Being a business owner your primary goal is to increase the visibility of your website. You might have tried local business marketing tips to do the same.
But have you ever created a Google My Business profile? If not, I must say you should try it once! It is a powerful yet under-utilized tool to get customers’ eyes on your local business.
Businesses with Google my profiles are 94% more likely to be considered as reputable. Google My Business is a free service to provide information about your business to the customers. Through this profile you can add your telephone number, business photos, video, business hours, delivery area etc.
Why optimize your google business profile
Let’s understand the importance of local search optimization with an example. Here I searched for cleaning services for two different locations: Pune (India) and Manhattan (USA).
. In the first image i.e. Novanna Cleaning services, do the images reveal anything about their cleaning services? Answer is a big ‘NO’.
But in the second image i.e. Shiny Cleany company, right from the images you can know their professionalism and way of working.
So,images speak a lot and hence the image optimization is necessary on Google Business Profile to let the customers know more about your brand.
How to optimize your Google Business Profile
Here, in this blog I am further going to explain how to optimize my business profile. So, I am assuming that you already have my business profile and want to know how to optimize it. So, let’s go now!
#1 Fill out every detail of your profile
This is an obvious thing, but you may find companies who never pay attention to such small aspects, like business hours or website URL. Google gives preference to complete business profiles and such websites get better ranking on search engine pages.
Key sections which you need to fill are: name, phone number, address, working hours etc. Apart from these there are few more sections like Q&A, product and services which may take much of your time but you must fill these information for a well-rounded business profile
Pro tip: While filling any entry, simply put yourself on customers’ shoes and think from their perspective. What information would they like to know about your company, if they are contacting you for the first time?
#2 Create your own ‘from the business’ description
Google does a fantastic job when it comes to writing the description for your company. The description which is under your control is ‘from the business’ section present on your Google my business account dashboard. Usually this section is present below the review section.
To write the most meaningful content for your business in the ‘ from the business’ section, you must consider the below mentioned aspects:
- Utilize the entire 750 characters and explain your business in an attractive manner in 250 characters.
- Utilize the content present in the ‘About Us’ section of your website or the mission statement.
- Insert keywords which your audience will use to search your business.
- Don’t repeat any information present on any other sections. Mainly talk about why you are different from your competitors and what customers would like about your business.
- Avoid mentioning any link or HTML.
#3 Choose the right business categories
Whatever you will write in the category section, that will appear at the top port of Google My Profile. Google category section will contain a wide array of categories. Hence choose the one which best matches with your business profile.
- Be specific: If yours is a nail salon, then write ‘Nail Salon’ in the category, instead of only ‘Salon’. If yours is a restaurant, then you must write ‘Egyptian restaurant’, ‘Chinese restaurant’ instead of only restaurant.
- Choose secondary categories: If you offer multiple services, then choose your primary offerings in the category section and write other services in the additional categories section. Check the explore categories section of the below image.
#4 List all your product and services
Through the ‘product and services’ section you can let your customers know about your product and services. Utilize this section completely and come up with a short yet informative content regarding your offerings to help the customers know about your business more.
#5 Add FAQs in a periodic bases
This is the most underrated feature which needs your attention. To add more leads for your business, you must come up with your set of Q&A based on the queries you frequently get from the customers ,or the answers your customers will love to hear from you.
Some of the common questions include ‘Do you accept credit cards’, ‘ Do you provide parking’. Think from the perspective of customers who don’t know anything about your business. So come up with the question and answers they may ask before availing your services.
Pro Tip: Anyone can post questions, hence ensure to set alerts for the same, so that you can address customers’ questions promptly.
#6 Include high quality photos
High-quality product images are not only important for the e-commerce industry, but it is for your local service business too.
You might have noticed photos on Google My Business profile of companies. These photos are posted by the company itself. These photos give an idea about your business to the customers. So, come up with high-quality pictures of your business for Google My business profile for better understanding of the audience.
Some of the qualities of a good photos
- Exterior and interior of your business premises
- Product or services images
- Company vehicle in case if you have a mobile business
- Equipment and tools photos
#7 Take reviews from your customers
Nothing can overweight your customers’ reviews. Hence if you want to optimize your Google my business profile, it’s a high time to reach out to your customers and ask them for product reviews.
If you have done a good job, most of your customers will love to leave reviews for your brand, and in my opinion, you must start with the most loyal customers. Buyers that have long-term relationships with your brand are most likely to help you out in this.
#8 Add physical address
Google gives preference in ranking to businesses that have physical addresses because proximity plays a pivotal role when it comes to ranking factors. Hence if you have a physical address, don’t forget to mention it while creating Google My Business profile.
#9 Post regularly on your Google My Business profile
Optimizing your Google My Business profile is not a one time job. Just like any social media account you need to update it regularly. There is no need to update the profile as frequently as your social media accounts, but you should answer the queries of your customers regularly and promote your services which can include any discount or free valuable tips.
You can take a leaf from my Google profile. The example post is for lead generation services. Thus, posting about your services or other additional information in this section, can keep your customers informed about every activity.
Conclusion
To let your customers know more about your business, your Google my business profile should remain updated with quality information about your business. Hence you must fill all the details of your profile, fill accurate information and post photos regularly. While writing FAQs, think from customers’ perspective and gather reviews wherever possible.
