Are you looking to maximize the effectiveness of your Google My Business profile in search results? Here are tips for optimizing your Google business profile to increase SEO effectiveness.
In 2022, optimizing your Google business profile is essential for getting noticed online.
About Google Business Profile
Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business or GMB) is a platform created in 2014 to connect people with local businesses that interest them with a few simple clicks.
With an optimized Google Business Profile, you increase the chance that more potential customers in your area will find you when they search Google Search or Google Maps for your business name or the products or services you offer.
Optimize your Google business profile
Google My Business is an effective and free tool for connecting with customers. Users can access your business profile through Google search and maps. Optimizing your business profile is an essential element of any effective online marketing plan and an important way to:
Engage with customers
Google processes approximately 3.8 million search queries per minute. This is largely due to the fact that Google searches provide the user with comprehensive information. This gives you a tremendous opportunity to present the best aspects of your business to visitors who go to Google hoping to find information about you or your site. Your goal is to start engaging with interested potential customers.
Increase your ranking
Google determines the ranking of your business profile based on the following parameters:
- Availability of quality information
- Relevance to the query
- Territorial proximity to the search engine
To take advantage of Google’s algorithm to rank My Business, you need to properly optimize your Google business profile. This increases visibility, engagement, and better business. With optimization, you can even get a higher ranking on Google maps.
Turn potential customers into buyers
With a well-optimized business profile, potential customers can find you through keywords, call you, visit your mobile-responsive website, learn more about your services and products, book an appointment, etc. Ultimately, these interactions increase your chances of interested parties becoming loyal and paying customers.
Here are strategies for optimizing your Google business profile:
1. Creating a Google My Business account is not difficult
First, you need to learn how to create your Google business profile. Once you’ve registered your My Business profile with your Gmail account, you should fill it out with the necessary information, which includes:
- The name of your business
- Address and hours of operation
- Your business phone number
- A link to your website
- Category or features of your business
- Services or products you offer
- Questions & Answers (Q&As)
Once you’ve filled out your profile with meaningful information, you should keep interacting with users through posts, user reviews, and custom Q&As, which are live sections of your profile.
2. Update your profile frequently
Having an up-to-date Google business profile is important for ranking and user experience. Up-to-date information about your business, including information on your website, should match the information in your Google business profile.
NAP (Name, Address, Phone) consistency is a significant factor that Google uses to rank your business in the local market, including the number and quality of mentions of your business online. A higher level of business information consistency indicates a more trustworthy business.
Make sure the following items are relevant to your Google business profile and consistent with other listings:
- Business name
- Address
- Phone number
- Contact Information
- Categories
- Description
- Product/service information
- Location/services
- Hours of work
- Company website
- Company logo
The consistent and up-to-date business information in all of your online listings will only help your local search rankings.
Similar to how developers think about social media strategy, it’s important to post content to your business profile with specific intent. You can post about new products or services, special events, interesting offers, and enticing announcements. You can use the “updates” section of your dashboard to create posts.
Regular posts can increase conversions, boost Google search rankings, drive engagement, and attract new users and followers. Recommendations for getting the most out of posts in My Business include the following list:
- Post frequently. Some posts expire after a week. Ensure ongoing subscriptions by generating content on a regular basis.
- Notify customers about events. Build excitement around upcoming events by posting announcements and reminders.
- Use calls to action (CTAs). Encourage action by using related CTAs when posting each message.
- Continuously educate guests about the impact of various important social circumstances on your business and operations.
3. Add all relevant data to the listing
The great importance of providing relevant data in an ad has to do with how search works. Google prioritizes ads with the most relevant data first and places them at the top of local search results for targeted customers.
Don’t take any chances or rely on your own assumptions. The ad should always contain basic information, such as exactly what your company does. It should also include the location of your business or the areas it serves, as well as contacts.
If the company is in the service industry, make sure that all of the communities you serve are listed. You can add a location accurate to the zip code. If your business is in the service industry, check out these local SEO tips for service businesses.
Another important factor is to add the right categories and keywords to your listings where possible. Having the right categories and keywords will help your listing find the right potential customers when searching for keywords related to your business and its offerings.
