How Google My Business Profile Is Helping Businesses In Ranking?
Google My Business (GMB) profile is a free tool offered by Google that helps businesses in creating and managing their online presence on Google. A Google My Business profile accurately lists the necessary information about a particular business.
This profile can give a fair understanding to the viewer about the kind of business, its products, services, etc. A Google My Business profile follows an approach known as NAP, which means name, address, and phone number.
For a Google My Business profile to be effective, it should have NAP consistency which means that the name, phone number, and address should be accurately mentioned in the profile. This helps your target audience to easily locate your business and reach out to you.
SEO Services in Dubai ensures NAP consistency and highly optimizes a Google My Business profile by allowing your target audience the correct information so they can contact you easily.
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How to Accurately Optimize Your Google My Business Profile to Rank Higher
The objective of creating your Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business profile) is to attract more potential customers online and earn more profits. With the correct location on Google Maps and local search results, the Google My Business profile helps businesses in showing the right way to approach them.
If you also have a business profile and it is not ranking on search engine result pages, you might be wondering why my business is not showing on Google.
That is a relevant and logical question that needs to be answered instantly. While you search for the appropriate answer, you will find valuable insights that can help your business in getting optimized well and gain profitable sales.
With GBP, you can strive to rank higher on SERPs which will result in improved visibility and traffic for your business. There are several ways that you can optimize your Google My Business profile to rank higher on SERPs.
Below, we are listing down some important ones:
1. Fill Every Detail Accurately
A very common mistake seen by businesses is incomplete information available online which is just a big bummer for potential customers. The first step in the optimization of your Google My Business profile is to fill out every possible detail about your business.
Make sure that you are very coherent and correct in your information as this will drive your potential customers to your business. By filling out the complete information on your Google My Business profile, your business has the potential to rank higher on SERPs.
Be realistic and uniform in your information. Your online business name should not be different from your physical outlet (if you have one). The name, address, phone number, location, available hours, website, etc should be filled in immediately and accurately.
2. Write Unique & Relevant ‘From the Business’ Description
It is a bit unfortunate that Google fills in the description below your Google My Business profile and does not let businesses fill them in independently. Instead, Google provides a particular editorial summary based on your business description.
Besides this, there is a section known as “From the Business” that you can fill out. While Google provides a quite apt description below your business name, you can be a little bit creative in this section while staying relevant.
The “From the Business” section is under the reviews section on your Google My Business profile. Here, you have the restriction of approximately 750 characters in which you can write your description.
Try to be unique yet specific and original in your description so you can accurately understand the right target audience for your business. For your business, you can take google my business optimization service to warrant great optimization.
3. Choose a Business Category
Your business can serve a wide range of audiences based on the products or services you offer. That is why you must specify a business category that can accurately describe your business.
Here, we should be aware of two terms. Branded Searches and Discovery Searches.
i. Branded Searches
Also known as Direct Searches. These are searches where the user specifically types in the name of a business, and the profile of the business appears in the search results.
ii. Discovery Searches
These are the searches where the user types in a product or service that is related to your business.
Both of the above types are heavily distinct because they are categorized differently. This shows that by putting your business in a specific category, you can pull in more targeted traffic to your website.
Additionally, try to insert category-specific features that can make your Google My Business Profile more appealing to your target audience.
4. Select Relevant Features of Your Business
A great factor to consider while you are working on the optimization of your Google My Business Profile is the relevant or additional features and facilities that your business provides.
Your business can provide any additional features like free Wi-Fi, a small library, a gift shop, etc. These features work as great incentives for customers to encourage them to reach out to your business. You must include these features prominently in your Google My Business Profile.
5. Add Photos & Videos
Visuals are always appreciated by customers no matter the type of business. By adding photos and videos to your Google My Business profile, you can significantly improve the chances of ranking high on search engine results pages.
Photos can add a certain level of authenticity to your business. When people search for your business online, they will see the photos or videos and will be more inclined to contact your business. Google also ranks businesses that have good-quality pictures on top of search results.
Furthermore, anyone can add photos to your business that will provide more credibility and a variety of good pictures. You can take the help of SEO Services in Dubai for your google my business optimization service.
6. Encourage Reviews
Testimonials and reviews provide sound authority to a business. The more honest reviews your Google Business Profile displays, the more optimized it likely will be. Google highly takes into consideration reviews to rank businesses which is why reviews are one of the most important ranking factors.
A notable factor here is the use of relevant keywords in the reviews. If the reviews include the relevant keywords, Google will rank that Business Profile higher than others.
Try to gain reviews that are 5 stars. These reviews will immediately grab the attention of your target audience. Also, Google will optimize your Google My Business profile higher because of these high-rated reviews.
7. Respond to Reviews
While having reviews are great for any business, there is a tad bit of a downside to these reviews too if they are negative. Every customer experiences something different from a business. Not all experiences are similar.
The important thing here is to respond to every review. Whether the review is positive or negative. Especially if the reviews are negative, it is all the more important that you respond to these reviews.
Replying to negative reviews will establish your position as a great brand in the eyes of your target audience. This will show that you highly value your customers.
Furthermore, Google prioritizes the ranking of Google Business profiles that engage in actively responding to reviews.
8. Post Original Content Regularly
A great contributor to the optimization of your Google Business Profile is the content that you post. Try to create original content that is highly relevant and informative to your target audience.
Any new announcements, offers, events, or promotions should be included in your content. This content is displayed in the “Updates” section under your Google My Business profile.
Google extremely values new and fresh content. By regularly posting original and relevant content on Google My Business, you can send a signal to Google that your business is highly active and constantly engaged with its customers.
