When you run a business, growth can occur in many ways. Optimizing your website for search engines like Google makes it more likely that your pages will appear at the top of rankings for relevant keywords. Content marketing is necessary to ensure you keep your customers engaged. It’s also crucial that you bring people to your website organically via local SEO.
The purpose of local SEO is to ensure your business is more visible in local search results, which should bring more customers to your store. While there are many effective local SEO techniques, among the most important is your Google Business Profile (GBP). Once you create a profile, local customers will see it when they search for your business.
GBP serves as a virtual storefront that allows potential customers in your area to learn more about your company. Unlike paid ads and other expensive marketing tools, local SEO and GBP optimization bring organic visits to your stores, which is necessary if you want to cultivate a strong local presence. This guide offers an in-depth look at how to generate organic visits for Google Business Profile.
Understanding Google Business Profile
When you want customers to visit your store or restaurant in person, it’s highly recommended that you create a Google Business Profile. Google provides this service to companies that want to gain more visibility with people who live nearby. GBP drives local SEO by ensuring your business shows up in Google services like Search and Maps.
For example, let’s say an electrician in Los Angeles creates a GBP profile. The information they include in this profile will likely be shown to customers who search for “electricians near me” or “local electricians”. If you have brick-and-mortar locations, GBP can effectively put you on the map. Businesses that have been verified with GBP are more than twice as likely to be viewed by consumers as reputable.
Creating a GBP profile comes with a lot of benefits. For example, local customers will be able to view your hours, phone number, website, and specific location when they find your business. As long as you maintain accurate information, you should have the tools you need to increase local traffic.
Since GBP ties in directly with Google Search and Google Maps, your marketing efforts will be enhanced by creating a page. This service also gives you the opportunity to interact with existing customers and attract new ones. Keep in mind that a link to your website is included in your profile, which means that your site traffic should also increase.
Optimizing Your Google Business Profile
Before you start implementing SEO into your Google Business Profile, there are a couple of things you can do to optimize your page, which include everything from completing your profile to adding high-quality imagery.
Complete Your Profile
First, focus on completing your profile. Make sure you fill out your business information accurately. An incorrect detail can hurt your search engine rankings and cause you to inadvertently mislead customers. Read through your entire profile to make sure you’ve included your address, business name, website, hours, and phone number. If any piece of information changes, update it immediately. Maintaining accurate info allows you to build trust with customers and Google.
High-Quality Photos and Videos
You can pair your Google Business Profile with high-quality photos and videos as well. Potential customers enjoy seeing content that allows them to visualize the companies they want to do business with. This content can also make your products and company more appealing. If you post videos, they shouldn’t be longer than 30 seconds.
Regular Updates
It’s important that you make updates to your GBP as often as you do with your social media pages. Post about any offers, products, events, and announcements that your customers will want to know about. Make sure this information is current. Customers don’t want to see details about a sale that has already ended.
Leveraging Keywords and SEO
Just like your website, you can optimize your GBP for search engines by leveraging keywords.
Keyword Research
Identify relevant local keywords that your target audience will look for when they want to reach your business. Let’s say you own and manage an Italian restaurant. An example of a relevant keyword or phrase is “Italian eatery near me. Placing these keywords in your GBP should increase the odds that local customers will find your information.
Regularly update your keywords. It’s also a good idea to use high-quality tools for keyword research, such as Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs. Once you identify the right keywords, add them to your business description. You can also place them in Google Posts and updates.
On-Page SEO
Think about optimizing your website for local SEO. Once you identify local keywords, include some of them in the blog posts and other content on your website. You can also link GBP to your website by clicking the “Add URL” option in your Google My Business profile. Once you add the URL, just click “Apply”.
Encouraging and Managing Reviews
When ranking websites, Google considers the quality and quantity of reviews as significant ranking factors. If your company has a high number of positive reviews from customers, you’re more likely to obtain a better ranking than businesses with lower-rated reviews.
By encouraging customers to make reviews, you’ll be able to build trust. They’ll know that you seek their opinion no matter what it might be. One option you can use to ask for reviews is to do so on your social media pages. If someone comments on Facebook about their experience with your store, ask them to leave a review on Google.
