5 Ways To Optimize Your Google Business Profile & Get More Local Customers
Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business) is a fantastic (free!) marketing tool that gets your business noticed by local customers. It’s also a great way to attract more clients to your door and increase the number of conversions and sales you receive from your website.
Having an up-to-date and fully-optimized Google Business Profile will help you:
- Improve your online credibility
- Increase your trustworthiness
- Show you're a verified company that delivers on what it promises
But, how do you optimize your Google Business Profile listing? How can you improve it so more local customers see it and choose you over your competitors?
Today we’re going to help you out by outlining 5 of the most important things you should optimize on your profile to start getting more local traffic to your listing.
1. Optimize Your Bio
The first step to creating the ultimate Google Business Profile profile is to optimize your bio.
Your bio can only be 750 characters (not words), so you don’t have a huge amount of space to show your audience how excellent your services or products are.
This is why it’s important to outline exactly why your audience should choose to work with you as concisely as possible. Plus, Google only showcases the first 250 characters of your description, so be sure to grab their attention immediately.
When writing your GBP bio, try to avoid:
- Adding in links
- Using sales-speak or industry jargon
- Stuffing keywords in wherever and whenever you want to
- Using all capital letters
- Writing spammy content
There is a specific area on your Google Business Profile where you can link to your website and social media, so you don’t need to put the links in your description.
Keep all your information relevant and think about what information your customers need to know about. You’re not trying to close a sale here! All you want is for them to click on your website or give you a call.
Here are some of the most important things to include in your Google Business Profile description:
- Highlight your USPs (unique selling points)
- Show off what makes you different from your competitors
- End with a call to action
- Use keywords naturally in your content
Google hates descriptions stuffed with keywords, but it’s ok to use them as a natural part of your content writing. Try to fit your main keywords at the start of your description, so they show up in the 250 characters.
Google doesn’t use descriptions in rankings, but your keywords are still relevant to what your business does, so include them anyway!
Top Tip: Always make sure your description reads well. Don’t compromise the flow of your writing just to add in a keyword here and there.
2. Encourage & Respond To Reviews
95% of customers read reviews before they decide to purchase, so try to get as many reviews on your Google Business Profile listing as possible.
You can gather reviews quickly by encouraging your customers to leave them after you’ve completed work for them or after they’ve made a purchase.
You can do this by asking them in person or shooting them a quick email a couple of days after you've closed the sale or completed the service.
Reviews get displayed on Google Business Profile as a star rating just beneath your company name. The star rating is an immediate indication to any potential customer whether you’re going to be a good fit for them. If they only see two stars and your competitor has four, then they’re going to go with your competitor over you without a doubt.
So, try to get as many positive reviews as you can to show your audience that you’re the right company to go with.
Don't Forget To Respond!
Getting reviews is only one-half of the battle. You also have to respond to reviews, including negative reviews.
If somebody leaves a positive review, then thank them and let them know that you look forward to working with them in the future. If somebody leaves a negative review, then responding to it is the opportunity to amend any wrongdoings.
You can turn any negative review into a positive by apologizing and offering your negative reviewer a solution. Future customers will also see that you have no issue helping them if they have a problem.
Reviews Also Dominate Local SEO!
Reviews play an important role in local SEO and can help your business get to the top of the search results in no time at all.
Why?
If a customer wants to find a business like yours and they search for one, Google will show them the nearest available business with the highest star rating. The higher the stars, the more likely you’ll be the first option for local searches.
3. Answer Any Questions
Answering customer questions on Google Business Profile is a great way to build trust and credibility with your audience. Not only will you see to their problems, but you’ll also be providing future customers with immediate answers to common issues.
By filling out your frequently asked questions section on your Google Business Profile, you’ll also be helping your local SEO because your answered questions can show up on Google!
When answering questions, try to use a few keywords to help boost the chances of them appearing in the search results.
Remember to provide relevant answers too! Your audience will thumbs up or thumbs down questions depending on whether they're helpful or not.
4. Add Links To Social Media & Your Website
Adding links to your social media and your website is essential to optimizing your Google Business Profile profile.
If you don’t add a link to your website, your audience won’t be able to find out more about you, your products, or your services. People will want to check out a business before buying from them, so make sure you link to your website.
Your social media is also important to link to. Having an active and up-to-date social media page will encourage your audience to buy from you. Why? Because it shows that you’re an active company. It makes you look more trustworthy, plus 90% of people buy from companies they follow on social media.
5. Update Your Images
A Google Business Profile is nothing without a flock of high-quality images to show off your office, staff, services, or products. Images make your company look more natural and human. Having pictures of your staff and customers can help your audience connect more with your business.
When updating your images on your Google Business Profile profile, make sure they:
- Are high-quality and clear
- Show your offices
- Show off your products
- Highlight your customer service
- Show the humanity in your business - the people
You should try to update your images as often as possible, especially if you bring out new services or products or change location.
Are you having problems updating your Google Business Profile? Do you want some expert help to make sure your business stands out on the search engines? Here at 406 Marketing & Design, we can help your listing get noticed by more local customers.
Start improving your Google Business Profile today by getting in contact with our team of marketing professionals.