Google analyzes hundreds of parameters to produce search results, just like classic search engine optimization, so it’s a good idea to include as much useful information as possible in your ads, including a link to your website.
Another way to provide useful local information and include relevant terms is to publish Google Posts through your profile. You could try publishing local Google Posts once a week and see what interest your target audience has in them.
In addition, if you’re posting on Google Ads, you can link your Google profile to your advertising account to add location expansion capability to all of the local ads you post.
4. Track and respond to feedback
Online comments and review sites give users a tremendous amount of power, and their opinions and reviews are essential to the success of a business.
It can be intimidating for businesses, but online reviews can also be a great source of recommendations. In addition, Google reviews and other positive online reviews can help boost your company’s local rankings, so it’s worth leveraging them as part of your local SEO strategy.
Don’t be alarmed if you encounter a few negative reviews, but be sure to respond to them as quickly as possible without annoying an already disgruntled consumer.
As a rule, it’s a good idea to respond with an offer to talk to the consumer offline, to solve their problem one-on-one rather than in the public online space. Don’t forget that you can’t please everyone at all times, so concentrate on form.
How to get profits from Google reviews
Everyone understands that Google considers reviews to be one of the most influential elements of business rankings, so they should be at the top of your list for optimization.
With Google My Business optimization, your business can get into the “local top three.”
The more reviews your business has, the more likely it is to be at the top of the list – especially if it has received mostly positive reviews or keyword reviews from consumers.
To improve your customer reviews, you should:
- Encourage your loyal customers – and new customers – to leave reviews.
- Simplify the process for customers to leave a review by using a quick link.
- Place a call to action button on your site.
- Highlight the reviewer’s positive contributions to your community of fellow consumers.
- Interact with reviewers to let them know they are being heard.
- Do not offer discounts or giveaways for the review – it’s against Google policy.
You might be surprised: a practice that seems logical or uncontroversial to you might be a serious problem for Google. Google prohibits closing reviews. This means that you’re not allowed to limit negative reviews but encourage positive ones. It may seem intuitive to close reviews, but remember that this is forbidden by Google policy.
How to increase the number of Google reviews
To get the most out of Google My Business, you need to understand how to get Google reviews. There is no one quick way to get more Google My Business reviews.
However, if you follow a few simple tips and try something new, it can go a long way in getting Google reviews. Here are some great tips and best practices to help you get more customer reviews.
Respond to all new reviews to build consumer trust
Responding to Google reviews all the time isn’t always easy. You may not have much motivation to respond to all reviews, especially if they’re not always positive.
Responding to all reviews, though, is a great way to encourage new reviews. By looking through your review section, the customer may be trying to decide whether or not to leave a review.
If the customer sees that you’ve responded to previous reviews, the likelihood of them leaving a review increases.
- Take a personalized approach. Consumers need to be clear that a real person is responding to a particular review. Try to use the reviewer’s name and mention some of the points he or she made. However, don’t make the review very long.
- Express your gratitude. Take the time to thank the author for taking the time to leave a review.
- Offer personal recommendations. To make your review useful, offer advice and recommendations. It’s also a good idea to recommend that the author of the review contact you for more information if he or she would like.
- Be respectful. When you receive a negative review, it may be tempting to defend yourself. However, customers will have a better impression of your business if you are respectful and apologize.
Ask for Google reviews from customers as part of an email campaign
If you send out emails to your customers, you should take the opportunity to generate reviews. But never encourage people to leave only positive reviews, as this goes against Google’s guidelines.
If you ask to leave only positive reviews, it may be flagged in Google’s review process if the company realizes that you are only getting positive reviews. At the same time, asking customers to leave any reviews is a great way to increase the total number of reviews.
- Find your link to the Google reviews page. Look in your Google My Business dashboard to find the link that will tell people where to leave a review.
- Put the link in your email signature. Put the link to the Google review directly in your email signature. This is one of the best opportunities to reach out to every customer you send an email to and encourage them to leave a review.
- Send out emails to customers. It is useful to send special emails encouraging customers to leave a review. Send these emails in addition to the signature link to each email you send.
