How to optimize Google Business Profile takes a few steps and continued maintenance but we think is a good thing to do since most people are going to look for a business such as yours on Google.
Table of Contents
What Do You Need In Your Google Business Profile
Certainly there is a lot to fill out when you're first filling out your Google Business Profile. You'll need NAP or Name, Address, and Phone as basic information. What you'll need to pay attention to is how Google determine these, especially Address. When you put in South Main St. does Google ask if you meant S. Main Street. Always take Google's suggestion but remember this for later.
When writing your description about your company think about how people are going to look for you. For instance if your a furniture store in Charlotte you may want to mention that 2-3 times within your description to help Google understand what you are all about. To help users fill out things like are you a minority owned store, what credit cards do you take, and are you handicapped accessible. All this information will help people in deciding to come see you and enhance their experience. Also don't skimp on images. Take out your phone and take some good quality images of the outside and inside of your business and load them onto your Google Business Profile. You can find your business in Google Maps App now under the Business tab.
Another area to focus on is updates in Google Business Profile. This can be done in a variety of was such as new pictures you take about your business happenings or what we like to do is post our recent blogs that we write for SEO purposes as an update once or twice a month.
The hardest thing to do on Google Business Profile will be reviews. This will be a constant battle for your business since most people will not willingly add reviews. Do not incentives people with % off coupons or what not but do ask for reviews when you can. There are services and devices out there to make this easier. I would research this but take them with a grain of salt as they too will not guarantee results.
How You Are Ranked in Google Business Profile
You can learn how to optimize for Google Business Profile but there are some truths that you can't avoid when it comes to ranking.
You will only rank in the town your business is in. Very rarely will you rank organically the next town over.
Depending on your location will determine how you rank in a search result. For instance if someone searches for "Dentist Atlanta" in downtown but you are closer to Buckhead you likely won't show up in the Map Pack organically. Google will take into account, especially on a phone, where someone is physically at when they do a search.
Do this mean all of this is for not if you're in a big city, nope. This same rule works around you too so lets say someone searches "Dentist Buckhead" you'll show up and not the person in downtown Atlanta. This provides a better experience for the user and gives you higher quality leads when people do reach out because you can service them.
So what if you service people in multiple areas, like you have a deliver service with a 50 mile radius? You'll still only rank organically for the city your business is in but you can augment this with some paid advertising which will allow you to show in the Map Pack in neighboring towns.
Key Places Where Your Address Needs to Match What's on Google Business Profile
So in learning how to optimize for Google Business Profile we've learned how to work the profile itself and where it'll show up. Now we need to look at places outside of Google Business Profile that we need to pay close attention to.
Website
So the first place to start is your website. This is commonly missed by people because both Google Business Profile and your website will have the address on them. However, how it is written, specifically on the website, matters. Personally we would have the address in the footer of your website so it is mentioned over and over again with every page that is created. Also you want to make sure your making character for character when Google Business Profile has. We'd recommend simply copying and pasting what's on Google Business Profile to ensure no mistakes such as South vs. S.
Better Business Bureau
So this is going to help in a few areas. The first is it will get you another listing that shows where you are located. Copying Google Business Profile locations step for step again. The other things it will do for you is provide a backlink to your website for a reputable source since you can put your website on there. This will help in gaining recognition from Google about your website. This isn't to difficult to do but it is something you'll have to do your self since many companies that you pay for Google Business Profile services can't help you with this.
Apple Maps
I think we can all agree a lot of people own iPhones. While a user perhaps uses Google to find a place thus the important of Google Business Profile, it'll be Apple Maps that ultimately gets an iPhone owner to your business. So once again make sure this information is correct and correlates to Google Business profile. You will have to register your location using an Apple device at https://businessconnect.apple.com/
How to Fortify Your Listing
Last thing to note on how to optimize Google Business Profile is utilizing other platforms. We've mentioned Better Business Bureau and Apple Maps but there a ton of places such as YP.com or Uber Eats than you can list your location. Certainly you can do all this by hand and keep up with them manually to ensure the listing remains consistent with what you have on Google Business Profile or you can get a service. One that comes to mind is Yext which can handle up to 100+ different listings on your behalf. Be careful though, this is not set it and forget it, you'll have to check up on these listings 2 to 3 times a month to ensure everything is running smoothly. Obviously if you want to take it a step further we provide these services for you within our SEO services.
We hope this was very informative on how to optimize Google Business Profile. If you have any questions feel free to call or fill out a form to get answers. Also feel free to follow us on our socials where we provide up to date information when it becomes available about the industry.
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