To give you an idea, 46% (almost half!) of all Google searches are for local businesses. A well-positioned search results gain more visibility for your business, greatly increasing your chances of attracting more customers!
If you own a business and want it to be found by consumers, it's essential to have a complete and up-to-date listing on Google My Business (GMB).
According to local search results ranking factors
- NET data (Name, Address and Telephone) is part of the on-page local SEO indicators and impacts 26% of the results;
- Behavioral signals (Clicks, route tracing, call action) impact 11.5%;
- Google My Business signals (proximity, categories, keyword in business title, etc.) 8.85%;
- Online reviews (review quantity, review speed, review diversity, etc.) impact 6.47%.
In this article, you'll find everything you need to know about having a winning profile registered on Google My Business!
Google My Business: How does it help your store get found?
Let's say you do the following search on your cell phone “Pharmacies”, “Supermarkets” or “Italian restaurants” Google will try to show you the best results nearby.
According to Google itself, there are:
- 5 billion searches for restaurants;
- 3 billion hotel searches;
- 1 billion searches for clothing stores;
- 600 million searches for beauty salons;
- 5 million searches for coffee shops.
Having a profile or listing for your establishment on GMB is essential for your business to be found by consumers in Google searches and on Google Maps .
To stay ahead of your competitors and attract more customers, it's essential to maintain complete and up-to-date data and a strong reputation with positive reviews that are always responded to.
Check out our webinar on how to properly register your company on Google My Business and get great tips for optimizing your profile and showing up higher in searches!
3 benefits of registering your company on Google My Business
#1 – It helps your business to be easily found by potential consumers
By creating a profile or listing for your business on GMB, you help customers find your business more easily and also attract more customers to your location.
#2 – It provides important and relevant information to consumers
Such as location, opening hours, and contact information. Try it out and see how your business listing appears in an online search.
#3 – It’s your business card: your digital showcase
A complete and up-to-date listing serves as your showcase and impacts consumers' purchasing decisions. They'll evaluate your online reputation, the number of reviews, and the establishment's images.
#4- It acts as a preventative action, which reduces the demand for customer service.
Keeping your listings up-to-date and complete reduces customer service demands because consumers can find the information they need directly in your store's GMN profile. This avoids unnecessary customer service calls asking, for example, if you're open, if there's parking, if there's accessibility, etc.
How Google ranks establishments in local search rankings
When ranking a business and deciding where it will rank in local search results, Google My Business takes three main factors into account: distance, relevance, and prominence.
PROXIMITY ー How close are you to the person looking for a particular business?
The success of the proximity factor depends on how much information you provide. Keep your location information up to date on Facebook, Expedia, Tripadvisor, your website, etc.
But keep in mind that relevance will be the strongest signal. If a business is farther away from the consumer's location but better meets that consumer's search criteria than a closer business, Google will show the more distant business ahead of the business closest to the consumer.
RELEVANCE ー How well does your local business match what a consumer is searching for?
Relevance determines the best match between a local business and a user's search. Adding complete and detailed business information helps Google better understand your business and rank it based on its relevance to the user.
Make sure your business is considered relevant when consumers search online by keeping your information as complete, accurate, and up-to-date as possible on your GMB profile, website, and other profiles like Fanpage, Yelp, etc.
PROMINENCE ー How well known is your business?
Prominence refers to a company's popularity. It's evaluated based on Google's web data (such as links, articles, and social media). Its position in web results is also included.
This is the factor where the company has the greatest freedom of action to lead the competition in local search - investing in SEO.
Check out: How to rank in a local search: Know the 3 main factors
Listen to our podcast on How to Use Local SEO to Attract Customers to Your Physical Stores . A 100% Organic Strategy!
How to use Google My Business and make your stores stand out in Google Maps results
Local results appear to people searching for businesses and places near where they are located.
Google will favor the most relevant locations for each search. Therefore, it's crucial to correctly match searches to businesses with accurate and complete information.
Follow the tips below, but first, you need to have claimed all your listings. Learn how to claim ownership of a listing on Google My Business .
#1 – Fill in your name, address and telephone number correctly.
