Local SEO has become a pivotal part of any successful online business strategy. The key to building credibility with your target audience lies within local search. To increase traffic to your site, learn how to optimize your local business for Google and other search engines.

Local SEO provides an opportunity to show up near those who might otherwise visit your site, such as people searching Google Maps or Yelp for businesses nearby. In addition, businesses in certain areas tend to rely on local SEO to gain visibility when customers search for them locally.

What Is a Google Business Profile?

The Google Business Profile is a free marketing tool from Google that helps business owners manage their online presence across several search engines and other services through a business listing. Registration includes uploading pictures and adding information about your business, such as operating hours, contact details, and directions.

You can also add a map if you want people to know where you are. Once your business is registered, you can use it to promote yourself and attract new customers who might be looking for your services and products online. You can get paid when someone clicks on your ad, or you can choose instead to pay per result. Your ads may appear on Google’s search results page, Google Maps or YouTube.

Local search is the most important part of any market. To succeed in local search, you must be listed on the Google Maps page. This is the first place people looking for your product or service find you.

Google’s Local Search is great because it gives you information about your business when customers search for your company or product online. This feature shows up in local mobile searches and helps people locate your business. When business owners use this service, they increase traffic to their websites.

This program is made to give a list of businesses near your current location. You can easily search for anything you need within 5 minutes by using this tool.

When you add your business, Google will automatically include your address and other important information about your business. This helps when people search for local businesses or find them via Google Maps.

Here Are Tips How to Optimize Your Local Business

A local business can be successful if it gets its location right. By getting the right spot for business, you are sure to have an easy time running your business. However, there are some things worth identifying about optimizing your local business.

Complete All Aspects

Your Google Business Profile should contain as much information about your business as possible. You should complete the name, address, phone number, website, hours, category, products and services, and other features as soon as possible.

These elements should be completed immediately:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Phone
  • Hours of Operation
  • Website

You can delay filling in these but be sure that you comply:

  • Categories and Attributes
  • FAQs
  • Products and Services

Keep on doing these tasks:

  • Adding Reviews
  • Writing Posts
  • Answer Questions from the Potential Customer

Be Precise About Your Contact Details

Your business name should be identical to the one you sell online. You should also ensure that your business name matches what you put in your store signs. Add business location names if you need them. And make sure that your business address matches your other listings across the Internet.

You must use the same format as every other listing across the Internet. For example, using “Street” instead of “St.” could mean the difference between being ranked higher or lower than competitors who use “St.’s.” Likewise, use “Company” instead of ‘Co.’ It’s also important to use exact spelling and capitalization. In addition, make sure you include your city if appropriate.

Indicate both regular and holidays hours. Customers should know when your business closes early on holidays, so they plan accordingly.

Write Your Business Description Well

Google writes a brief description below your business name in your profile. While you don’t have control over this, you are pretty assured Google does a great job at it.

You do have control over the section below the business profile, specifically under the online reviews section.

How do you optimize this section?

Utilize all 750 characters allotted to the business description. Make sure that all salient information is on the first 250 characters. Use relevant keywords in the description.

Don’t add information that is already placed on the other sections. For example, you can talk about how your business differs from your competitors. You can also add the unique selling points of your business.

Always Pick Categories

Choosing a category is important for optimizing your Google Business Profile page. You get more traffic from discovery search than from direct search. Therefore, your page should be optimized for what you do.

Category-specific features should be highlighted. This includes menu buttons, reservation buttons, star ratings, and other confirmations. These things can help the potential customer decide if they want to use a website or service based on what they see.

Here’s How You Can Nail Google Business Profile Categories Effectively

Be specific. A drop-down list of business categories will appear when you type something into the Google search box. You can also narrow down your results.

Choose secondary categories. Your business falls under several different categories. Choose two main offerings from Business Services by clicking the buttons below. You may also add other categories as needed.

Don’t overdo it. Choose categories that match your offerings. For example, if your company offers appliance repairs, select only the primary category called “Appliance Repairs,” not categories such as “Appliance Replacement Parts.” Likewise, don’t confuse categories with products or attributes, separate sections.

