Whether or not you know the term “Google Business Profile”, you have seen one when searching for a business online. Google provides business owners with a free tool to display business information online for potential customers. This tool is what helps consumers find the business when searching for goods and services.
Read this article to learn more (A LOT more!) about your Google Business Profile, including the basics, the benefits of a GBP, how to best optimize for performance, and how to handle those issues if (AND WHEN) they arise so that your business is always visible to your audience.
Section 1: What is a Google Business Profile?
Your Google Business Profile (usually called your GBP) is basically your virtual storefront. The role of your business profile is to enhance your brand’s visibility in local search or Maps search. For anyone that has opened up Google Maps to look for the closest restaurant or “coffee shop near me”, the GBP is what appears and displays your business information.
Components of Your Business Listing
Name Address Phone (NAP)
Your business name should be your legal name and should match the business name as it appears on your website. This shows Google that your business information is consistent across all platforms and provides a level of “legitimacy” so that Google feels good about showing your business in search results.
Your address should be the physical address that your business resides at. You should essentially have proof of business occupancy at this address in the form of a tax license, lease agreement or utility bill. Google will require this documentation for verification in order to display your address on your profile.
Google does NOT accept the following:
- – PO Boxes
- – Virtual offices
- – UPS mailbox services
- – Unstaffed locations (such as pop-up shops)
Note that residential addresses are also not permitted to be visible. Google requires that any residential address (that does not allow customer-facing access) to hide the address, making this type of listing a Service Area Based listing (or SAB listing).
For any shared office space, Google requires that businesses have a dedicated area to display the address. Renting a desk or temporary shared space is insufficient to be able to display that address in the business listing.
If Google cannot verify that the business is legitimate and resides at that address through their verification process, the business listing will not be accepted.
Your phone number should ideally be a number with a local area code that corresponds to your business’s location, and it should be consistent with your company website. The phone number should be operational during your business hours.
Business Description
Your description is your ability to share who you are and what you offer to your potential customers. You have up to 750 characters in this section, and this is where you will want to highlight what makes your brand different and establish your value.
Business Hours
Your business hours should represent your company’s hours of operation and match what is listed on your website. You should only put 24 hours if you have someone answering phones throughout the entire day and night or provide emergency services. Remember that listing 24 hours sets an expectation that you will be available for your customer, and that accurate hours on your GBP improves customer satisfaction and prevents any unnecessary frustration.
Categories
Your business listing allows you to choose one primary category to represent your brand. Choose the category that you want to appear in search for the most, as this category will influence Google as to how you are displayed in search results. You can choose up to 9 additional categories. ONLY add those that are relevant to services that your company provides.
Location / Service Area
You can add up to 20 service areas to show where you operate, and this feature is especially important for service providers that operate within a certain radius. Focus on your key markets and where your target customers are located.
Reviews
You will be provided with a review link that you can provide to your clients to start receiving reviews. Reviews are a key element of your online presence and credibility, and can appear in search and Maps. These reviews will provide you with feedback as to the customer experience, and you can respond and engage with your customers directly from your profile.
Photos
You can add photos of your business to help draw attention to your brand. Your GBP allows you to upload a logo as well as a cover photo to represent your business. Google also suggests adding exterior photos to help customers locate your business, and interior photos.
Attributes
The attributes section on your Google listing allows you to add details that help a customer to learn about what your business offers. This is specific information about your company’s amenities and unique features, such as if your business has accessibility or not.
Section 2: Why Your Google Business Profile is Important for Local SEO
Your Google Business Profile is beneficial for many reasons. It is part of an off-page SEO strategy that helps with search ranking in both local search and Maps, it provides a source of credibility for your business and it can help with voice search and other relevant queries.
Your profile also supports consumer engagement and it maintains a level of active involvement through various aspects of the listing like reviews and photos. It can also provide solid insights about how people are searching and finding your business and increases the ability to have users click through to your website.
Section 3: Tips to Optimize Your Google Business Profile for SEO
Once you have the basic information on your profile, there are things that you can do to “optimize” or improve your profile for better ranking potential.
