Google Business Profile Optimization Techniques for Higher Rankings

If you operate a business, you can take complete charge of your company's online appearance with the help of a Google Business Profile (GBP). Google business profiles are used by seasoned SEO experts as part of their efforts to enhance localized techniques. Therefore, optimizing your Google business profile is the first step to achieving local search engine rankings. The most significant impact is felt by brands seeking local exposure through their Google business profile. Features like Google's local search show how important it is for both new and old businesses to have a Google business profile. Google business provides information like business address, business hours, business category, user ratings, and more about a business. Each new entry automatically generates its own location on Google Maps. This is in sync with standard Google search functionality for maximum convenience.

Benefits of An Optimized Google Business Profile

Your company probably already spends money on Google ads and SEO to make sure that people can find your website online and get enough visitors. Like many companies, you could easily ignore your Google business profile. By doing that, you are not making use of the local search engine optimization benefits it offers.

Improved Local SEO Rankings

To attract customers to your store, nothing beats a top-notch Google business profile. If someone in your region is looking for a company like yours, Google will place you higher in the search results if you're close by and relevant to their query. Google's local search results are affected by a number of factors, such as how much and how well you optimize your Google business profile.

Improved Engagement Rate

Now, more than ever before, Google's search results cater to the user's actual intentions. This means that search engine users often don't need to click on external websites in order to acquire business information. Having an effective Google business profile will help you compete in so-called "zero-click searches," which means more interactions with your profile and, eventually, more conversions.

Maximize Sales

A Google business profile won’t offer much when it comes to customer acquisition. However, it will help customers to figure out your business location & read all the reviews if they are aware of your business name. But when you have an optimized business listing, users can even find you using specific keywords. Moreover, they can access your contact details, products, and services, call you, and book an appointment.

Tips To Optimize Your Google Business Profile

Optimizing GBP listing is crucial for all local businesses. Ignoring it may hurt business in terms of SERP rankings and overall sales. If you are not able to do it yourself, consider hiring a Google business profile optimization service provider. Though, below are a few effective steps that you can follow yourself to optimize your business listing.

Verify Your Google Business Profile Listing

The first important thing to understand is that the GBP listing is completely different from the GBP account. You can make use of your GBP account to optimize your Google business profile. You can create a new GBP listing using your Gmail account. Complete the profile by entering your business name, category, location, and contact information. After filling in the required information, you may see various options to verify your GBP. Though verification by postcard is the default option, you can also select phone or email verification. It may take up to 15 days for the postcard to arrive. Now, all you need to do is verify your GBP by entering the 5-digit code mentioned in it.

Provide Complete Details on Your GBP

Once your Google business profile is verified, fill in all the required information. It helps Google determine the authenticity and relevance of your business and rank it accordingly. Google decides on ranking on the basis of the three factors listed below:

• Proximity - Location of users and your business
• Relevancy- Search query related to your business
• Prominence- Popularity of your business,

Therefore, it’s crucial for you to enter all the information and relevant keywords into your Google business profile.

Write a Detailed Business Description

While optimizing your business description, make sure to use all 750 characters available to you. Mention the important things within the first 250 characters and avoid mentioning details you have mentioned in other sections of your listing. To make it more effective, provide details on what makes your business stand out and what past clients loved about it.

Collect 5-Star Reviews

Positive reviews play a major role in helping users make informed decisions. Therefore, Google uses it as a primary factor to rank your business in local searches. Make sure to ask for reviews after providing exceptional services to your customers. Once you start getting more and more positive reviews, you can see the ranking of your business moving higher.

Create Posts for Your GBP

Just like you post on either social media platform, you can post on your GBP  as well. These posts can be related to anything including discounts, events, new products, services, etc. These posts can be published through your GBP dashboard and will appear at the bottom of your listing. However, the position of your posts can change based on the search query entered by the user.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Google Business Profile on Google Free? Yes, it’s absolutely free to create a business profile on Google. You can create and manage your business profile for free and start gaining more reach and customers. Should I Create a Business Profile If I Already Have a Website? Yes, having a business profile along with a dedicated website enhances the visibility of your business on Google search and Google maps. Can I Respond To Customer Reviews From Business Profile? Yes, you can respond to customer reviews, provided you are logged into your business account. Your reply usually appears under the customer review and is labeled as “Response from the Owner."

Conclusion

Similar to any other SEO strategy, your business listing should focus on providing quality business information. Though it’s not possible to determine the ranking factors, we surely know the intention of Google is to connect searchers with the best possible businesses in that niche. So focus on optimizing your business listing in the best possible way or you can even hire a GBP optimization service company.