Write a text message encouraging a customer to write a review
If you’re already sending text messages to customers offering new products or discounts, why not take the opportunity to offer them the opportunity to leave a review of your product or service as a Google review?
And you can also use text messages to stimulate them to leave a review by offering a coupon or discount.
- Get your review link on the Google My Business page to help people find where to leave a review.
- Put the link in your text messages. Including a link and a request to leave a review in most, if not all, of the text messages you send out is not a bad idea.
- If possible, try to attach the link to valuable messages. Clients can get frustrated with frequent text messages if those messages don’t do them any good. Attach messages asking for feedback on your coupons or discounts whenever possible.
Use Google’s Marketing Kit
Google’s Marketing Kit makes it incredibly easy to create personalized marketing materials. You can encourage customers to leave feedback about your Google ad on social media, posters, stickers, and more. Plus, this Google service is completely free.
- Find the Marketing Kit on Google. Go to your Google My Business platform, search for Marketing Kit by Google and go through the whole process.
- Be creative. Look for ways to encourage your customers to leave reviews using these tools without giving the impression of spam.
- Monitor success. Pay attention to whether your reviews are increasing. See what works, and try to find new ways to make the most of this free service.
Set up a sign in your physical store asking for feedback
The best way to get positive feedback is to encourage customers to leave feedback right in your store. Place a poster or billboard near the cash-out area and at the door so that when customers leave, they see it.
- Ask for feedback in a polite way. Encourage customers to leave feedback by posting very polite, encouraging language. A nice request can increase the likelihood that your customers will go on Google and leave a review.
- Motivate them to leave a review. Write that reviews can be rewarded with a coupon, whether they are positive or negative.
- Provide a “wow moment”. People are most likely to leave reviews when they encounter something exceptional. Unfortunately, however, too often, reviews are only left about an exceptionally negative situation. Consequently, be sure to encourage your employees to create “wow moments” for customers to encourage positive feedback.
Instruct employees to ask for feedback
Encourage employees to ask for reviews as part of their standard treatment when they greet customers or escort them out of your business. Such wording might involve offering coupons or discounts if your customers leave a review. It can also be a simple request related to greeting or placing an order.
- Conduct thorough employee training.
- Check to see if employees are using the language.
- Track results.
Request online feedback on social media
Encouraging customers to leave reviews on your Google page using social media is a great idea. The clients who are on your social media page are already online, so it’s easy for them to follow the link and leave a review.
You may have social media followers who want your business to be successful. And these people are more likely to leave a positive review than most other customers.
5. Post photos to increase authenticity
Using photos helps optimize your Google Profile listings and boost rankings on Google Maps in more ways than many business owners and marketers realize.
According to Google Profile statistics, ads with photos are twice as likely to be considered authentic as ads without photos. In addition, such ads generate 35% more hits to their sites.
Having photos on your business profile is mandatory for the following reasons:
- High standard. A high-quality photo can influence a customer’s opinion of your business. Anyone can upload photos to your profile, but it’s better to improve the quality by adding your own high professional level photos.
- Building up your rankings. When you add photos, you show Google that you’re an active member of the community. By doing so, you strengthen your ranking!
- Display in search queries. When you add photos, you offer images that will show up in local search results. They should be compelling and thoughtful.
- Stimulate engagement. Using photos is an important part of building trust with new customers. Customers are more likely to interact with your business if they see quality photos.
Using photos, videos, and virtual tours not only helps with optimization but also gives the best impression of your business. People often want to see what a business or its products and services look like before they visit or contact the company.
According to Google, “Businesses who add imagery to their business profiles are 42% more likely to get referral requests on Google Maps and 35% more clicks to their sites than those who don’t.” A Bright Local study showed that Google My Business ads have an average of 11 photos, but “businesses with more than 100 photos on Google My Business get 520% more calls, 2,717% more referral requests, and 1,065% more website clicks than the average profile.”
Here are some more tips for optimizing your listing with photos, videos, and virtual tours:
- Upload high-quality photos and videos. First impressions are important.
- Try to avoid promotional messages in photos.
- Don’t use stock photos or videos. Such materials may be rejected and removed.
- Include 3-5 photos of each of the outside and inside of your business from different angles and at different times of the day so people can get an idea of the location.