You may need to verify your business before adding new categories. Just make sure you follow the rules!

Choose the Attributes That Suit Your Business

When you add an attribute, it shows up as a box next to each listing. You can select yes or no to indicate if your business offers that feature. This helps Google understand how important the feature is to your business. For example, if your business is popular for travelers, people searching for hotels might also be interested in checking into your hotel.

Upload Photos

Uploading photos to your profile is important because you want to make sure visitors know exactly what services you offer. You also want to post photos showing your business’s positive aspects.

For Quality Assurance

You can ensure your business profile looks its best by adding your great photos.

To Be Proactive

Anybody can add photos and images to your business profile – but if you want them to be high-quality, make sure you upload them yourself. Your business profile may look awesome!

For Images in Results

Google is now including images in local search results. This means you will see photos associated with your search terms when searching for certain things on Google. You may also see other people’s photos if you search for them or friend them. Images with text, however, will still show up as text searches.

For Engagement

More than half of online searches lead people to businesses with photos. This is because photos help people remember businesses. They also encourage people to visit the businesses’ websites.

Add pictures to your business profile as much as you want, but please remember to limit yourself to 15. Make sure that you place all your new photos under the main “photo” tab.

Try these tips when optimizing Google Business Profile images:

  • Post at least one photo.
  • Upload your logo as your thumbnail photo.
  • Use a photo that best reflects your brand for your cover photo, but don’t worry about this because Google will show you different feature images based on the search query.
  • You should make sure that every picture contains happy customers for your photos. You should also include pictures of interior or exterior views of your store in each set. Include shots of the team working hard and having fun together.
  • Your business logo should be represented by a photo taken in the real world. This means no stock photos to those with special effects or brandings. Google is trying to show how your business looks in the real world.
  • Focus on high-quality images with clear depictions to align with the rest of the sentence.
  • Google pulls photos from the business profile based on keywords you search so be sure that you use them.
  • Geo-tags help users find information about places near them. By adding geographic data to images, we can make these locations more accessible for people worldwide. This technology also helps us understand what our friends are interested in.
  • Use Google’s Street View so you can add a 360-degree image of your physical store.
  • Cover photos should showcase the brand’s personality. The cover image should be cropped into a 16:9 aspect-ratio format.

Get Reviews

This is a great example of how Google uses reviews to rank pages. When users search for something locally, they want to know if there are any problems with the type of business before they go there. Reviews tell them whether or not to trust the business. The top three results with reviews are more trustworthy than the bottom two without reviews.

Google displays business owners’ profiles based on customer reviews. To make sure that users read reviews carefully, Google makes the keywords bold in reviews. In addition, review shortcuts are available for both businesses and individuals.

Reviews are great because they give you insight into what your customers want. You can use these insights to improve your product or service. When someone writes a positive review, they’re telling others about their experience with your company. Showing appreciation for customer feedback helps you build trust and loyalty.

Most people do not realize how vital reviews can be in determining a company’s rank. Business reviews count more than any other factor. People use these reviews when deciding whether or not to choose a business. This information can be used to make decisions about which businesses to trust.

Google may also display business profiles with negative reviews or positive reviews if business profiles contain those keywords.

Google will make your reviews more relevant by adding keywords in bold. You should use this feature to highlight important keywords in your review or add your keywords if you think they’re missing.

Loyalty should be rewarded. Start by giving discounts to loyal customers who buy more regularly. This also makes them feel appreciated.

Your customers love reading reviews about products and services. They trust what you say when they read your reviews. It would help if you considered making this a part of every review submission form.

Your Review Page should be designed in a way that makes users want to read more about your content. Users like to learn more about products and services they regularly use, even if they’re free. In this case, we recommend you include an easy-to-read headline, or lead paragraph, that will catch people’s attention. This will encourage them to read further.

Responding to reviews helps you improve your business. You should always respond to customer reviews because they reveal a lot about your business. People who write reviews may also become your future customers. The most effective review incentive is a discount coupon. You should avoid giving gifts or money.

