Are you taking advantage of all that Google has to offer businesses? If not, you’re missing out on some great opportunities to get your business seen by more people. In this article, we will discuss the Google My Business Optimization Checklist. This checklist will help you get the most out of your Google listing. Follow these seven tips, and you’ll be well on your way to having a successful Google business profile!
If you’re not familiar with Google My Business, it’s a free tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence across Google Search and Maps. By creating a listing, businesses can control what information is displayed about their company when users search for them on Google. This is important because it allows businesses to control their branding and ensure that they are putting their best foot forward.
What is the Google Business Profile Optimization Checklist?
Unless you didn’t know, Google My Business changed its name a few months ago, and it’s now called Google Business Profile.
The Google Business Profile Optimization Checklist is a list of seven tips that businesses can use to get the most out of their Google listing. This checklist includes optimizing your business name, category, and hours; as well as adding photos, videos, and reviews. By following these tips, you will be able to improve your visibility on Google and attract more customers.
Creating a listing is easy and only takes a few minutes, but optimizing it can be a bit more challenging. That’s where this checklist comes in! By following these seven tips, you will be able to make sure that your listing is as optimized as possible.
Why is it important to optimize your Google Business Profile
There are a few reasons why it is important to optimize your Google business profile. First, it will help you improve your visibility on Google. When users search for businesses in your industry, your listing will be more likely to appear if it is optimized. Additionally, optimizing your listing will help you attract more customers. By including photos, videos, and more.
How does this help Google My Business SEO?
In the present day, you can’t imagine a successful business without a Google My Business listing. Because Google Maps is the most popular map engine for finding a location’s business.
It’s important. You understand what truly works. Unfortunately, the internet is not short of self-proclaimed local SEO experts saying they know what works but provide poor advice and so-called shortcuts that will likely result in a total waste of your time and disappointment with the Google business profile optimization.
How to optimize your Google business profile using the checklist?
There are seven tips included in the Google Business Profile Optimization Checklist. We’ve summarized them below:
- Choose a Keyword optimized business name
- Optimize secondary category
- Use keyword-rich descriptions
- Input your business’s information properly
- Add quality photos and videos
- Keep your listing up-to-date
- Set your business hours
- Local online reputation and review management
- Encourage customers to leave reviews
- Local Link Building
We will discuss each of these tips in more detail below.
By following these seven tips, you will be able to optimize your Google business profile and attract more customers.
Google My Business Optimization Checklist
The factors I’m going to share with you today have been researched, tried, and tested across hundreds of Google business listings by the top experts in local search who share their findings in the annual search ranking factor report. This is your first Google My Business optimization checklist or GMB SEO lesson if you want to rank highly on Google maps.
This is the Bible for anyone wanting to rank number one on Google Maps, which I have been using year after year to consistently get my clients into the Google Maps top spots. Using this report along with a simple Google Chrome extension, I’m going to show you the fastest way to rank your own Google business profile number one on Google maps.
Optimize your Primary Business category
We’re going to go through the ones that will have the biggest impact in the shortest period of time with minimum effort, starting with your primary business category.
Your primary business category is the single most influential factor. Google will take this into consideration when ranking your listing in the Google Maps results.
Although choosing the right business category may seem to be a straightforward exercise at first, it may not be as simple as you think.
Let’s say you run a nail and beauty salon. Should you choose “beauty salon” or “nail salon” as a primary category since both options are available? This listing’s information shows they’ve picked beauty salons as a primary category. But when I do some keyword research, it would appear that a nail salon could be a much better option. It has more monthly searches and is nowhere near as hard to rank for.
If you’re not sure which primary category you should choose, spy on your competitors using the GMB everywhere extension. Search for a keyword you want to rank for, then look at the categories your competitors are using, which will be highlighted.
Add Secondary Categories
The primary one is the one with a star next to it. The other categories listed are secondary categories, which GMB everywhere will also reveal if some of them are relevant to your business. I would suggest you add them to your listing too since secondary categories are listed as the fifth most influential factor in a local ranking factor report.
Finally, whichever primary category you decide to choose, make sure it is in line with the content of the page your listing links to.
For example, if you’re a dentist and deal mainly with dental implants, pick dental implants as a primary category and make the content of your page about dental implants, specifically the title and the header of the page, which are respective factors 11 and 20 on the list of the report to change or add categories to your listing, sign in to the Google account associated with your business profile.
Search for your business name, click on edit profile, then on business information. You should see a section called “business category.” Click on the pencil icon to edit it.
