Optimising your google business profile for better visibility

Wondering why your business isn’t appearing on Google Maps or why it’s not showing up in local search results? Some companies attract a steady stream of free leads through Google – while others miss out simply because their Google Business Profile isn’t set up or optimised properly.

Our Google Business Profile optimisation services help ensure your business appears where it should – on the map and in front of the right customers.

Make sure your business is easy to find – get in touch to optimise your profile today.

What is it though?

If you don’t already know what Google Business Profile or GBP is, this is Google’s definition:

“Google Business Profile is a free and easy-to-use tool for businesses and organisations to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. If you verify and edit your business information, you can both help customers find your business and tell them your story.”

To put it simply GBP is a listing for your business which is shown on Google Maps and in Google organic search results (in what’s called the ‘map pack’ – the small section you will see at the top of most organic Google searches, which highlights locations on the map and gives a brief overview, including reviews/ratings of the top 2-5 results that Google thinks are most relevant). GBP runs on a sort of trust or authority system, the more established and authoritative Google Business Profile thinks you are, the more favourably you’ll show up on Google, build trust, receive more traffic, and ultimately get new leads.

For example, if we were to search for “Computer stores near me” the business that Google ‘trusts’ the most will be at the top, even if geographically other stores are slightly closer.

There are many factors that are taken into account when Google is trying to gauge your businesses authority, so we are going to break them down, show you how to optimise each one the best you can and then leave you with a fully optimised and setup GBP which is ready to rock!

The basics

Whether you’re inept or adept in digital marketing, it’s to your advantage to ensure you don’t miss a thing.

First things first, your Google Business Profile will NOT replace your website, however, it is totally free, can generate leads in its own right and should be a key part of your overall digital strategy.
While GBP is a definite advantage, keep in mind that it is merely there to enhance your business online. There are many different digital assets that you should look at overall – website, social profiles, local and niche-specific citations – you can apply the principles that we will be using here, in similar ways across these other assets to enhance your profile across the board.

Let's make a start

If you don’t already have a GBP then the first step is to start here:

https://www.google.com/intl/en_uk/business/

If you do have one then log in to it and let’s get going.

If you’re not sure, then you should start by doing a Google search to verify you don’t already possess a Google Business Profile – if you search for your company on Google do you see your business come up in a box on its own with a map, ratings, address etc. Like the image of our GBP here.

So either we are going to create a GBP from scratch, edit your existing listing OR in some cases, someone else may have already claimed your listing. In this situation, we advise you to follow these steps to reclaim it and take back ownership:

https://support.google.com/business/answer/4566671

Setting up your Google Business Profile

All information that you enter here should be fully inline with the information on your website and other social platforms. Basically, everywhere that you show up online should have the exact same details as the letter. Extra space in postcodes, Road being replaced with Rd., phone number landline on one platform and mobile on another – all cause discrepancies. We are trying to show the digital world that our business is professional and everything is perfectly aligned. Make sure all your details are 100% identical, across the board.

Go here https://www.google.com/business/ and then click Sign in or Manage now. Create a Google account if you don’t have one.

After logging in, we can now proceed with the next step which is adding your business information.

Business name

Business type (choose Online retail, Local store, or Service business)

Business category (Primary & Secondary categories)

Service area business – based on the region or city that you cover

Phone number

Business address

At this point if your Google Business Profile has not already been verified, then you need to verify it – some of the above points may not be available until verified, but this can change over time and from account to account within Google Business Profile. Ultimately though, once verified ALL fields will be available to complete or edit as needed.

Typically, the standard verification methods are carried in one of the following ways:

Phone or text

Video recording

Live video call

Postcard (after receiving the code, we can proceed with the verification).

You're verified

Now that we’re verified we can optimise the Google Business Profile further. Log back in and go into your listing. Some of these will apply, some not, but you should aim to fill in as much as possible in as much accurate detail as possible:

Description (maximum of 750 characters)
Opening date
Website
Business operating hours
Holiday hours
Add more hours
Add photos (the file should be renamed with a relevant keyword and geotagged)
Edit products (this is relevant for either an e-commerce website or a business that provides products)
Edit services (can add all services here)

Some notes and general pointers for your GBP

Google Business Profile has a wide range of features you can take advantage of. It’s worth spending the time to understand and complete it all to the highest level you can. Here’s a few pointers:

Always use complete data, and never allow something to be left open for debate or not crystal clear. The more precise your information is the clearer it is to Google and so Google will be more inclined to show it in a higher, more prominent position.

Make sure the customer understands how they can get the products/services your business is offering.

Ensure that you’re using keywords. Just like ‘regular’ SEO (Search Engine Optimisation), keywords are important, your GBP is linked to your website so having key search phrases is especially helpful. Don’t ram them in though, your words should be easy to read and directed at a human predominantly, but with keywords in mind when writing.