Be Specific About Your Products and Services

The “Products and Services” section is an important part of any business. You should make sure you fill out this section well. You can add links, descriptions, images, videos, or anything else that helps your site to rank better. Don’t forget to show your audience what you offer, because this will be very useful when people search for your company.

When you add products to your catalog, make sure the full description of each product shows up when a customer clicks on them. Also, make sure there’s an image of each product. This helps increase the chance of customers finding your products.

Set-up the Messaging Feature

This feature gives searchers the ability to send a text message directly from your Google Business Profile. You should enable this feature to receive messages from people searching for your business.

To enable messaging, choose the “Messaging” tab in your Google Business Profile dashboard, and you have access to either installing them via Google Play or the Apple AppStore.

Don’t worry about displaying your phone number because you’ll use a different one via Google’s Allo App. Set up alerts for messages in the Google Business Profile Dashboard. Go to Settings and check off Customer Messages.

Set up new customer message alerts to receive important business updates and help from Google. From the Settings page, choose Customer Messages under Services. You can then select the alert type you want to receive. For example, selecting “Notify me when someone replies to my review or query” will send an email to you whenever a customer responds to any aspect of your listing. This information helps improve your business and increase sales.

Always Add Keywords

Google uses a variety of signals. Therefore, including important keywords and key phrases in your business listing is extremely helpful. Especially since your business website is directly within your Google Business Profile listings, use these in the business description and every time you post a local post to your audience.

Your Business Hours Must Be Accurate

Business hours are very important. But you need to update them every time these change. You can customize hours for holidays and special events. Google Business Profile also offers more flexibility around holiday hours and messages for potential customers.

Utilize Local Posts

You can publish offers, events, and products directly to Google Search and Map through business posts on Google Business Profile. Posts let you engage your audience and keep your business fresh on Google. And you can send them on the go via either a phone, tablet, or computer. In addition, businesses can influence their Knowledge Panel breakouts with direct feedback about their business and the people that represent them.

The best posts include visuals, links, and content that’s trusted. Links that lead people to malware, viruses, porn, or scams aren’t allowed. Posts about alcohol, tobacco, pharmaceuticals, gambling, health and medical devices, and other regulated goods and services are OK.

Make sure that your posts are high-quality. That means it should be free of spelling and grammatical errors. Readers should be able to get something from it. The more informative it is, the better it is. Also, make sure that the content is not offensive.

Posts should be kept PG or G rated. No swearing or profanity. Don’t post anything about weapons, fireworks, financial services, etc.

Advantages of Posting to Your Google Business Profile

  • Increased chances of your profile being found by your target market
  • Better engagement because of higher search intent
  • Customers can be notified of your updates
  • Free advertising

How to Optimize Your Google Business Profile

  • Post regularly as your content may expire after seven days
  • Target marketing campaigns with the timeline. Create your content around these campaigns as they have a longer duration.

Inform About COVID-19 Updates

This year has provided us with lots of surprises. The biggest surprise was COVID-19 and how crazy it made things. Stores operated differently than normal because of COVID-19 rules, mandates, and safety guidelines. Businesses could update the information on their Google Business Profile pages to provide the most accurate information to customers. A recent feature makes communicating with current and prospective customers during the pandemic. A business can customize its business hours and local posts to suit its needs.

Create a List of Services

The new Google Business Profile add-on allows users to see what services each business offers. It makes it easier to pick out the right place to eat or get your nails done, for example.

The Services page allows you to categorize your services and list them out. Potential customers can easily see what your business offers. Your Food Menu page lets people choose what kinds of foods they want to eat. This is the main page that lists everything about your store.

You must always be aware of any potential changes in your price structure or services offered. Therefore, ensure that you’re up-to-date with your services and pricing information.

Turn on the Booking Button

Booking buttons are now available for businesses listed on Google Business Profile. These buttons allow you to book appointments quickly or make reservations online.

To End

You need to optimize your business for Google and other search engines if you want more people to view your business. Do you need help with SEO campaigns? We are here to help! ITD Web Design is an online company that assists businesses with their online marketing campaigns.