Input your Business’s Information Properly
Google My Business (GMB) is one of the most important marketing tools for businesses with a physical presence. It allows customers to find your business easily and get the information they need, like your hours of operation and phone number. It also gives you an opportunity to stand out from the competition with a well-optimized listing. In order to make the most of GMB, it’s important to understand how it works and what factors influence your ranking. As a Google Partner, we have insider knowledge of Google’s algorithm and can help you create a listing that meets all their requirements. We can also help you choose the right categories, correct any past penalties, and Optimize your description for maximum effect. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you get the most out of GMB.
It is most acceptable to add your website URL, address, phone number, business email, and other information that makes it easier to communicate with your customers. It will specify your inbound customers. They feel like a hustle free.
Regular update your post and Keep your listing up-to-date
One of the most important things that you can do for your listing is to keep it up-to-date. This means regularly updating your business name, category, hours, and contact information. It’s also important to add new photos and videos on a regular basis. Doing this will help you attract more customers and improve your visibility on Google.
Posting regularly is the most crucial factor in being interactive with Google maps. Every week or everyday post your product or service matters. It helps you rank higher on GMB. Also, you have to post an occasional topic.
Add high-quality photos and videos
Include high-quality photos and videos in your business profile. Customers will be able to see what your business looks like, and they’ll get a better idea of what you have to offer.
Make sure that the photos and videos are well-lit and clear. You don’t want customers to be turned off by low-quality visuals.
Include a mix of photos and videos that show off your products, services, and location. You can even include a virtual tour of your business!
Using high-quality images and videos on the GMB profile will be recognized to enhance your business profile. It is helpful to optimize your Google placement.
Use keyword-rich descriptions
When you create your business profile, be sure to include keyword-rich descriptions of your products and services. This will help Google understand what your business is all about, and it will also help you attract customers who are searching for businesses like yours.
Include a few keywords that describe your business, but don’t stuff them in. You want your description to sound natural, so only include a few keywords that are relevant to your business.
For example, if you own a pizzeria, you might include keywords like “pizza,” “Italian food,” and “restaurant.”
You can use this to your advantage as long as you can legitimately add keywords to your business name. Google’s guidelines are very clear on this topic, and including unnecessary information in your business name is not permitted.
Your name should reflect your business’s real name, or your listing could end up being suspended as a result. If done carefully, you can get away with it.
In this example, for this business called Michigan Auto Law, they use their strapline in their business name as auto accident attorneys, which I’m sure is giving them a ranking advantage.
Local Online Reputation and Review Management
If you’re looking for a local business on Google Maps, what is the very first thing you will be checking before calling them?
Of course, a business lives or dies based on its reputation. This is the primary reason why you must collect positive reviews from your customers in the first place.
The other critical reason is that Google reviews play a key part in how well your business listing ranks on Google maps.
Getting positive reviews will give you a clear advantage. Second, if customers include relevant keywords you are targeting in their reviews, it will also help you rank for those words. Third, the number of reviews you are getting is also important to capitalize on reviews.
Here is what I recommend you do. This is recommended by Google, so don’t feel like you are begging. Send your customers an email that will encourage them to include relevant keywords in their reviews.
Encourage customers to leave reviews! Respond to every review, good or bad. Thank customers for their feedback. Use customer reviews to constantly improve your business.
Make sure you include a direct link to your listing review pop-up so it makes it easier for your customers to provide feedback and get the appropriate link.
Keep Organic Reviews on your Business profile
You have to avoid copied and pasted answers. Ideally, you want to outdo your competitors to get the best chances of ranking above them. To check how well they are doing, go to Google maps, search for their listing, and use the GMB everywhere extension to run a review audit on a listing.
This will show you if they are aggressively using reviews as a strategy and what keywords their customers are using to describe their services which I think is pretty awesome. You have to use this information to adapt your own strategy.
Inbound Linking is Crucial for Google My Business Optimization
Google has always used links to rank websites in search results. You run a local cafe for which you created a website and one of your blogger friends wrote an article on his blog in which he included a link that points to your website.
This would be considered as one backlink since Google uses backlinks as a strong ranking signal.
The more backlinks your website gets the higher it will rank. When it comes to ranking on google maps the backlinks that will matter the most are local backlinks that point to your website.
Local Link Building for Google Business Profile Optimization
For example, links from your local chamber of commerce websites, local bloggers, or your local church or school website. These links will clearly show Google that your business is an important part of the local community since there is a strong correlation between your google listing ranking on google maps and the website.
Links to the more local links you will get pointing to your website the more relevant your listing will become therefore the higher.
It will rank the quickest way to get local links is to engage with your local community and ask website owners at every opportunity.
If they’d be willing to add a link on their website that points to yours this will make a huge difference to your listing visibility on Google maps as it stands at number eight and 18 in the local ranking factor report based on my experience.
Conclusion
I feel confident these key recommendations are the fastest route to rank number one on Google maps. I also believe that most of your competitors will not take the time or be willing to do the work making your life even easier to reach the top spot on google maps.
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