As mentioned before, make sure all of your data is correct – complete as much as you can and then check over to ensure nothing obvious is missed. The vast majority of Google Business Profiles are NOT completed to this degree, so by doing so, you set yourself above a large chunk of the competition from the off!

Further notes on adding images

Incorporating photos into your Google Business Profile serves as an excellent method to keep it up to date and relevant. It also demonstrates to Google that you are engaged with your GBP. Additionally, when your images are optimised and named appropriately, they are more likely to appear in Google searches. Consequently, your potential customers are more likely to view them.

The image file’s name should relate to the image’s content and can even incorporate the keyword. Moreover, default image names will NEVER be appealing to anyone.

DHS1002342_01.jpg

electrical_installation_in_team_valley_business.jpg,

team_marvel_web_design_in_progress_on_a_mac.jpg

It’s pretty clear which one appeals more to potentials and has a much better chance of showing up in relevant search results, right?

Some recent industry figures show that by optimising images as above, you will see an increase of over 40% in requests for driving directions to your business and around 35% increase in clicks through to your website – these are figures taken from a Google report on image related searches and GBP usage.

The most important piece of imagery you’re going to use is your profile photo. This is because it will be the one that will have the most exposure and be the first one that potential customers are going to see. Your company profile photo should be something that will stand out on its own and that is engaging. It shouldn’t be the brand logo but instead, showcase what you offer or the solution you provide.

In summary:

Use your brand’s logo to show your identity

Use a cover image to show off your company image and personality and the solution you provide

Additional photos should be things that add to your listing so far, these images should put a spotlight on your business showing potential clients what you’re about, what you do, who you are, internal and external shots of your business, client work (if applicable/allowed), generally anything that is related to your business and gives viewers an insight into your business in some way.

One last thing worth mentioning about imagery is that they should all follow Google’s best practices:

All images should be either JPG or PNG

They should be between 0KB and 5MB

Min resolution is 720px by 720px

Checking your analytics (performance)

Google allows businesses to see a different way to understand how clients interact with business listings. You can see a range of information that will show you how your GBP is performing over time, allow you to see the results from previous optimisation you have completed and see key metrics on how many phone calls, website clicks and views you have had in total.

In summary, these details include:

Overview
Phone calls (made from your Business Profile)
Messages (sent from your Business Profile)
Bookings (made from your Business Profile)
Directions (requests made from your Business Profile)
Website clicks (made from your Business Profile)

Responding to your customer reviews

By replying to your customer’s reviews, you show new potential clients that you care about their thoughts and opinions on your work. It shows that you are proactive online and gives confidence that you are there.

You should always encourage your clients to leave positive reviews about your services. It’s never easy, as it’s not top of your customers list to leave you a review, but it is worth actively encouraging people to leave genuine reviews for your business. It helps on a number of levels as it shows others that you are receiving positive reviews, how recently those reviews were left, and how you respond to them. Additionally shows Google that people are leaving relevant reviews, with keywords probably included, which all adds up to increase your digital profile.

How do customers find your listing

People can find you in a couple of different ways; the first being a “direct” search in which they intentionally tried to find your business or a “Discovery” search in which they were searching for a category – product or service in which you were shown to them.

When looking at the ‘Performance’ data for how they discovered you, there is a section in the bulk performance reports that shows these labels:

Business Profile interactions
Platform and device breakdown
Searches Breakdowns

This data will show you where the visitors have come from, and how this traffic is increasing or decreasing to your listing and so show you the results of your work on optimising your GBP.

Your customers actions

Calls

Here you can see how many customers called your business from the GBP listing. On the top of the section, there’s a “Calls” tab which will inform you of the number of calls in a time frame.

Messages

From here, you can see how many messages are sent from your Google Business Profile. It can be viewed by navigating the “Messages” tab.

Directions

Here you can see how many direction requests are made from your Google Business Profile. Can see it through the “Directions” tab.

Website clicks

To determine the number of customers who visited your website from the GBP listing, you can navigate to “Website clicks” and observe how many clicks were generated from your Business Profile.

What is a Google Business Profile post?

GBP posts are like FB page posts to which a business publishes updates about their brand, offers, events, products and services on their GBPs. These posts appear to your audience under the business’s information section of the GBP.

One of the biggest advantages that GBP posts provide is the ability to market a business’s brand, products, sales, specials, events, and offers completely free. This will also help your business gain more visibility for search terms that are most important for them and promote the business brand to a bigger audience.

Types of Google Business Profile posts

Google Business Profile posts typically include a photo or video, a title and description, and a call-to-action (CTA).

Mainly, there are 3 types of posts that you can create:

Add update

Add offer

Add event

You made it this far

Hopefully, this clarifies the importance of your Google Business Profile and has shown you how to optimise it to maximise results and also how you can measure and understand what is happening.

We’re more than happy to schedule a free 15-minute call if needed, no pitch, no ulterior motive, we’re just happy to help if you have any questions or need any help with implementing any of this.

Stay optimised,

The Team Marvel Geeks

Bring your vision to life