Over the last couple of years, local SEO has truly risen to become a marketing force to be reckoned with. For example, if we take a look at recent surveys, we will see that 43% of all Google searches include some nearby location. Furthermore, as many as 97% of consumers at some point look for local businesses on the internet.
These numbers can make or break the future of some companies.
That being said, though, the ways the users will come to interact with your brand upon performing an online search don’t always need to go through traditional local SEO channels. As a matter of fact, Google Business Profile is quickly growing in prominence as one of the most important local SEO entry points.
Let us take a look then at a couple of ways you can tweak your Google Business Profile page to get even stronger local SEO results.
What exactly is Google My Business?
But, before we proceed to the following discussion, let us quickly break down what exactly Google Business Profile stands for in 2023, and what marketing options it puts on the table.
So, in the simplest of terms, Google Business Profile is an online listing service that presents basic info about some business or its services when consumers search for that business or adequate keywords on Google Search or Google Maps. This online listing usually includes some level of visual material as well as simple contact options.
It is important to note, however, that in recent years, these solid foundations were expanded with the options to post questions and get answers, leverage FAQ sections, post reviews, and rate services, which makes it a very versatile and interactive marketing tool that in itself generates a lot of traffic and boosts your online presence.
Use images in a creative and productive manner
Effective Google Business Profile listings should, of course, feature rich visual imagery. That is why you should go beyond the regular call of duty (images of your brand, staff, and premises) and do your best to make the images you are going to use engaging, informative, and worthwhile.
So, feel free to use infographics, creative marketing messages, visual storytelling, and all other resources that will keep people coming back for more. Also, recent surveys indicate that more images usually directly relate to stronger search performance – businesses with more than 100 images tend to get 520% more calls than their peers.
Leverage all the available options and settings
All the things we have covered above are very important because one of the main reasons why most business owners fail to make local SEO traffic off Google Business Profile is that they don’t realize just how powerful this platform can be. Therefore, if you want to use this resource to its fullest extent be sure to use all the options. tweaks and settings you have at your disposal.
This can be a daunting task because GMB is growing to be a very robust tool, but any sort of GMB audit service should put you on the right track and easily uncover the weak points of your listing. The more of these issues you get off the table the stronger the results will be.
Use relevant keywords in your descriptions
Even though it spreads its resources across various different channels, Google uses the same tools and resources across all these outlets. This means that all the effective SEO practices that put your brand on top of the SERP can also be used to give your Google Business Profile listing more prominence and, as a result, generate more traffic.
One of the most important tasks you will need to tackle in this regard will be performing thorough keyword research and using the subsequent insights in your listing descriptions. Making your location littered throughout these descriptions can only make the results even stronger.
Post frequent and time-limited updates and promotions
Keeping your Google Business Profile listing info consistent and up to date is an absolute must. But, don’t allow yourself to be satisfied with these barebones requirements. Posting regular updates, giving your users limited one-time promotions, providing exclusive content on this channel, and leveraging FOMO can dramatically overhaul the performance of your Google Business Profile presentation and improve its SERP ranking.
In ideal circumstances, consumers should be inclined to share this content and encourage other users to see what’s going on. Treat this channel as a social media platform and you will get similar results.
Encourage clients to post positive reviews
People have always put very high trust in some sort of social proof when coming to their purchase decisions. Out of all these deciding factors, online reviews always stood as some of the most relevant with 95% of consumers checking this resource before buying some product.
Since Google Business Profile has a very robust review and scoring functionality, you should encourage your consumers to use it to the fullest extent with various incentives and loyalty programs. As for the negative reviews (and you will get negative reviews), your goal should be to handle such issues in a fast, transparent, and responsible manner.
Wrapping up
We hope these couple of suggestions give you a better idea about how you can turn your Google Maps listing from a simple entry on someone’s Google Maps into a very powerful and versatile online resource that can drastically boost your online presence and improve your SERP ranking. In this day and age, SEO has become a very complex industry that no longer focuses strictly on keywords and page optimization.
With the list of factors affecting SEO rankings expanding with each passing day, our efforts need to be spread more evenly. Overhauling your Google Business Profile listing does seem like a good place to start.