- Add photos and/or videos of common areas.
- Post team photos that show management and employees.
- Post photos and videos of employees at work and while interacting with customers (with a caption stating permission to take pictures).
- Upload as many photos and videos of your products as possible.
- Add a virtual tour video that gives customers a complete view of the company and its location.
Consider these tips when designing your profile with new photos:
- Use your logo as the thumbnail image.
- Post photos at least once a week.
- Choose an appropriate cover photo.
- Refer to Google’s guidelines for using photos,
- Use views of your building and photos of employees and customers who like your business.
- Definitely don’t use stock photos.
- Use high-quality photos to showcase your business.
- Use geo-tags whenever possible.
- And don’t be afraid to post videos.
As Google expands image-enriched search, posting photos will help you control what potential consumers see when your business appears in search results.
6. Allow consumers to message you
“Google Business Profile” gives you the ability to allow customers to send messages directly through your local business list by clicking on the “Chat” button in your profile.
By allowing messaging, you’ll give potential customers the ability to message your business using their Google accounts. And customers will be able to receive automatic replies to their messages.
While enabling this chat feature puts extra responsibility on your business, it can help build a good reputation for your business, especially if you respond quickly, helpfully, and correctly. For best results and to increase the visibility of your Google profile, it’s important to keep the response time to messages under 24 hours.
These days, faster is better when it comes to customer service. No one wants to be kept waiting for a response. Especially those customers who could easily find another company if they are ignored or their messages are left unanswered.
By 2024, the number of mobile shoppers is predicted to be in the hundreds of millions, so the cell phone is the most powerful tool in online marketing. And that number will only grow. Thus, the messaging feature in your business profile is a great prospect to demonstrate to consumers your commitment to best practices in customer interaction.
To enable this cutting-edge feature, select the Messages tab in your dashboard. The app can be installed on your phone through the Apple App Store or Google Play. The Google app creates a different number than your personal phone number, so you don’t have to worry about privacy. Use the dashboard to set up alerts for “Business Messages.
7. Be sure to refer to Consumer Insights
Consumer Insights is the analysis and interpretation of customer data, actions, and feedback to form conclusions that can be used to improve product development and customer service.
With these insights, business owners can answer important questions and better understand what customers are thinking.
The Insights section of the Google for Business dashboard provides valuable information about how customers interact with your profile and data that can be used to further optimize the content of your site.
Examples include the searches people use to find your business online, a pie chart showing how customers are finding your business, the number of mobile calls through your ad, the number of conversions to your site, and more.
8. Post information about products or services in Google My Business
In the Products and Services sections of your Google profile, it’s easy to provide more information about your business offerings. Most businesses are able to list their offerings if they are small or medium-sized businesses.
When you add information about your products or services to your Google business account, local users can click on a tab with that information to attract customers to do business with you.
9. Tell people about the additional services you offer
If you are a family-run small hotel, for example, the amenities you provide may be the deciding factor in choosing between you and a competitor.
Do you provide laundry services? Do you perhaps offer pet-friendly rooms? Examine the information in your ad carefully: sometimes, it’s the smallest details that lead to conversions, such as new bookings or sales.
10. How can I improve my Google business profile reporting?
Some leading SEO reporting software, such as Semrush, has an integration to connect your Google Business Profile to the software to get more detailed information.
It’s always a good idea to analyze your Google business profile statistics in conjunction with other important SEO metrics from your SEO software for maximum insight.
11. Make the description optimal
For your business, optimizing descriptions in your business profile should be a priority. To improve your descriptions, make sure to do the following:
Evaluate your description created by Google
It should be noted that the brief description that is immediately below your business name is actually created by Google. It creates these brief descriptions in order to maintain a unified voice throughout the platform.
Expand the “From Company” section.
The “From Company” sections of your profile are at your fingertips. Often, this section appears below the testimonials section, located much lower on the page.
In order to fully optimize this section, you should:
- Engage all 750 characters allotted to you – do the best you can with what you have!
- Concentrate your keywords in the first 250 characters.
- Use wording from your website or mission statement to maintain consistency.
- Use keywords to enhance SEO.
