Search Engine Optimization Archives

Every single business, whether with a physical storefront or not, should have a Google My Business (GMB) listing. One of the first aspects of search engine optimization (SEO) is to claim your business on Google.

If you haven’t claimed your GMB profile, you could be missing out on the opportunity to organically connect with thousands of local customers searching for your goods or services.

Google handles 3.8 million searches per minute on average across the globe. That comes out to 228 million searches per hour, 5.6 billion searches per day, or 2 trillion searches per year! What does this mean for small business? Claiming and optimizing the GMB profile can help attract customers that have searched for a product or service specific to the business.

A few easy tweaks can improve your Google My Business rankings and ensure that, when your potential customers perform a discovery search, your business is among the first they see.

Claim & Verify Your Business

First things first, if you haven’t claimed your GMB listing, now’s the time to do so. Head to Google Business to get started on claiming or creating a new profile for your business. You will need to log in with a Google email account and claim the business. You may be in luck and someone may have already created a portion of the listing. For instance, if your website is found a lot on online, chances are Google has some of the business information stored on their search engine.

If that’s the case, claim the half listed business and fill out all pertinent business information. If none of the business’ information can be found, go ahead and start a new listing. Get the company logo ready, a cover photo to upload to the Photos section, and fill in all hours, services, and business description in the listing.

The last step is to ensure all business information is accurate and added to the GMB profile. The more completed the profile, the better the chance your listing will appear to the right in the search results.

Optimize Your Google My Business Description

There are multiple GMB options that a business listing should consider utilizing to help rank the search listing. For instance, optimizing the GMB description for the profile is a great start. The business’ description displays below customers reviews. This is an excellent opportunity share additional information about the business as well as adding specific keywords related to the business.

Google reveals the first 250 characters underneath the Google reviews. Make sure to include the most important information about the business in the first one to two sentences. Don’t forget to include relevant keywords for the business. Similarly you’re able to showcase your company reviews which can help entice potential customers to do business with you.

Add High-Quality Photos

To maximize your GMB adding high quality and up-to-date photos are crucial to the business listing. In fact, businesses that upload photos on a regular basis earn more clicks than businesses who do not share any photos. According to Google, listings who incorporate photos receive 35% more clicks than listings without photos. Including photos on the listing is a no-brainer, notably adding photos to the listing will help with:

Establishing the business as trustworthy and credible – for example, a business that is transparent is seen as trustworthy. Displaying multiple photos of customers, projects, and real photos will help create credibility for the business.
Identifies what the business looks like from an outside perspective – customers love to see how the business performs. Providing an insiders look to the outside world provides full transparency.
Share visual references for your products & services – a marketing opportunity to display what products or services your business provides. Shine through and display professional photos to out compete your competitors.

Professional photos can be from using a DLSR camera or good lighting with a smartphone. Start with a few basic photos and build upon the catalog. A word of warning do not overly promote or market these services / products. Simply provide a story for these items, everyone loves a good story.

Engage With Searchers

Google is a big fan of businesses who interact with their customer base and rewards business’ GMB listings. There are three methods to engage with searchers via GMB and we’ll review these below.

Engage & Respond to Reviews

Responding to reviews communicates to potential leads you care about your business and customers. You’re investing in the customer’s experience by demonstrating patience and engagement. For instance, adding a personal comment to all reviews on Google affects customers in a positive way.

When positive review comes in, thank the customer for their time. The customer went out of the way to add a review on your business’ behalf. On the other hand, if a customer leaves a negative review, attempt to engage with them online and move the conversation offline. Once the situation becomes resolved, add a follow up comment to show what happen to resolve the issue. Nothing better than a happy ending to a terrible situation.

Create Google My Business Posts

GMB posts are an underrated tool to stay in contact with local searchers. For example, you can use GMB posts to highlight events, new products, or even the company’s latest blog post. Add images to help grab the searcher’s attention, links to relevant landing pages, and a strong call-to-action. Posts expire after seven days, so make sure to add posts regularly. We recommend adding a post once a week. The extra effort could very well mean a leg up over your competition’s GMB ranking.

Google My Business Messaging

Customers can get in touch with your business in real-time through your Business Profile on Google. While this feature is geared towards mobile users, every listing should enable the feature. The feature will need to be enabled manually. As a business owner or manager of the GMB listing, you can answer questions, attract more customers, or tell a story about your business.

Turning on the messaging option is as simple as logging into the GMB listing and heading to Customers – Messages – Turn on, it’s that simple. Enabling the feature will allow customers to interact with you and your business.

Summary

Google My Business Page will need to be apart of any SEO marketing strategy. In an ultra competitive world that is local SEO, optimizing the GMB listing may help with standing out from competitors and attract more customers.

Share With Friends!

A Google Review is capable of amplifying a business’ search listing on Google Search & Google Maps. Let’s discuss the benefits of Google Reviews and how your business can benefit.

Google Reviews, defined by Google, provide valuable information about your business to both you and your customers. Business reviews appear next to your listing in Maps and Search, and can help your business stand out on Google. For example, a Google Review can help a business rank higher on Google Maps and Search. Google Reviews help a business with potential leads by real customers writing reviews. Since reviews help a business with ranking on Google Search & Maps, let’s discuss how to add a Google Review.

WP By Hand – Google Search Result

Add A Google Review

For the purpose of this example, let’s say you worked with a graphic designer and wanted to leave her a review on Google. First, determine you have a Google account. Second, log into the Google account. Lastly, head to Google.com and search for the graphic designer’s business. That’s it!

Let us show you how to add a review on Google with a tutorial.

First head over to Google.com or the Google Maps app, if on mobile device, and search for the company. The best method is to write the review on a laptop or desktop.

Second, click on the write a review button on the search results page. The Write a review button is located on the right hand side under the business’ information. Refer to the image at the beginning of the post.

Third, determine how many stars the business deserves. For instance, if a business provided a superior end product, give them 5 stars. On the other hand, if a business performed sub par, give them the stars the business deserves and provide constructive feedback.

Lastly, if you didn’t sign into Google, you will be prompted to do so. Fill in username and password. If you do not have a Google account, you’ll have an opportunity to create one. Follow the steps for creating a Google account and then you’ll be able to publish your review.