We’re sure that you’ve heard all about optimizing your website and Google Ads to get on Google’s good side. But did you know that you should also be optimizing your Google My Business listing?
If you don’t know what Google My Business is, it gives you a Business Profile on Google that will give searchers a quick “profile,” or snippet, all about your business. It highlights all of your relevant information (like address, hours, phone number, etc.) so that potential customers can learn more about you and engage with you.
The best part about this is… it’s completely free! It is such an easy way to get local customers to learn more about your business. However, the key to this is to make sure that your listing is optimized to get the best results. Just by investing a little bit of time into setting up your Google My Business account, you’ll have one more powerful tool for promoting your business that is low-cost and easy to maintain!
8 Ways to Optimize Your Google My Business Listing
Whether you haven’t even created a Google My Business profile, or if you’ve been using it for quite some time now, here are eight ways to optimize your listing! These tips will help you get the most results from Google.
1. Set up your Google My Business account
Hopefully, you already have a Google My Business account. If you don’t, your first step would be to set one up. It is completely free and is such a great customer acquisition tool!
To set up your Google My Business/Google Business Profile account, go to business.google.com/create! You may need to verify your physical business address – Google will make sure your information is fully verified before publishing your listing.
2. Constantly update your photos
A key to optimizing your Google business listing is to constantly update your photos. Anyone can add photos to your business listing, which means that some not-so-great photos could be added. By consistently adding your own photos, it will ensure that you have some quality images that represent your business well.
When you add high-quality photos to your listing, Google sees that you are active on your Business Profile. They’ll see that your profile is up-to-date, which gives you a better chance at ranking higher for local listings.
Finally, it’s been shown that customers are more likely to click through to your website when your profile has photos, and they are more likely to get driving directions to your business when you have photos. This is huge!
When adding photos to your listing, we recommend including team photos, customers (ex: brides holding an “I said yes to the dress” sign), and both interior and exterior store images. We also recommend updating your images once a week!
3. Keep all business information up to date
This is a more general tip. Always keep an eye on all of your business information for your business listing!
When you’re doing your weekly photo updates, do a quick check of all of your business information to make sure that it’s accurate and up to date. This includes your business hours, address, website URL, and more!
You’ll want to make sure that all of your information matches all of your other content on the internet. For example, your address should be consistent when saying “Street” vs. “St.” Your business name should be consistent everywhere, too! This may seem obvious, but this is so important for Google’s algorithm. For example, you should always be using the same spelling/format for the word “and,” whether it be “and,” “&,” or “+.”
4. Post upcoming events, sales, and announcements
Did you know that you can create “posts” through Google, similar to a social media post? With this feature, you can post all about any updates to your business such as a special event, announcement, or sale.
When you post your event and sales listings to Google, you’re adding one more channel to your marketing which will bring in more leads to your events. This feature can also help with the ever-changing restrictions around COVID and when you need to post quick updates about your business!
5. Update your Question & Answer section
There is a Question & Answer section that will show up on your Google Business Profile. Questions can be asked by anybody… and anybody can answer these questions! Because of this, it’s crucial to check on these and be sure to answer them from your business to prevent any inaccurate information from showing up.
You can set alerts to be sent to you when someone asks a question to ensure that it’s answered ASAP.
We also recommend thinking of some frequently asked questions that are asked by your customers, and posting them to your profile yourself. You can also upvote the answers! This helps them stay front and center on your listing.
6. Add products and services
This is an optional tip to optimizing your Google My Business listing. There is a feature for displaying your products and services. This can be a good way to show how you stand out from your competitors!
7. Get more reviews and reply to them
Having reviews is crucial to having a good Google My Business profile.
How can you get more reviews? Well, studies show that 72% of customers will write a review if they are asked! So, you just have to ask. Send out an email, text message, social media post, and even ask them to review you in person! Create a short link and send it to your customers to make the process of reviewing you on Google quick and easy.
Once you start getting reviews, be sure to reply to them! This will show Google that you are active, which in turn helps you rank higher. It also shows customers that you care, which will encourage them to leave a review themselves.
Keep in mind that you should reply to both positive and negative reviews. Thank customers for their positive reviews and offer any negative reviewers to reach out to you to try and remedy their feelings!
8. Stay updated on changes
Finally, the best way to make sure that your Google My Business listing is optimized is to stay updated on any changes that Google is making. Reading this blog means that you are already doing your research, which is great! Google’s algorithm is constantly changing though, so it’s best to do some monthly research on the best practices for your listing.
What has worked for you to make your Google My Business profile the best that it can be? Let us know in the comments!
