In Google’s terms, a Business Profile is your Google Business listing, renamed from Google My Business to Google Business Profile (GBP) in 2021.
Google is the place to be seen and to be found. You’ve most likely optimized your website and are an expert at maximizing Google Ads, but have you optimized your Google Business Profile?
Doing so enables potential customers to quickly find, learn about, and engage with you with zero clicks! They simply search for a product, attribute, or specific business in their proximity. Your profile is the best way for your business to appear in Google Maps and local search results, and Google has over 92% of the search engine market share worldwide.
Unlike your website, which is the digital front door of your business, your Google Business Profile is your first impression for new customers, and Google only requires your business name, location and category to get started!
Google Business Profiles are a free opportunity to engage with customers and provide them with precisely what they’re looking for.
Why You Need to Optimize your Google Business Profile
Your business profile can be your most effective customer recruiter. Having an optimization strategy to keep your business relevant and searchable with an optimized profile is attractive and engaging.
Here are the top 10 optimization tips that our team has honed in on and can help your business thrive in the digital marketplace:
1. Complete a Profile for Quality, not Quantity
Google ranks your GBP from your location and relevance, but the quality of information matters most. Up-to-date, thorough, and engaging content will rank your business higher, granting you greater search visibility.
2. Convert Customers with Zero Clicks
While maintaining and optimizing your website is vital, creating a GBP where potential customers can read reviews, engage with you, request a quote, or make an appointment, will show up in your bottom line.
3. Updated Contact Information
Update your hours and contact information as your business updates them (think: holidays, added store hours, special event closings). Customers searching your local business are likely to visit if your information is correct and you’re open when you say you’re open.
4. Select a Category
84% of Business Profile views on Google originate from discovery searches (meaning the customer searched for a product, service, or category for your business profile to appear). Only 16% of views from direct inquiries (the customer typed in your exact business name or address). Coupled with a quality profile, selecting a category enables you to populate high in the search results.
5. Identify Applicable Attributes
These are the features or “perks” your potential customers seek out, like “free wi-fi” or “drive-through.” Identifying for your customers exactly what they’re looking for takes the guessing game out and your relationship with the customer is built on trust.
6. Add Photos – Often
According to Google, customers are 42% more likely to request driving directions to a business if its profile has photos. They’re also 35% more likely to click through to its website. So make sure to upload photos weekly to stay current, relevant, and searchable.
7. Google Reviews
The yellow review stars attract potential customers compared to listings that have no reviews and no star rankings. Need help getting reviews? Just ask! A majority of customers will write a review if asked. Need a review strategy to elicit your customers via email, text, social media, and even conversations? We can help you boost your engagement and earn those stars! Bonus: Google will embolden keywords in your reviews that validate your business’s relevancy.
8. Questions and Answers
A thoughtful Q&A section engages potential customers by answering questions that you anticipate being asked; with only a search and no clicks, your customer can gain all the information they need with a complete and thoughtful profile that includes a Q&A section.
9. Add Products and Services
Populating your products and/or services in the appropriate section adds content to your profile to help it rank for even more relevant searches, which is a bonus in addition to the customer’s ability to browse interested products and/or services.
10. Set Up Messaging
The messaging feature allows searchers the option to send a text message to your phone directly from your GBP. With 82% of smartphone shoppers (92% for millennials) using their device for local search, this is a great opportunity for customers to get in touch with you.
Having a solid strategy to optimize your Google Business Profile not only helps your business populate on Maps from a local search, but it can help build trust and increase your reputation with new and current customers. We understand the importance of your business to connect with customers and stay relevant to new, potential customers, that’s why we are here to help you optimize the tools for success.
