to add some juicy keywords to your listing. For example: You could list your website as www.examplebusiness.com/product-name and then add “product-name” as a keyword to your description. This may sound like cheating, but Google’s algorithm frowns upon keyword stuffing and repetition, so you have to be careful not to overdo it.
And last but not least: Promote, promote, promote!
You’ve created a killer GMB page and are now reaping the rewards of a higher click-through rate, more targeted traffic, and higher rankings. Great! But you can’t just sit back and relax now, because there’s something else you can do to boost your SEO even more: Promotion. You’ve probably heard the old saying: “Treat your marketing like a start-up”, and that’s exactly what we mean. You can’t just create a business, set up a few websites, and expect people to magically find you. You have to actively be searching for customers; and the best way to do this is by promoting your business. Now you know how to optimize your Google My Business page and boost your SEO, it’s time to get started! With these tips, you’ll make sure that your business is visible to as many people as possible; and with the help of our partner SEO company, your business will flourish!