Consistent NAP is Important
Consistency in your business information helps search engines verify your business and improve local search rankings. Checking your naming convention across all online directories or mentions is important because inconsistent information confuses search engines which then leads to a reduced visibility. If Google confirms your information is accurate and up to date across the Internet, you have a better likelihood to rank higher in relevant search.
Choose the Right Categories
Make sure that you choose the best primary category to describe your business as this is what Google prioritizes. For example, you may be a veterinary clinic that offers grooming services. You would want to ensure that your primary category represents the vet services and that you choose secondary categories to describe the additional services your business offers.
Regularly review these, especially if your business is seasonal. If you are an HVAC company, you may have your primary category set to “AC contractor” in the summer but switch it to “heating contractor” in the winter months. Your categories can improve your ability to rank. Similarly, if you remove products or services you will want to make sure you revisit your profile and update your associated services.
Another best practice is to look at your main competitors and identify the categories that they use and choose similar. Do NOT add irrelevant categories that may confuse Google about your business.
Compelling Descriptions
How you convey your company can give people a reason to select you over your competitors. A compelling description with relevant keywords can distinguish your brand and also help your business profile to perform better in local search. Ensure that you are prioritizing keywords that are used by people to find businesses like yours that provide your services or products. Make sure you do not overuse the terms but rather provide a natural summary to demonstrates your understanding of your customer’s needs and how you can fulfill them.
Optimize Your Service Area Section
Google is essentially a proximity-based search engine and wants to show consumers businesses that are reputable, but also close to their location. Too large of a service area will negatively impact your ability to rank locally. So keep a service area with a reasonable distance around your business and avoid selecting areas too far from your actual location.
Also avoid overlapping areas that are redundant and keep your service area specific to cities or zip codes over states or counties. This will help Google to understand your local relevancy. Carefully select the areas that can improve your local visibility.
Photos and Videos
Update your photos section frequently with high-quality images and short videos to enhance your business’s appeal and connect with your audience. Photos capture people’s attention and create a more inviting experience, as well as provide a sense of your brand without even talking to someone or visiting a location.
Make sure photos are high-resolution and accurately depict your products or services. Consistency is key. In addition, Google loves visual representation of your business so that consumers can make the best decisions possible. Photos and videos will keep your profile up to date and relevant and signal to Google that you maintain your profile, which will positively influence your ability to rank in search.
Also important to note: Google has guidelines when it comes to images uploaded to your GBP. Inappropriate content is prohibited, as well as images that offer misleading representation (think stock images that don’t accurately depict your products or services), promotional content with prices or call-to-action, and copyrighted material. Photos that do not meet guidelines will be marked as “not approved” and not visible to your consumer.
Stay Engaged and Manage Your Reputation
Reviews are a major ranking factor for your Google Business Profile. Positive reviews show that your business is credible and trustworthy, and recent reviews shows that your brand is active. Google also looks at various aspects to determine rankings, and this not only includes the quantity of reviews but also responses. Managing your reputation by responding to your client reviews allows you to show that your business is attentive to your consumer. In addition, incorporating relevant keywords into your responses (think “thank you for the review, we cannot wait to provide air conditioning services for you in the future”) can help strengthen your SEO.
Make sure you are responding to ALL reviews, not just positive reviews. Even negative reviews need engagement, so make sure to address concerns in a professional manner.
Add Your Latest Offers or Provide Updates on Your Brand!
You can use the Updates section to post news about your brand, such as offers and events in order to engage with your potential customers. This section will also improve your results in local SEO. Regular updates show that your profile is engaging and active, and these updates can thus contribute to better rankings as Google favors profiles that are updated frequently. Each post or update allows you to include content with relevant keywords that may improve your chance of being shown in relevant search. This area ultimately makes your profile a source of consistently updated information to keep your audience informed.
Section 4: Leveraging Insights from Google Business Profile Analytics
Your business profile has a section in your dashboard that speaks to performance. This section provides valuable insight into how many people are finding and interacting with your business profile, including calls and bookings as well as direction requests. It also shows how many people click on your website from the GBP, demonstrating value in potential conversions.
