Setting up and Optimising your Google My Business account is among the first steps to gaining traffic and customers online. Businesses must have visibility on Google because most customers start their search for products and services on Google search. So, is your Google My Business account Optimised?
This blog post will guide you on Optimising your Google My Business account for better visibility. Let’s get into it.
What is Google My Business Account?
Google My Business (GMB) account, now called Google Business Profile, is a free listing platform by Google that allows business owners to upload business details like locations, directions, services, products, business hours, and any other relevant business information.
Creating a GMB account is free, increasing the chances of your business appearing in Google search and Google Maps. This allows potential customers to find and engage with your business efficiently. However, you can only create a Google My Business account and benefit from what it offers if your business has a physical location.
Why Google My Business Account Is Important For Your Business
Here are three reasons why you should claim your My Google Business Account;
1. Improves The Visibility Of Your Business
Without a GMB account, your business may never appear when potential customers search for your services online. If your business name is not appearing on top search results, your competitors are emerging, which is a bad SEO strategy for your business.
By creating a Google My Business account, you stand a better chance of appearing in Google search and Google Maps, which means more traffic, customers, and sales.
Moreover, you must manage your Google Business Profile account closely to ensure that the address and phone numbers are correct. Not appearing on Google search is bad, but it is worse if the contacts or addresses provided are incorrect because customers will label your business as a scam.
2. Enhances Customer Support
Google My Business Account allows customers to give their reviews and feedback and ask questions. Additionally, you will be able to answer their questions and address positive and negative feedback.
With such interactions, potential customers will feel confident to contact you for your products and services because they can gauge the kind of customer service to expect from the reviews section.
Moreover, your business will establish business authority on the market with good positive reviews. For instance, a 4.8-star review shows that you offer great products or services.
3. Boosts Traffic And Sales
In this era of technology, most people have started to search for products and services online. Therefore, it is no lie that a business that appears on Google search is most likely to get more traffic which translates into sales as long as they have what the customer is looking for.
If you closely monitor your GMB account and keep it up to date, you will attract a broader audience, translating into more sales.
11 Ways on How to Optimise Your Google My Business Account
As a small business owner, it’s essential to have a strong online presence to attract and retain customers. One key tool for boosting your online presence is Google My Business (GMB), which allows you to manage your business’s information on Google, including your business’s name, location, hours of operation, and more.
But simply having a GMB account is not enough – you need to optimize it for search engine optimization (SEO) to improve your visibility on search engines like Google and attract more organic traffic to your website. In this article, we will discuss some key tips for optimizing your GMB account for SEO.
1. Fill all sections of Google Business Profile
After opening a My Google Business account at, Google.com/business, it is crucial to fill in all the profile details. The details will help rank SEO and provide your customers with all the information they need about your business.
Ensure that you immediately fill in the name, address, phone, website, and hours sections.
Other sections like category and attributes, products and services, from the business, and questions and answers may require more time, but you must fill them up at the end of the day.
The Posts, Reviews, and Customer generated questions and answers are ongoing sections. You will need to keep updating them from time to time.
Filling all the sections might take a lot of time, but Google rewards business owners who take the time to fill in all the requirements with visibility, so the choice is yours.
2. Ensure That Information On The Profile Is Accurate
Filling out all the sections is a plus, but is the information provided accurate? Have you encountered businesses with outdated phone numbers or old locations on their profile? Customers are turned away by wrong information. Therefore, you must cross-check all the sections on your profile. Here are some ways to Optimise your profile information:
Ensure that the business name online is the same as it appears on the physical store signage. It might seem like a good thing to add your location after the business name, but Google considers that stuffing, and you might be penalized.
Make sure that your business name, address, and phone number match what is on other listings like social media. Google takes into consideration the slightest inconsistencies to determine your business credibility.
Indicate your working hours and days- accurate regular and holiday working hours help customers to decide whether or not to visit your store. You will have lost a customer and earned a negative review if a customer comes to your store only to find that you are closed.
3. Choose A Relevant Category
Google provides business owners with over 3000 business categories to identify their businesses.
Choosing the right category allows your business to appear in Google searches. When looking for products and services online, customers search for the name of the product, service, or a term under the business category. If your business is listed under the right category, your business will appear on relevant searches. The categories are handy for businesses whose name does not bear the service or product they are offering.
For your business to benefit from the category selection, you must be very specific in your selection. For instance, if you are a kids’ salon, select “kids salon” instead of salon. This allows Google to show your business to the right people.
Moreover, use the secondary category list if your business falls under different categories. For instance, a hair salon might choose pedicure and manicure as additional categories.
For top ranking, ensure that you have the most relevant category as the primary category and do not overdo the secondary categories. Stick to categorize what is most relevant to your business only.
4. Select Attributes
Your business attributes set you apart from your competitors. For instance, free wi-fi in restaurants, free wrapping for gift stores, wheelchair-accessible seating, and free delivery and takeaway services. Selecting your business’s attributes helps it show up for more specified searches.