- Don’t repeat information you already have in your business profile.
- Compose vivid text and talk about your unique strengths as a company.
- Pick your category
Choosing the right category is very important to increase your visibility in Google searches. If your business name doesn’t specify the services or products you provide, choosing a category is one of the best ways to discover yourself. Selecting a business type also opens up important buttons such as menus, booking buttons, and star ratings, all of which can incline consumers to choose you.
To optimize this section:
Make it specific. Select a descriptor whenever possible. For restaurants, choose a category that fully describes you – for example, “Italian restaurant,” not just “restaurant.” This goes for businesses such as salons, clothing, gyms, and stores.
Be sure to use secondary categories. If you can, choose additional categories that are relevant to your particular business, such as “delivery,” “specialty,” or “gourmet.”
Stay accurate. Make sure you are careful not to back yourself into a corner. For instance, if you have a nail salon service and beauty supplies, select the service that most accurately describes your main purpose.
Google can ask for proof of your business when you edit or add the categories to your list.
Select descriptive attributes
After choosing a category, Google will offer you a range of attributes to describe your business. Relevant attributes such as “free wi-fi” tend to attract consumers. For restaurants, “takeout,” “delivery,” and “dining room” attributes were essential during the pandemic.
12. Explore your questions and answers
User-generated Q&A is an effective tool for connecting with potential and existing customers. By answering consumers’ burning questions, you can turn them from hesitant to eager customers. It should be noted that anyone can ask and answer questions on Google. But don’t worry! If you put a little effort in, you may not be able to fully control this section, but you can definitely optimize it with these tips:
- Apply alerts. Set alerts and push notifications so you’re always aware of the activity on your profile. Answer your own questions whenever possible.
- Back up your questions. You can ask and answer questions yourself and improve your rating. Use this as an opportunity to highlight frequently asked questions.
- Also, don’t forget about keywords. Keyword-rich questions and answers can boost your business profile rankings for a particular keyword query. Keep SEO tips in mind when posting questions. However, be careful not to overload with keywords!
- Monitor Credibility. Constantly check your Q&A section to identify answers that contain misinformation.
Note: This feature was temporarily disabled by Google during the COVID-19 pandemic to minimize the spread of misinformation.
13. Enter the date when your business was founded
To improve your Google My Business profile, you can add the date your business was founded. This characteristic allows Google to add the following text to your listing: “10+ years in business,” which can add credibility and authority to your company.
To add your business start date, follow these steps:
- Click Edit Profile > Business Information.
- Next to “Opening Date,” click on the pencil icon.
- Type in the required fields.
- Then click Save.
14. Publish information about new offers and events
The optimal strategy is to create at least 1-2 new posts per week to attract new customers. Google Business posts can include content such as:
- Announcements
- Fresh offers
- Upcoming events
- Popular products
- Current discounts
- Texts, photos, and videos
15. Keep an eye on the accuracy of your hours of operation
Google specifically points out that one way to optimize your local ranking is to keep your hours of operation accurate. Thus, you should update your Google My Business profile whenever such circumstances arise:
- Public Holidays;
- Activities;
- Enhanced seasonal hours;
- Temporary closures.
Google does not have the ability to directly add social media links to your business profile, but you can make it easy for Google to associate social media profiles with both on-page and off-page optimization.
If there is a knowledge panel for your business in Google Search and the social media links are already displayed, you can follow Google’s guide to updating your knowledge panel to add new or edit existing social profiles.
If the Knowledge Dashboard is not showing or there are no links to social profiles, you can enable Local Schema Markup on your site with the same value for all of your social profiles. The Google search engine will then clearly identify the relationship between your site, your Google business profile, and your social media profiles and possibly add them to your listing.
17. Keep track of updates to your Google My Business profile settings
Google Profile My Business is a constantly evolving product. You can learn about the latest changes and enhancements to your Google My Business profile by visiting the following pages:
18. Add a Google Map to your site
To improve your ranking on Google Maps, it’s worth embedding your Google map on your site. It’s possible that you’ve already seen such maps on other sites.
Putting a Google map on your site confirms that you are in the location listed in Google My Business. Supplement the location with the name of your business and it will reach your target audience.
