7 Ways to Easily Optimize your Google Business Profile

Claiming your business on Google is the first step to making the most of your Google Business Profile (GBP). Doing so helps your potential customers find you and learn about your products/services. A Google Business Profile is free! And it helps with your SEO (Search Engine Optimization), making it easier for people to find you. With Google being the largest search engine, you need to be easily found on it. But just claiming your business and creating a profile isn’t enough. To get the most benefits out of your Google Business Profile, you need to maintain and optimize your profile. Google favors a profile with a lot of information, posts, reviews and user engagement. Here are 7 ways you can optimize your profile.

1. Add as much info about your business as you can.  Include a business profile photo, geographic area you serve (very important because you want to show up in Google Maps searches), hours of operation, website address, social media links, etc. 
2. Your “Listing Description” is one of the most visible parts of your Google Business Profile.  Make sure it provides all necessary information for your customers, is grammatically correct and optimized for SEO.  (Using Keywords that match your business and the products/services you provide.)
3. Make sure you have the correct category and subcategory listed. (If you are not sure, look up your competitors.  What categories are they listing?)
   1. Use the terms that people are searching for when trying to find your products/services on Google.  A good idea is to type into a Google Search what keyword you think is relevant.  Scroll down until you come to “People also ask…….”and see what else Google shows is relevant.
4. Gain regular Reviews & respond to them all.  (Positive & Negative)
   1. Build this directly into one of your existing systems or processes. Don’t be afraid to ask for reviews.
5. Answer any Q’s in the Q & A section.
6. Add Photos to your GBP (Google Business Profile).
   1. If you have a brick and mortar location, make sure to have an exterior photo so customers know what your building looks like.  You can add interior photos as well, depending on your business.  If your business is a restaurant, people want to see what the ambiance inside is like.  If your business is a concrete contracting company you may not need an exterior photo of your business, but you can post project photos of stamped concrete patios or driveways.
7. Add Posts to your Google Business Profile on a regular cadence.  This is not necessary every day.  Pick a cadence that works for you so that you can be consistent.   
   1. Add events
   1. Add offers
   1. What’s New

Google’s recommended best practices for SEO = E.A.T.  Expertise.  Authority.  Trust. 

What does that mean for your business?  Well, when you are putting out content, does it demonstrate expertise?  Is your business positioned as an authority in your industry?  Is your business considered trustworthy?

Crowdcontent.com blog provides a Comprehensive Checklist to E.A.T.

• Conduct keyword research to find out what people are looking for.
• Consider who your target audience is, what they want to know and why they want to know it (that’s searcher intent).
• Use tools such as MarketMuse and SEMrush SEO content templates to analyze existing content and search queries to understand what needs to be included in your content.
• Use Google’s Autocomplete tool and check out the ‘People Also Ask’ questions on Google to discover related topics that people want to know about.
• Leverage different content formats to make information easily digestible and accessible to all types of learners and users. That means using formats including on-page text, bullets and subheadings, images, infographics, videos, audio podcasts and Q&As.

For more information on SEO, check out Moz.com’s guide  

https://moz.com/beginners-guide-to-seo

If you missed our Blog on the 4 reasons to claim your Google Business Profile, you can read it here.