Why You Need to Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Did you know that a properly optimized and fully completed Google Business Profile will help you rank higher on Google search results? This means your listing needs to contain the most up-to-date, relevant information, curated with specific keywords. Every enterprise SEO campaign should include efforts to optimize your Google Business listing as a part of its complete strategy. In this article, we dive into the importance of optimizing your Google business profile, as well as share some quick tips on how to get your listing ranking better than before!

What is a Google Business Profile?

A Google Business Profile is a free feature offered by Google to help business communicate their locations, hours, contact info, reviews, and other important information to users. In return, Google uses verified listing information to add to its database of businesses. This profile appears on the right side of the Google search results page, and gives users the option to…

• Visit your website
• Request directions to your establishment
•  Call your business
• Save the listing
• Read reviews or leave a review

The Google Business Profile can also feature services, products, social media links, Q&As, and recently shared posts and images – basically, everything a user needs to get to know your business.

Creating a verified Google Business listing will also make your business searchable through Google Maps, which is obviously very helpful in terms of increasing physical foot traffic. Together, Google Maps and Google Search are the absolute most widely used directions and search apps out in the market today.

Why is Optimizing Your Google Business Profile Important?

Google is the most popular search engine worldwide. As a matter of fact, 90% of the world uses Google to find the information they need. Having one of the most sophisticated algorithms out there, it can accurately evaluate and store insane amounts of data. As a result, your business’s Google Business listing can reach hundreds to thousands of users!

Google rewards you with better local rankings for having a fully completed profile, utilizing all the Google Business Profile features with correct, relevant information pertaining to your business. Having an optimized Google Business Profile is crucial to a local SEO strategy – there is no other way to outrank your local competitors.

How to Optimize Your Google Business Profile – 5 Tips to Get Started

1. Fill It Out to Completion

Make sure the listing that users see is filled out entirely – not just your address, hours of operation, and contact info. Make sure you list the services and products you offer, as well. Fill out a business description using keywords that you want your business to rank for. On the back-end, fill out every possible section of your profile and utilize every feature. It’s free and it is there for a reason! Remember, only use correct information to describe your business. Google can flag your listing for discrepancies.

2. Upload Photos Weekly

Uploading photos to your listing weekly, or even biweekly can give you a generous boost each time you upload. But before you go blindly uploading photos – there’s a trick to this! First off, your images NEED to be relevant to your business (no pictures of your pets or grandkids!)

Images also need to be sized appropriately. Photos are that too small or too large will look grainy, and turn users off. Make sure you downsize your photos around 300 KB before uploading.

After you’ve finished resizing them, you’ll want to rename the image file name as a keyword that pertains to your business. This can be a search term that your business already ranks for or would like to rank for (make sure to remove the “.jpg” or file type from the image name!)

Finally, you’re ready to upload. You’ll find that you have an option to upload photos to various categories:

• By Owner
• By Customer
• 360
• Video
• Interior
• Exterior
• At Work
• Team
• Identity

Make sure you are uploading relevant photos to each category (outside of “By Customer.”) This goes back to tip #1 – fill out the profile to completion. Upload 1-3 images weekly/biweekly or 5-7 images monthly.

3. Respond to Reviews

You’ll want to respond to ALL of your reviews, even if they just leave you a rating. The trick to doing this is responding within a day at most. This shows Google that you keep up-to-date with customers that are trying to interact with you via the listing. Additionally, if your reviews are overall positive, this shows potential customers that you are credible and trustworthy.

4. Share Posts to Your Listing Frequently

Similar to the importance of uploading images, sharing posts can give your listing the same boost. Before you go sharing some article that’s caught your attention, know that there’s a trick to this, too. If you have an analytics tool, you can share a page or blog post from your website that needs a boost in traffic. For example, you’ve seen your recent blog post drop in traffic session. You can share it with your listing through the “Post” tab for it to appear on the profile. You can also share events, products, and news through this feature.

5. Use The Product Catalog

The Google Business listing is a great place to showcase your product. This feature allows users to briefly peruse some of the merchandise you have to offer. This also allows the Google algorithm to learn more about the product you offer, thus ranking you against more relevant competitors.

Conclusion – Why You Need to Optimize Your Google Business Profile

With the majority of the WORLD reaching for Google as their preferred search engine, it would be a waste to not use some of the free features it has to offer. These features, when used properly, can really give your traffic and rankings a boost! Showcase your business, services, and product with a Google Business listing. As a reminder, complete and verify your profile, upload images and posts, respond to reviews, utilize the product catalog, and outrank your local competitors with this SEO industry secret!