Businesses that verify their information with Google My Business are twice as likely to be considered trustworthy by consumers.
Make sure you always use the exact same name to identify your establishments. Different names will negatively impact SEO.
Your phone number also needs to be up to date. It's best to always add the phone number of the unit in question, avoiding the call center number.
When adding a Pin to identify your location on Google Maps, make sure you pin it to the correct location and that the customer will be able to reach you. To avoid errors, test whether you could easily reach your establishment by sticking it in the customer's shoes.
#2 – Add images of your establishment
Remember that your GMB listing is your online storefront, so it's essential to post images of your establishment to attract potential customers.
Businesses that include images on their profiles receive 42% more requests for directions on Google Maps and 35% more clicks to their website than those that don't.
Ideally, when uploading your photos, focus on photos that showcase your brand's concept, with happy customers shopping or using your products. Remember to add a high-quality photo of your storefront; this will make it easier for consumers to identify and recognize your establishment.
Additionally, always review the photos your customers take and tag your business, as these photos will appear on your GMB profile. If the photo doesn't reflect your brand's image, you can report it to Google, and it may be removed.
#3 – Choose the correct category for your establishment on Google My Business
Categories are used to describe your business and connect it with customers looking for the services you offer.
Choose a main category that describes your business as a whole. Don't add multiple categories to list all your products and services. ( learn more here )
#4 – Add attributes to your Google My Business listing
Attributes allow customers to see what your business offers (for example, if a restaurant has Wi-Fi or outdoor seating, or if the business is run by women). Adding relevant and accurate attributes to your business profile helps you stand out to customers who find you on Google.
Customers can also edit this location information themselves, suggesting other attributes for the location.
Therefore, it is very important that you review these attributes regularly to ensure that the attributes suggested by customers match the reality of your establishment.
#5 – Ask for reviews on Google
Read and respond to customer reviews. By responding to these reviews, you show existing and potential customers that you value them.
Furthermore, reviews are the third most impactful factor in a search ( MOZ ) and 45% of customers are more likely to choose businesses that respond to their reviews.
Responding to Google reviews is an excellent opportunity to optimize your local SEO. First, because Google itself values places that respond to their customers more, and second, because you can optimize your responses for search results by inserting keywords relevant to your business, contributing to Google's indexing.
Check out: The impact of reviews on today's consumer purchasing decisions
All of these tips I listed above are steps in the process we call Facelift, here at Harmo.
When the Google My Business pins of a chain's units contain non-standard information, i.e., NET data (name, address, and telephone number), as well as opening hours, images/photos, payment methods, among others, we offer the Facelift service, which consists of equalizing this information.
Properly executing a facelift across all of the brand's units has a significant impact on the chain's SEO. Check out this incredible success story from Grupo Pão de Açúcar's GPA Malls.
The problem: all GPA Malls locations had inconsistent NET information, images, and other data. Our first action was to implement a Facelift at all locations. Check out the before-and-after results of our Customer Success team's Facelift:
- The number of views jumped from 15,000 (July 2018) to over 2.1 million (May 2019). After the facelift, all information for each unit was complete, up-to-date, and standardized. This directly impacted Google's local search results.
- The volume of user interactions jumped from 190 (July 2018) to over 14,000 (May 2019) per month. With complete addresses and phone numbers, consumers could plot directions to the location or call the establishment.
Would you like to know more about how this service works? Talk to one of our specialists without obligation! Talk to a specialist
Conclusion
Having your business listed on GMB is essential for your business to be found , but that's not all. It's crucial that you keep all your information complete and up-to-date, so you should always review your listings periodically.
Your Google My Business listing is a collaborative profile. This means consumers can contribute information about your business: add photos, attributes, and, of course, reviews. So, you need to monitor your listings to reject any inappropriate changes, otherwise Google will assume the information is accurate.
Furthermore, as Google itself has argued, interacting with customers is an essential part of business success. Therefore, in addition to maintaining a complete and up-to-date profile, you need to encourage your customers to rate you and respond to as many reviews as possible, in an individual and personalized way, of course.
