To give you an idea, 46% (almost half!) of all Google searches are for local businesses. A well-positioned search result gives your business more visibility and greatly increases your chances of acquiring more customers!
If you own a business and want it to be found by consumers, having a complete and up-to-date listing on Google My Business (GMB) is essential.
According to Moz in their research on ranking factors forlocal search results:
- NET data (Name, Address and Phone) is part of the on-page local SEO indicators and impacts 26% of the results;
- Behavioral cues (clicks, route planning, call action) account for 11.5%;
- Google My Business signals (proximity, categories, keyword in business title, etc.) 8.85%;
- Online reviews (number of reviews, review speed, review diversity, etc.) have a 6.47% impact.
In this article you'll find everything you need to know about creating a winning Google My Business profile!
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 searches for hotels;
- 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 business on GMB is essential for your company to be found by consumers in Google searches and on Google Maps.
To stand out from the competition and attract more customers, it's essential to keep your data complete and up-to-date, maintain a strong reputation with positive reviews, and consistently respond to inquiries.
Check out our webinar on how to correctly register your business on Google My Business and get great tips on how to optimize your profile and appear more often in search results!
3 benefits of listing your business on Google My Business
#1 – It helps your business be easily found by potential customers
By creating a profile or listing for your business on GMB, you help customers find your company more easily and also attract more customers to your location.
#2 – It provides important and relevant information for consumers
Include location, hours of operation, 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 storefront
A complete and up-to-date listing serves as your storefront and impacts the consumer's purchasing decision. They will evaluate your online reputation, the number of reviews, and images of your establishment.
#4 - It acts as a preventative measure, which reduces the demand on customer service
The fact that the listings are up-to-date and complete reduces the demand on customer service, because consumers will find the information they need directly on your store's profile on GMN. This avoids unnecessary calls to customer service to find out, for example, if they are open, if there is parking on site, if it is accessible, etc.
How Google ranks businesses in local search results
When ranking a business and deciding where it will appear in local search results, Google My Business takes into account three main factors: distance, relevance, and prominence.
PROXIMITY – How close are you to the person looking for a particular deal?
The success of the proximity factor depends on how much information you provide. Keep your location information updated on Facebook, Expedia, TripAdvisor, your website, etc.
However, keep in mind that relevance will be the strongest signal. If an establishment is further away from the consumer's location, but better meets the consumer's search criteria than another establishment that is closer, Google will show the more distant establishment ahead of the one that is closer to the consumer.
RELEVANCE — How well does your local business match what a consumer is looking 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 according to 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 such as Facebook Fanpage, Yelp, etc.
PROMINENCE – How well-known is your business?
Prominence refers to a company's popularity. It is evaluated based on web information that Google has (such as links, articles, and social media). Its position in web search results is also included.
This is the area where the company has the most freedom to lead the competition in local search – by investing in SEO.
Check it out: How to rank in a local search: Learn the 3 main factors
Listen to our podcast about how to use local SEO to attract customers to physical stores. A 100% organic strategy!
How to use Google My Business and highlight your stores in Google Maps search results
Local results appear for people searching for businesses and places near their location.
Google will favor the most relevant locations for each search. Therefore, it is essential to correctly match searches with businesses using accurate and complete information.
Follow the tips I've listed below, but first, you need to have claimed all your listings. See here how to claim ownership of a listing on Google My Business.
#1 – Fill in your name, address, and phone number information correctly
Businesses that verify their information with Google My Business are twice as likely to be considered trustworthy by consumers.
Make sure to always use the exact same name to identify your establishments. Different names will negatively impact your SEO.
Your phone number also needs to be up to date. Preferably, always add the phone number for the specific unit in question, avoiding adding the call center number.
When adding a Pin to identify your location on Google Maps, make sure you place it in the correct location and that customers can easily find you. To avoid mistakes, test this by applying the pin to a customer's skin; could they easily reach your establishment?
#2 – Add images of your establishment
Remember that your GMB listing is your online storefront, so it's essential that you post images of your establishment to attract potential customers.
Businesses that include images in their profiles receive 42% more route requests on Google Maps and 35% more website clicks than those that don't.
Ideally, when uploading your photos, focus on images that convey the brand concept, showing happy customers shopping or using the products. Remember to add a good 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 establishment in, as these photos will appear on your GMB profile. If the photo is not in context with what your brand represents, you can report it to Google, and they may remove it.
#3 – Choose the correct category for your business on Google My Business
Categories are used to describe your business and connect it with customers looking for the services you offer.
Choose one main category that describes your company 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, whether 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 themselves can also edit this information about the location, 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 influential 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. Firstly, because Google itself values businesses that respond to their customers more highly, and secondly, because you can optimize your responses for search results by including keywords relevant to your business, contributing to better indexing on Google.
Check it out: The impact of reviews on today's consumer purchasing decisions.
All of these tips I've listed above are steps in the process we call a Facelift here at Harmo.
When the Google My Business pins for a chain's units contain inconsistent information, such as NET data (name, address, and phone number), as well as hours of operation, images/photos, payment methods, and other details, we offer a Facelift service that standardizes this information.
Properly implementing a facelift across all brand units has a significant impact on the network's SEO. Check out this amazing success story from GPA Malls, part of the Pão de Açúcar Group.
The problem: all GPA Malls units had inconsistent NET information, images, and other data. Our first action was to perform a facelift on all establishments. 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 the information for each unit was complete, up-to-date, and standardized. This directly impacted local Google search results.
- The volume of user interactions jumped from 190 (July 2018) to more than 14,000 (May 2019) per month. With complete addresses and phone numbers, consumers were able to map routes 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 aspecialist
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 that customers can contribute information about your business: adding photos, attributes, and of course, reviews. Therefore, you need to monitor your listings to reject any unauthorized changes, otherwise Google will assume the information is correct.
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.