Nowadays, it is crucial to have an updated and well-optimized Google My Business (GMB) listing for local businesses to increase their chances of reaching potential customers. Given that more than 1 billion people use Google Search and Maps monthly, you need your business to be easily visible when customers search for what you offer and where you are located.
Optimizing your business profile on Google My Business not only improves your standing in a local search but also strengthens your credibility and may convince a visitor to contact you. However, as with any effective promotion tool, your GMB profile needs constant monitoring to remain effective and perform well.
Below are some of the best practices that you should follow about your Google My Business account.
Claim and Verify your Profile
The first one is to ensure that you verify your business on Google My Business to get full control of the account. You can then confirm the business details by either receiving a postcard code with confirmation or you can provide the licenses to Google for fast verification.
Verification contributes to informing Google that only relevant information related to the business is being posted, thereby building credibility for your profile. It unlocks all GMB features that affect local SEO and the visibility of the business.
Keep Key Information Updated
You have to ensure that such vital business information as name, address, phone number, and operating hours are kept updated to provide customers with the latest information. Having old information reduces credibility and makes it difficult for customers to get a hold of your business.
Particularly changes in location, contact details, or operational status must be immediately reflected to prevent problems. This can be conveniently managed through the GMB dashboard, which has its own individual GMB dashboard where it can oversee everything that is going on in its listing.
Leverage Services and Products Sections
The Services and Products sections enable you to provide detailed information about the business services or products. Organize relevant services and offer descriptions; this highlights specific niches and assists with search by potential consumers.
Include images and videos where necessary. Enhancing these sections is important for increasing click-through rate from the GMB profile and for making you prominent versus rivals.
Reply to Reviews and Messages
It is advisable to reply to customers’ reviews, feedback, and messages received through the GMB profile as soon as possible. Being responsive shows that you care for customers and also fuels the provision of further information.
Positive responses to negative reviews also fall under the category of successful handling of public relations. When there is a mutually beneficial interaction, it fosters the creation of goodwill that in turn promotes the exposure of the local community.
Post Regular Updates and Offers
The Updates section enables you to compose messages that go out to customers who subscribe to updates through a business profile. Post news, events, and offers that give people reasons to continue engaging with your business and frequent it.
In the case of forums, it is important to post and respond often with good content that will help to get the audience more engaged. Ensure that your posts are informative to your target market rather than always an advertisement of your products. It is recommended to post at least once a week so that the page gains organic views and reach.
Invest in GMB Management
Because GMB has strong local SEO value and marketing features, outsourcing GMB management services to specialized agencies might be helpful once you have outgrown simple profile updating.
There are still opportunities that experts can maximize Google My Business profiles through location data verification, citation audit, reviews, insights analysis, and advertising. Managed services help you to remain informed about the latest features that GMB offers.
Optimize Photos and Virtual Tours
The use of visuals has a great chance of persuading and engaging the profile visitors. Check that you have clear and high-quality photos posted in various sections of the site, including the avatar, cover, and photos of meals, interiors, and people enjoying the food.
Virtual video tours are also effective for companies with physical stores and offices. Use 360-degree video and professional photography for virtual tours. This allows having an online feel of store premises that may enhance trust and frequentation.
Leverage Google Posts Insights
Engagement of GMB posts can be tracked using the insights tab. Consider metrics such as impressions, discovery rate, and the engagement rate given for each post. Find out more about post content and themes that would attract your audience.
They assist in developing subsequent posts that are more effective, keeping in mind your unique target customers. As the information above shows, it is possible to improve the engagement with the audience on Google My Business by fine-tuning content strategies for the local level.
Follow Image Guidelines
Google has provided standard dimensions of images and visuals to be uploaded on the GMB profile sections. Some of the key requirements are centered around minimum dimensions, pixel aspect ratios, and file size restraints.
It is recommended to visually revise the Google Business Profile Image Guide to avoid mistakes while selecting and uploading the images. Such guidelines help avoid rejections and ensure the delivery of the best visuals that can accompany a piece of text.
Encourage Customer Actions
The ‘Request’ section within Google My Business allows your customers to be able to place a phone call to your business, make a booking, and/or order food for delivery directly through the GMB profile. This fuels lead generation and conversion from profile traffic.
Enable relevant requests based on the business model of your company. Lead customers towards those actions by positioning the Request buttons appropriately and providing engaging call-to-actions.
Conclusion
With GMB evolving into a separate application, more consumers engage with and rely on business profiles for local search and commerce. Even minor enhancements in the optimization and management of GMB lead to exponential gains in customer focus and sales.
Set aside enough time in the week to spend on your profile. Use the following tips where appropriate for increasing visibility, engagement, and sales involving Google services. Collaborate with Figma to HTML specialists to unleash the potential of your online presence.