You should also have a “Reviews” page somewhere on your website. If you have a customer’s phone number, consider sending text reminders for them to leave a review. Offer incentives and reminders whenever possible. For example, you could provide 10% discounts when customers leave reviews.
Don’t solely engage with positive reviews. By also making comments on negative reviews, you’ll show your customers that you’re actually listening. Make sure you maintain a professional tone even when responding to negative reviews.
Utilizing Google Posts
The Google Posts feature allows companies to provide updates with visual content and text to their GBP profiles. These posts can boost engagement and increase site traffic.
Creating Engaging Content
The main types of posts you can make with this service are:
- Offers: These posts can involve any promotional sales from your business. To list an offer, you must provide start and end dates as well as times.
- Events: If you’re hosting an event at your store, you can make a post with a video, photo, and description.
- Updates: If you have a new product or menu item that you’d like to promote, you can place this information on your GBP.
Frequency and Timing
It’s highly recommended that you post updates at least once every week to maintain maximum engagement. For special deals and promotions, limit your posts to once or twice every month. The best time to post is in the early afternoon. People tend to look for this information when they get off work.
Enhancing Local Citations
Further optimization is possible by implementing and maintaining local citations across all listings.
Consistency Across Listings
Make sure your name, address, and phone (NAP) information is consistent across all platforms and listings on the internet. You can find your local citations on most social media platforms and local business directories. These citations allow people to find your business, which may help you improve your search rankings.
Building High-Quality Citations
To build high-quality citations, submit your NAP information to reputable directories, which include the following:
- Yelp
- Nextdoor
- Waze
- Uber
- CitySquares
- Hotfrog
- TomTom
- Mantas
- USInfo
- ShowMe
- BrownBook
- Superpages
- YP
Monitor these citations constantly. If any of this information changes, it must be updated immediately on all platforms.
Utilizing Google My Business Insights
You won’t instantly perfect your local SEO efforts. To determine if people are entering your store and reaching your website because of your Google Business Profile, you’ll need to analyze certain metrics.
Analyzing Performance
You can find out how your profile has performed by monitoring key metrics like views, searches, and actions. Google offers GBP performance reports that you can access through Search or Maps. You can use these reports to analyze additional metrics like total interactions, bookings, and calls.
Adjusting Strategy Based on Insights
Analyzing your GBP data is only the first step in the process of optimizing your GBP profile. Use the insights you’ve gained to adjust your strategy as needed. The results from your analysis should help you refine and improve your marketing strategies.
There are numerous tactics you can implement if you find that local users aren’t searching for your business that often. If your business isn’t showing up in relevant searches, consider the following options for improvement:
- Enter complete data
- Add photos and in-store products
- Keep accurate hours
- Respond to reviews
- Verify your location
Engaging with the Community
You can also raise awareness of your business by engaging directly with the local community.
Local Engagement
Among the more effective ways you can engage with the community and build customer loyalty is by participating in local events and sponsorships. When people attend a local fair or concert and see your sponsorship, you’ll be able to develop trust with them. Collaborate with other local businesses to more effectively ingratiate yourself with the community.
Social Media Integration
Earlier in 2024, Google made it much easier for businesses to promote their GBP profiles on social media. Once you create a GBP, it will automatically show the latest social media posts with your company’s hours, address, and reviews. Keep in mind that this upgrade is only available for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets.
You should also encourage social media followers to leave reviews and engage with your profile on Google. If you consistently make posts and content on your social media pages, your followers will likely be more receptive to these suggestions. If you decide to integrate social media into your GBP profile, the platforms that are currently supported by Google include the following:
- TikTok
- X (or Twitter)
- YouTube
Conclusion
Your Google Business Profile is the link between your company and your local audience. By creating a GBP, you can engage local customers and increase store traffic. If you want to generate more organic visits with your Google Business Profile, implement the strategies that were discussed in this guide. Once you learn how to effectively maintain and optimize your GBP, you should start seeing improvements in your local search rankings.