Putting Google maps on your site is easy. Select your physical location on the Google map, click on the three-line button next to your business name, and right-click on “share map.” You’ll then get a link to copy and paste into your business’s contact page.
19. Ensure citation consistency
Citation consistency is a local search ranking factor that is often overlooked. Citation variability can lower your ranking in Google’s local search results. NAP citation instability occurs when there are multiple variations of your business name, address, or phone number online.
Suppose your business is listed in 5 different directories where part of your address is abbreviated, such as Rd. instead of road or St. instead of street in a number of those directories. Such minor deviations may seem harmless, but they can cause significant instability and suppress your local positioning.
To avoid this, you need to check your NAP citations online. Type your business address into Google and find where your business is listed; go to each site and check to see if the NAP matches. If not, correct them immediately.
While in low- and medium-competitive markets, NAP variability may not affect your business as much, in highly competitive markets, slight variability can significantly affect your place in Google’s local search results.
20. Create strong mentions and backlinks
Creating citation links is when your site URL is mentioned as part of a link. This is an effective way to build good authority for your site.
For example, if you have a law firm, you should build links to law firm directories. Law directories with high authority that list your business will naturally provide you with contextual backlinks and a ton of authority.
Google analyzes links when determining your business’s ranking in local search results. It’s important to keep in mind that Google considers several of the following factors when analyzing citations:
- The relevance and authority of the citation source.
- The number of citations to your business.
- NAP relevance in your citations.
If you want to rank first in Google’s local rankings, you must add your business’s NAP data to your site. Schema marking helps search engines understand what your site is trying to convey.
Adding NAP information to the Schema will send strong signals to search engines about the authority and relevance of your business name, address, and phone number.
It’s worth adding your business’s NAP data to your site if you want to rank first in Google’s local rankings. With Schema markup, search engines understand what your site is trying to convey.
By putting your NAP information into the Schema, you will thereby give powerful signals to search engines about the authority and relevance of your business name, address, and phone number.
21. You can create a Google My Business website
If you have a Google My Business account, you can easily create a website directly from your account. If you have not yet claimed a Google My Business account, however, once you have claimed one, you will have the option to create a website as part of the registration process.
Why should you create your own web page in Google My Business?
Google gives businesses the opportunity to create a one-page website for free through Google My Business. For businesses that can’t afford a professional solution to hire a developer, this can be a good place to start building a website.
Industry experts believe that when you have a website, optimizing Google My Business will help improve search engine rankings. Remember, Google likes it when you take advantage of its products and services and work according to its algorithm, and building a website is one of them.
Free features are more useful than no features
It’s not a complicated solution, and after all, it’s free!
You’ll get a basic one-page site with some features that are more than enough to get you started:
Adaptability
Google My Business website is adaptive for mobile devices and ultimately user-friendly. It looks attractive on all devices without any code changes.
There are automatic updates
When you update your Google My Business account, your site automatically updates to reflect what’s changed, so your information is always up to date.
You can add a custom domain
You can add a custom domain after all the processes are complete. This way, your site and its URL will match your business.
If your account doesn’t already have a custom domain or other preferred custom domain providers, you can easily purchase one from your Google My Business account when you create your site.
Place ads for more information and traffic
With AdWords, you can run ads to attract more customers to your site and drive action.
Activate local search
Creating a website affects your Google My Business listings. Because of its appealing features, it attracts customers to engage with your brand.
Who might benefit from this basic website?
- Business owners who are building their first Web site.
- Anyone who is considering a do-it-yourself website.
- Businesses that just need an attractive “Contact Us” page for initial customer engagement through a contact page.
- Some small businesses don’t need thoughtful and memorable content on their website.
- Businesses that can benefit from having lots of images without needing a lot of content, such as custom furniture makers, accessory owners, or photographers.
What if you already have a website?
Today, as we know, every business owner has a website to get more engagement and convert leads. Although many businesses prefer to have their own website, having a Google My Business site has certain advantages:
There must be a genuine backlink when adding a link to a Google My Business profile. You can use Google My Business’s site to link back to explicit pages on your site, thereby increasing your chances of ranking higher in search results and optimizing the buyer’s journey.
