How to start optimizing your Google My Business listing?

Do you have a shop or run a service company? Creating a profile on Google My Business is one of the basic activities when running a business. The biggest benefits are derived by entrepreneurs who operate in a physical location. Google Maps has become the main navigation application in our country. While driving or even walking, your customers instinctively reach for Google Maps.

This is exactly why even if you only communicate with buyers remotely, you can still benefit from optimizing your Google My Business listing. The basic rule of advertising is "be where your customers are". Otherwise, you will spend a lot on promotion and often not achieve the expected results.

Optimizing your listing affects more than just Google Maps rankings

Do a simple test. What do you see when you enter a search term like "restaurant" or "hairdresser" in Google? Almost at the top of the search results, you will see a map window with red pins marked. One click is all it takes to go to Google Maps. This is how Google uses local SEO to bring customers directly to your business.

That's why optimizing your Google listing is so important. Learn how to do it in a few simple steps.

Location and distance impact the visibility of your Google listing

There is one factor that you have little control over. Places closest to the potential customer are always rewarded in search results. However, you can do a lot to outperform the competition in every other aspect. Let's start with the basics. Later, we will move on to more advanced techniques.

Customers can filter search results by rating and opening hours. Your first step should be to add your business opening hours. The second step is to provide high-quality service. When users filter by ratings on Google Maps, they are most likely to choose the highest option. Therefore, it is worth maintaining your overall Google rating at least 4.5 stars.

What impact do service and product reviews have on rankings?

The biggest impact. The more positive reviews you can gather, the higher Google will display your listing. For example, let's take two companies. One has 205 reviews and an overall rating of 4.8. The other has an almost perfect rating of 4.9, but only 35 reviews under its listing.

The first company will be displayed higher. And as a result, it will be trusted more by customers.

SEO in Google My Business listing optimization - keywords searched by customers

Gathering reviews and maintaining a high rating are quite obvious steps. Now let's move on to the magic of phrases, or SEO in Google Maps. Keywords are the exact phrases that users enter to search for a shop or service provider. It is in your interest to include them in your profile.

How to do it? First of all, carefully consider the category of your business and the name of your company. It is better to enter a phrase like "Gwiazda beauty salon" in this field rather than just the word "Gwiazda". Customers can also search for services or shops only on a specific street, which justifies adding your address to your listing. The phone number does not directly affect rankings, but it definitely makes it easier for people to contact you.

You can also include keywords in responses to customer reviews. Don't overdo it, as Google doesn't like forced actions. Make sure the phrase is naturally placed in your response.

How to perform an audit of reviews on your Google My Business listing?

You can collect data on your own, of course. However, you will save a lot of time if you use tools for automated audits. One of them is ReviewsAudit. Click on the link and try this application now.

Simply enter the name of your company and its location in the search box. Click on the "Do the magic" button for the application to search for your profile on various platforms. Click on "Add the profile" for the listings you want to audit. Finally, select the "Analyze profiles" option. After a short wait, you will receive a complete report on your visibility, review quality, and trustworthiness. The report will also indicate what your customers complain about most frequently and who your most important competitors are.

Google My Business listing optimization and photos and videos

Do photos affect your ranking? Yes! Just having 10-11 photos in your profile can improve the visibility of your listing. Interestingly, Google also values naturalness here. It can detect if you use filters. Therefore, your strategy on Google Maps should be the opposite of Instagram. Videos and photos taken with a smartphone with location services enabled work best.

You now know a lot about what you can do to improve the visibility of your listing. Start taking action and attract customers to your business with unprecedented effectiveness.