Google My Business and Its Optimization

If you're trying to boost your visibility and sales in your area, it is essential to consider the full optimization for the Google My Business listing. Google My Business, the free service, is basically an online profile that businesses can use to boost their visibility on the search results page (SERPs).

It comes with a variety of benefits once it is fully optimized, including increased visibility on the ever-present knowledge panels, the inclusion on Google Maps, and the ability for your company to be listed in the results of voice searches. (which increase year on year). What you'll discover in a fully optimized Google My Business profile:

• Business Name

• Logo & Cover Photo

• Services

• Reviews

• Customer Questions & Answers

• Photos (Team, Interior, Exterior, Products

• Messaging

• Products

• Posts

• Company Contact Details

Like its algorithms for search engines, Google My Business is always changing. If you've not conducted an audit of your account within the last twelve months, it's possible that you're missing some fragments of information, and your profile won't be as optimized as it was in the past. One of the most significant developments in the last few months has been the impact it has had on the local search engine ranking factors, and it's more crucial than ever to fully optimize your profile to boost the visibility of your brand and increase sales to local consumers.

Let's look at how you can optimize for your Google My Business listing...

Optimize your Google My Business Listing

Add Lots of Images!

Google My Business gives you numerous options for uploading images to your profile. It's therefore vital to maximizing every chance. In the profile, you can find several categories, including group photos, interior photographs, exterior photos, and product images. Each of these categories gives some authenticity to your business when potential customers visit your profile.

It is also important to pay close focus to your cover image. Cover images are the most prominent their place in the SERPs when users search for your business. So ensure that they are of high-quality appeal and offer general information about your company.

Be sure to follow Google's official guidelines to use photos on your Google My Business photographs, and you'll be able to go wrong.

Post Regular Content

It is one of the most frequent updates that companies miss, even though it is crucial in the improvement and optimization of GMB profiles. GMB posts function similarly to Facebook as well as LinkedIn posts that can be used to announce announcements, company news, or events coming up.

Google has been working hard to increase the visibility of GMB postings more visible on the search results in recent months. As a result, you'll soon be able to see posts in the knowledge panel beneath your company's description. Posts are easy to include on your GMB profile, and you should consider using them to get extra exposure in the SERPs.

“The amount of organic search results decreases, so it is crucial for businesses to get as much exposure to the SERPs as they can to make sure they make a mark in the sea of competitors. Utilizing GMB posts on a regular basis is an excellent option to accomplish this as it has such an influential position within the know-how panel.”- Sajil T.G(MD – Inbounderz India).

Encourage and Reply to Customer Reviews

According to Moz, reviews comprise 15.44 percent of the local search rankings signal. It's fair to think that you're wasting an opportunity to boost your ranking if you're not asking your customers to rate your business. Review signals not only have a major impact on your ranking but also show transparency and build a sense of trust for your brand whenever a person searches for your business or product.

The process of gathering reviews is easy. The process of collecting reviews is easy, and Google even provides you with an exclusive link that you can directly send to your clients. You can also include it in your follow-up email campaigns or even embed it into page confirmations of orders.

If you're using an authentic review platform such asFeefo or Trustpilot, It's recommended to use Google reviews as well. If you conduct the Google Search, it's highly likely that consumers make their buying choice right then and there using reviews from the search results instead of clicking through to different websites. Let's consider coffee shops in Leeds as an example.

In this case, Google Maps dominates the results for searches, with three primary contenders: Smoothies Café, Mamma Café, Thalassery Cafe Each of them has numerous reviews, so it's likely that we'd base our choice on the number of 4 plus reviews we've seen on Google Maps. GMB listing.

Include Keywords in Your Description

Your 750 characters are allotted to include in your GMB description of your business. Make sure you take advantage of this impressive number of characters! This is the perfect place to inform potential customers about your company's history, USPs, any awards that you've been awarded as well as a general outline of the products and services you offer.

Similar to SEO on-page optimization, we recommend writing your business description according to the keywords you would like to be found by. Do not overuse the keywords in the description, but use them sparingly in the text. Google will utilize this description to better comprehend the nature of your company and match it with any local inquiries. Most businesses don't make use of the entire amount of characters provided, so this is usually a quick and simple way to optimize and increase views.

Choose Appropriate Categories

When you set up your account, it will ask you to choose an initial category and subcategories that are related to your company. It is important to choose the categories you want to use wisely because they, along with in the descriptions, Google make use of them to comprehend your company and show it in search results that are relevant to your business.

If you've set your categories properly, You'll also gain publicity when people browse for local businesses like yours, since Google has added a 'People also searched for' feature within the Knowledge Panel. This is an excellent opportunity to gain additional visitors for your GMB profile from people who might be checking out your competitors!

With the category function, Google allows you to select multiple categories that best reflect your company. Pick as many categories you think are appropriate, but keep in mind that the most important category you choose is that which is the one that stands out specifically in your knowledge panels. In the case of Inbounderz, we picked Marketing Agency as the primary category. It's evident right under cover of our stunning cover image:

List All of Your Products & Services

A recently released update for Google My Business now allows the inclusion of your products to your Google My Business profile. While this feature is currently in Beta but we think it's a fantastic method to optimize your profile, get publicity for your business and bring visitors to your site. If it's there and you can take advantage of this feature. The product features are thorough, allowing you to provide the following information to your products:

• Name

• Photo

• Product Collection (e.g., T-shirts)

• Product Price

• Product Description

• CTA Button

If you're a company that provides services, You'll likely need to avoid the tab for products and instead utilize the Services feature, which has been the main focus of GMB for a while now. When completed, they will provide the users with a summary of your services and will be displayed in a prominent place on mobile devices. Here's an illustration of Inbounderz India profile now which includes all the online marketing offerings :

Be Active with Your Google My Company Profile

Being proactive is probably the most crucial piece of advice we can give you to improve Your Google My Business Profile. Much like its system, Google is constantly updating GMB, and it's best to schedule reminders for periodic reviews of your profile in order to ensure you're taking advantage of the features.

With these optimization strategies, you'll be on the way to having an optimized Google My Business listing to increase visibility, views, and visitors to your business through local search. If you require assistance in implementing local SEO, contact one of our experts on digital marketing at +91 8553 305 600/ +91 8105 758 700/ +91 8123 800 603 or at info@inbounderz.com