9. Enable Messaging
With more than half of the population using mobile devices as their primary source of online shopping, it is significant that you set up messaging from your business directly to your target audience through mobile phones.
As more people use mobile phones for local searches, you can avail this opportunity to get in touch with your potential customers. You just need to select the ‘Messaging” option in your profile and you are good to go.
Here, you can opt for either of the two options. You can easily use a different number to send messages to your target audience instead of using your personal number. Secondly, you can set up alerts in your Google My Business dashboard. By doing this you will be immediately alerted whenever a customer messages you.
10. Create a Q&A Section
In addition to providing clear and concrete descriptions of your products or services, you should also separately have a Q&A section that can answer any additional query of your target audience.
By creating this section, you can encourage your target customers to reach out to you and ask any questions they may have regarding your business, products or services, etc.
Asking relevant questions and getting answers for them is a great way for your target audience in helping them decide to choose you. If they are confused about whether or not to opt for your business, a Q&A section on your Google My Business profile can greatly help.
You can set up alerts for your business so you are instantly alerted whenever someone asks a question about your business on your Google My Business profile.
The Importance of Optimizing Your Google Business Profile
1. Boosted Ranking in SERPs
For a business to gain more paying customers and eventually more sales, ranking is crucial to its success. By optimizing your business on Google My Business profile, you can get a higher ranking that will ensure that your target audience can easily reach you online.
This will not only help in driving more traffic to your website but also will create more brand awareness about your business. Gaining a higher ranking in SERPs will give your business improved credibility so your target audience will be more inclined to easily trust your business.
A well-optimized website significantly increases customer engagement for a business. With great and honest reviews and up-to-date information, a Google My Business profile can attract a wide range of customers that have the potential to convert into paying customers.
2. Enhanced User Engagement
Users will be more likely to engage with your business when they receive prompt and appropriate responses from your business. This will help in providing them with a great user experience.
When you regularly engage with your target audience, it creates a powerful mode of communication between you and your customers. This will help them in reaching out to you easily whenever they want.
A well-maintained and optimized Google My Business profile can increase the trust and credibility level you share with your target audience. Good reviews, high ratings, and timely responses can boost your business a lot by giving it authority and integrity.
3. More Possible Conversions
There is an improved conversion rate when we talk about a well-optimized Google My Business profile.
The several benefits improved conversions can bring include but are not limited to:
Better Customer Relationships: regularly engaging with your customers, answering their queries, and keeping them updated will result in better customer relationships. It will build a concrete and powerful relationship between your business and your target audience. This will all contribute to your business having more conversion rate.
Improved Brand Awareness: when your business has a great ranking on search engine results pages, you will have more visibility and that will result in improved brand awareness. With more people knowing about your business, it will have more possibility of converting those visitors into paying customers.
Higher Engagement: a well-optimized Google My Business profile can drive more conversions than an ordinary one. With customers constantly engaging with your business, you have a far greater chance to easily convert them.
Improved ROI: with more possible conversions, you are going to enjoy a higher return on investment (ROI) in the long run. As you constantly engage with your customers, you build a solid rapport with them that convinces them to engage with your business.
4. Improved Local SEO
It is highly implausible that your business has a monopoly in the market. So, in the case of fighting cutthroat competition in the industry, you must make your business stand out somehow from the crowd.
A well-optimized business contributes greatly to attracting the attention of the local target market. With everyone searching for things online today, your business should be powerfully optimized so it can appear at the top of local search engine result pages.
When your potential customers search for anything related to your business online, they will come in contact with your competitors. Here, your business should rank higher so it can attract more clicks and conversions.
By optimizing your Google My Business profile, you can improve your local SEO which will ensure that your business is available to potential customers living around your business.
Final Word
In a nutshell, optimizing your Google My Business profile is significantly important in gaining more online visibility and attracting your target audience.
By filling in accurate and specific details, adding relevant photos of your products or services, responding promptly to the queries of your audience, and having honest reviews on your Google My Business profile, you can surely improve your chances of ranking higher on Google Maps or local search results.
FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)
1. What is Google My Business profile?
Google My Business is a free tool that helps businesses in creating and managing their profiles across Google, search, and Map, provided by Google. With Google My Business profile, businesses are enabled to display important information about their business including but not limited to business name, phone number, address, available hours, FAQs, etc.
2. Why my business is not showing on Google?
The main reason could be that your business is not verified. In case you are wondering why doesn’t my business show up on Google, you should get it verified and enter the right information to be thoroughly accurate.
3. Where can I find Google My Business optimization service?
A leading digital marketing agency like Digital Gravity can accurately help you by providing Google My Business optimization service and any other digital need you may have.
4. Why is it important to optimize your Google My Business profile?
By optimizing your Google My Business profile, your business can have the opportunity to rank higher in local search results and increase your visibility to your target audience. Additionally, optimizing your Google My Business profile can help in providing accurate and relevant information to your potential customers.
5. How long does it take for my changes to appear on Google My Business?
The changes you make on your Google My Business profile will approximately take 1 to 3 days to appear.
6. Can I edit my Google My Business listing after it has been published?
You can edit and make any necessary changes to your Google My Business listing after publishing. By logging into your account, you can easily edit your business profile.
7. Can I optimize my Google My Business listing if I don’t have a physical storefront?
There is no such stipulation that you have to have a physical storefront to optimize a Google My Business listing. Even if you do not have a physical outlet, you can optimize your Google My Business listing by providing accurate and specific information about your business. This information can include but is not limited to your business name, address, phone number, service area, available hours, etc.