5. Include Pictures
Pictures of employees outside the physical store or photos of the products you sell show that your business is legitimate and helps with SEO ranking.
For the best results, upload high-quality and Optimised photos. Ensure to include alt text, titles, and captions on your pictures because Google uses this information to Optimise your Google My Business account.
Moreover, add and update photos on your profile regularly. It shows Google and potential customers that your business is active and consequently impacts your ranking positively. However, this does not mean you upload a photo on your profile daily; adhering to Google’s photo guidelines is crucial.
6. Get and Respond To Google Reviews
Reviews influence customer buying decisions and are used by Google to rank My Google Business Accounts. Accounts with many positive reviews rank top of Google search results. To Optimise your GMB account with reviews:
Ensure that you have many legitimate positive reviews. You can achieve this by approaching your return customers and asking them to review your business.
Aim for quality reviews- it is okay to have many reviews, but you should aim at reviews that tell why your services or products are good. Ask your customers to use descriptive sentences when writing their reviews.
Respond to reviews – responding to reviews is a way to show current and potential customers that you care. Do not only reply to positive reviews but also negative ones offering solutions to customer complaints.
7. Create Posts For Your Profile
Google allows you to post interactive content on your dashboard. You can post educational blog posts, promotions, relevant courses, and announcements. These posts appear on Google search results and create user engagement, which earns you more traffic, causes your page to rank and could translate to sales.
For the posts to Optimise your Google My Business account, you must post regularly, post promotion posts with a deadline, and include links on the posts.
Customers who search for a product on Google search have more intent. Therefore, they are most likely to interact with your posts for a more extended period which is good for your ranking.
8. Ask and Answer Questions
The “ask and answer questions” section on the profile allows you to answer frequently asked questions by your customers. As you answer the questions, use keywords relevant to your business because it improves ranking.
The downside of this section is that anyone can answer, which can lead to inaccurate information. Turning off this section could be the only way to prevent other people from answering, but unfortunately, you cannot turn this feature off.
To stay on top of the questions, set up alerts so that you are notified when someone keys in a question. Also, you can create relevant questions and answer them on your profile.
9. Add Products and Services
Adding products and services with Optimised descriptions helps to Optimise your Google My Business account because Google can show them to relevant searches. This technique is very important for businesses whose name does not clearly show what the business offers.
Well-described products and services allow Google to show your business in relevant searches and show potential customers exactly what you are selling. Customers tend to engage more with business profiles with products and services, which is good for SEO.
10. Set Up Messaging
The messaging feature allows potential customers to send a text directly from your Google Business Profile. More than 80% of online shoppers use smartphones for Google searches, and activating this feature allows you to interact more with potential customers. To stay on top of the messages, set up alerts for customer messages and reply to them immediately.
11. Build A Solid Google My Business SEO Strategy
You must maintain your account to get the most out of an Optimised Google My Business account. It is not a one-time exercise. To get maximum benefits, update contact and address information, upload photos and publish posts regularly, get and respond to reviews, stay up to date with new features, and incorporate them into your profile.
Once you have optimised your GMB listing, it’s important to monitor and track its performance. This will help you understand how your listing is performing on search engines and where you may need to make improvements.
To monitor and track your GMB listing’s performance, you can use the “Insights” feature within your GMB account. This will show you key metrics such as how many people have viewed your listing, how many people have clicked on your website or called your business, and more.
Benefits Of An Optimised Business Profile
There are several benefits to optimising your Google My Business (GMB) profile. These include:
- Improved visibility on search engines: By optimising your GMB profile with relevant, accurate information, you can improve your visibility on search engines like Google, which can help more potential customers find your business.
- Increased trust and credibility: By encouraging customers to leave reviews on your GMB profile and responding to all reviews in a timely and professional manner, you can build trust and credibility with potential customers, which can lead to increased sales.
- Enhanced local SEO: Optimising your GMB profile with your business’s name, address, phone number, and hours of operation can help improve your local search engine rankings, which can be particularly beneficial for businesses that rely on local customers.
- Better customer engagement: Your GMB profile allows customers to easily contact your business, request quotes or appointments, and learn more about your products or services. This can help improve customer engagement and lead to increased sales.
- Access to insights and analytics: The “Insights” feature within your GMB account provides valuable data and analytics about your profile’s performance, including how many people have viewed your listing and how many people have clicked on your website or called your business. This can help you make data-driven decisions about your marketing efforts.
Finishing up
Are you looking to increase your online visibility and attract more customers to your local business? Our local SEO and Google Maps listing optimisation services can help improve your search engine rankings and make it easier for potential customers to find you. With our expertise, we can help improve the accuracy and relevance of your business information on Google Maps, making it more likely that customers will choose your business over competitors. Let us help you take your local business to the next level.
