Google Business Profile: How to optimise your listing

Google Business Profile is a free tool that gives business owners an opportunity to showcase general information to their potential customers. This feature of Google makes it super easy for potential customers to find out details about your company in a single search query.

On your Google Business Profile, you’ll be able to display details such as:-

• Phone number
• Location
• Website link
• Business hours

You also have the ability to pin posts to your listing – these could be projects, services or blog articles – anything that you think will appeal to your target market.

Reviews are also displayed here, as you can see by the below screen grab:-

100 x 5-star reviews for us… woo hoo!!

Why should I optimise my Google Business Profile?

Keeping your Google Business Profile updated and optimised is crucial for the following reasons:-

• Visibility: Providing accurate information helps Google display your business profile in search results, and assists with local searches.
• Rankings: Google is likely to display your profile higher on the list when it comes to local search results if your profile is well-optimised and up to date with correct information.

How do I optimise my Google Business Profile?

It’s super easy to set up and optimise your Google Business Profile – here are a few steps to follow:-

• If you haven’t already done so, add and claim your business page on Google Maps.
• Provide a detailed description of your business using relevant keywords for your products or services that will help increase your ranking for those particular search queries. If you need any help with this part, try reading our article How do I choose the right keywords for my website? or visit our Search Engine Optimisation page for more info.
  Choose a category that best fits your business.
• Use relevant videos and images that provide a clear representation of your business’ services or products, eg. if you run a cafe, upload images of your mouth-watering dishes, or your alfresco dining area.
• Make sure that all of your business details are correct – there’s not much use in having a Google My Business profile if your phone number is incorrect and your potential customers can’t reach you.
• Always ask for reviews from your customers. If you need to, offer them a small incentive to provide a review, eg. in the case of a cafe, offer your customers a free coffee if they add a review on your Google My Business page.

Optimising your Google Business Profile and keeping it up to date is a simple and effective way to increase your visibility in search engine results pages, which will help you to out-rank your competitors.

If you need any help managing your Google Business Profile, give us a call and we can provide some help or training to get you on your way.