Google My Business can act as a functional alternative to your social media platforms because it displays the most important information about your business. They may not be visible to your social media followers.
All of the features listed above will not replace your website but rather serve as an additional asset if used correctly. In addition, it will encourage users to become your potential customers and make your brand their first choice.
Google My Business (GMB) to Google Business Profile
In late 2021, Google announced that it would change the name of its Google My Business (GMB) local listing platform to Google Business Profile.
“In the future, we encourage small businesses to manage their profiles directly on Search or Maps. To make things easier, Google My Business is being renamed Google Business Profile,” Matt Madrigal, vice president and head of Merchant Shopping, wrote in an official announcement.
The rebranding announcement also came with several innovations.
So what has changed in your Google business profile?
The option to edit your business profile information from search has been around for months, but now you can verify or fix other problems with your business profile directly from search.
Simply search for your business name on Google or the Google Maps app, and you’ll be given the option to verify your business profile or fix other problems, such as suspending it.
In Search or Maps, you can also make changes to the information people see when they search for your business, such as your address, hours of operation, post, responses to reviews, and more.
Let’s discuss some of the benefits of using Google Business Profiles for local SEO and options for editing information in search and on Google Maps.
Always follow Google’s guidelines
When you have a Google business profile, you play by Google’s rules.
That is, you must follow Google’s business profile guidelines – otherwise, your profile may be suspended.
After all, your Google business profile is a community profile, not just yours.
Just about anyone on the Internet can contribute to your Google business profile, and Google encourages the creation of user-generated content such as reviews, Q&As, updates, photos, videos, and more.
It’s important that you make sure that the content that can be added to your profile is legitimate.
Rules for managing Google’s business profile
Businesses with multiple locations: Manage your profiles with Google Business Profile Manager
If your company has multiple locations or you’re an agency that manages multiple client locations, the best way to manage your profiles is by logging into the Business Profile Manager dashboard.
With Business Profile Manager, you can manage multiple profiles in a single dashboard.
Single location businesses: Use your Google business profile directly from Google Search or the Google Maps app
If your local business has only one location, the easiest way to manage your Google business profile is from Google Search!
You can also manage it directly from the Google Maps app. So how do you manage your profile from Search or Maps?
By logging in with the Gmail email address you use to manage your Google business profile, enter your business name in the search bar, and then the Google business profile knowledge panel and edit panel will appear.
Or you can simply type the words “my business” into a Google search, and the edit panel and knowledge panel will appear (it doesn’t work in the Maps app).
Let’s talk about just a few things you can edit from Search and Maps
First of all, from Search, you can edit your business information directly from the knowledge panel by clicking on the “Edit Your Business Information” link.
From here, you can edit basic information about your Google business profile.
You can change information about your business, such as category, business description, opening date, hours of operation, and more.
If you see the “Update Your Customers” option in the knowledge panel, you can create an update message directly from Search.
In addition to editing from the knowledge panel, you can make more changes from the edit panel on the left side of the screen.
When you click on the Edit Profile button, you get several editing options.
Other editing options
In the scrolling window, you can easily and quickly edit even more information, such as posting photos of your exterior, viewing your call history, and adding an update message.
Keep in mind that what you see may vary depending on your category or what features you have “activated” in your Google Business Profile.
To help customers get up-to-date information quickly, add details to your listing, promote your business with Google ads, or add any information that may be missing from your business profile.
If messaging isn’t already enabled, you can easily enable messaging directly from Search or Maps, request feedback from your customers using the feedback form, and you can even get a custom email!
Optimization tips for Google search
We hope you found the above tips for optimizing your Google business profile helpful. By following these tips, you will keep your business in good standing online and improve your visibility in a local Google search.
Google Business Profile is an extremely powerful tool for businesses of all sizes. If you don’t take advantage of Google My Business, you’re missing out on many potential customers and engagement.
The list above is a good starting point, but don’t limit yourself to these tips. Constantly evaluate your company and consumers as they develop, grow and adapt.
If you keep your eyes open and monitor consumer insights, you’ll discover fresh ways to improve the customer experience and overall profitability.
