How to optimize Google My Business listing?
In the previous GMB article, we discussed why your business definitely needs it’s Google My Business listing. It’s paramount now for businesses to have an online presence and establishing a GMB listing is one way to achieve this goal.
Almost 56% of local businesses out there still haven’t claimed their free GMB listing.
If you still need convincing as to why you need a GMB listing, refer to this study that shows that almost 50% of customers who looked up a business online, visited it within a day!
With Google My Business listing you would be able to index important information about your business such as business location, timings, directions, reviews, pictures and a lot more.
Whenever customers search for your business they can see this relevant information, click on it and know more about your business. It helps make the process easy for customers to know more about you!
Apart from that, another important aspect of listing your business on GMB is that it allows you with the ability to list your business location on Google Maps and local search results.
Google My Business is a great tool to improve your local seo. It helps display your business with relevant search queries and increase traffic to your business.
Of course, it is not a substitute for your website where you have most of the information repository, but instead you can see it as a preview to your website.
Since in the previous article we discussed how to set up your business listing on GMB, the next step is to know how to optimize your listing.
Methods to Optimize google my business listing
It’s pretty simple to optimize your GMB listing. Think of it this way, when customers visit your listing what it is that you definitely want them to take away about your business? What is it that you want them to remember about you?
Here’s an example of a well optimised GMB listing : –
The answer to these questions will lead you to do the following –
Complete information about your business
Do not let any stone unturned when it comes to the details of your business. What type of business do you own? Where is it? How can customers avail your services? Basically all of the things we discussed in the ‘What is GMB Blog’.
Add Photos
Let your customers know how your business looks. Let them know what to expect when they visit your business. Photos create a sense of trust in the customers when they look up your business, so make sure you add as many photos as you can. Some obvious pictures that you need to include in the listing are your business’ logo, and cover photo. Other type of pictures that can help you strengthen your business presence are : –
- A 360-view virtual tour of your business. This is shown to generate more interest in the customers.
- Interior Photos : This lets customers get a peek into your business. Knowing how your business’ interior looks will let the customers get a feel of how it would be to visit your business.
- Exterior Photos : This will allow your customers to easily identify your business when they visit. Make it easier for them to spot you!
- Product Photos : According to the type of business you should upload photos of the services or products that you provide so the customers know what to expect. For example, if you have a dental practice you can add pictures of teeth before and after the treatment/appointment.
- Team Picture : Seeing friendly faces builds trust in the customers. It’s a good option to put up pictures of your team in action and show them what a good job the team does.
- Increase engagement on your google my business listing by posting regularly
Just the way posting regularly helps you increase engagement on your social media pages, posting on GMB would also help customers to engage with you. Now since GMB isn’t exactly like your social media pages, the type of content you post on GMB would also be different. So what can you post on a google my business listing and how can your customers engage with that post
Relevant posts that you should update in your GMB listing include –
– Upcoming Events : Is there an event coming up that you would like your customers to attend? Put it up on your GMB listing so that it is visible to your customers.
– Special Offers/ Announcements : Are there going to be any special offers that your customers would greatly benefit from? Let them know that by updating it on your Google My Business listing. Just add a Call-To-Action (CTA) so that your customers are directly taken to the promo link or the event link.
- Regularly Update the Question and Answer section
This section is kind of inescapable. It is going to be on your google my business listing whether you like it or not. What it entails is that anybody can ask a question about your business and anybody can answer it too.
Not desirable right? You want the people that answer questions to know everything about your business and give correct and coherent information, so the best thing you can do is to come up with ‘Frequently asked questions’ and answer them yourself. This will ensure that only correct information is passed on to your customers and potential customers. It’s a good thing to include relevant keywords about your business in this section - Use relevant keywords
In your business description make sure that you use relevant keywords. One of the great features of Google My Business is that it let’s you see what are the keywords that people are searching for when they look up your business. You can use this knowledge to your advantage and use these keywords in your business description along with the keywords you want to rank for.
- Be proactive with reviews
There are two things to keep in mind when it comes to reviews.
a) Ask for as many reviews as you can! The number one way to build trust among your customers is letting them know what others think about your business. Make a list of your loyal customers and reach out to them to leave reviews for your business.
b) Reply to the reviews that you receive. Whether the review is positive or negative, it is imperative that you reply to them. Replying to the reviews sets up a precedent as to how seriously you take your customer’s opinion.
Many potential customers notice how a business responds to a review, so make sure that the manner in which you respond to the reviews is respectful and appropriate.
The short answer to optimising your GMB listing is being as detailed about your business as you can. Do not let any information slip away and you are good to go!
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