Pay close attention to your search breakdown. Your GBP shows search terms that showed your business profile so that you can see how customers are finding your business. This allows you to refine and adjust strategy for better search rankings and better customer engagement.
Section 5: Troubleshooting Common Google Business Profile Issues
If you have ever had an issue with your Google Business Profile, then you know troubleshooting business profile problems is no fun and can be time consuming. You are at the mercy of Google and their support team, so patience and consistent follow up is crucial to getting any type of resolution.
Verification Problems
Verification issues can happen for several reasons. Incorrect address is the main one so be prepared with documentation that shows that your business resides at the address you provided.
Businesses that reside in shared spaces may also face verification challenges since Google requires a permanent physical address to display it on the listing. Businesses may need to hide their address or they will risk Google suspension.
Ownership changes will also trigger the need to re-verify. If a new owner was not granted access to the listing and does not have the proper documentation, there could be issues with verification. Make sure you follow Google’s verification process guidelines.
Address and Location Issues
One common address and location issue with your Google Business Profile Tips have to do with your map pin. If you move the map pin on your GBP profile, you may need to reverify the listing. This is to confirm that your business is located at the adjusted address. This is not all the time; minor changes within a mile radius may not require the need to re-verify. But if you move it significantly away from its current placement, you will need to follow the steps to verify your listing.
Review Challenges
Managing reviews can be a challenge, especially if a business receives an unfavorable review. Responding professionally and trying to resolve the issue offline is the best course of action.
If you find that you have reviews on your profile that are negative and also unrecognizable, you can report these false reviews via Google support and ask that they be removed. You can flag them and send Google a report that the review is spam, inappropriate material or for other reasons. If Google still does not remove, you can submit a support ticket to escalate the issue.
At times, you may find that reviews are missing. In cases like this, you can again file a support ticket with Google to request those missing reviews are reinstated to your profile. Best practice if possible is to keep a log with your reviewers name and date of review in the event that this occurs so that you can provide Google with important information to aid in retrieving the missing reviews.
Suspended Profiles
Those who have had suspended profiles know that Google can be a force to be reckoned with, and reinstatement can take time. But the reality is that this is the issue that is the most concerning, because if your profile is suspended then people cannot find your business.
Common reasons that businesses get suspended are the following:
- – Misleading information
- – Prohibited businesses
- – Inappropriate content
- – Multiple profiles for a single business
- – Violations (Keyword stuffing)
- – Suspicious activity
- – Frequent changes
If your profile is suspended, you must follow a very specific approach to get your listing reinstated. You will want to review Google’s guidelines to identify the cause of suspension, check your profile for inconsistencies and ensure that your business details are consistent online. If you find any violations, correct them. Make sure your business information is accurate and that you are not keyword stuffing in the name.
Gather the appropriate documentation including utility bills, business tax licenses, lease agreements and photos of your storefront. You will need these when you submit a request for reinstatement, which you can do through your dashboard. Google will ask for the supporting documentation and photos to be added via an attachment. After submitting, monitor your email for follow-up and be patient.
Managing Duplicate Listings:
Duplicate listings happen if two listings are created for the same business at the same location. This happens more than you can imagine and may happen if you have multiple people managing your business listings or create a new listing instead of updating an address on your current listing. This may also happen due to changes in business ownership or because of third party data aggregators.
If you have a duplicate listing in your Google dashboard, verify that all the information is the same on each listing (including number of reviews) and if so, you can delete a listing within the Account Summary section of your business account.
Contact Our Experts for GBP Management Services
Without a fully optimized business listing, you may not even be found by those within your close service radius. Leverage the guide and steps above to get started with your business profile and optimize it effectively for search and overall visibility.
Or hire our SEO experts to do it for you! Our experts understand Google’s processes and requirements for their business listings and can help you through each step of the process, from listing creation to optimization and analytics. Contact the team at HardPart today to learn how we can support your local marketing efforts through GBP management services!
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