Is your Google Profile Complete?
Lets talk about Google My Business or as it’s called now Google Business Profile. Google Business Profile is one of the fastest and easiest ways to grow your business, so why isn’t everyone doing it? Google has a bad habit of making changes and not informing the public, so it is up to businesses to experiment and see what works. As it turns out, Google Business Profile makes a huge difference. Up until a few years ago that wasn’t the case, your place on Google was mostly determined by the amount of SEO you completed. 10 years ago you could strategically change some keywords and see immediate results, 5 years ago you had to ensure your content was SEO friendly with just the right amount of keywords placed throughout. Now in 2022 you also have to make sure your Google Business Profile is built correctly to target the correct audience while making posts/updates consistently.
Now that we know why we need to complete our Google Business Profile lets talk about what needs to be done at the bare minimum to ensure it is working for you at least a little bit. In the photo below you will see the business of one of my clients. Let’s go over it so you can see what is done.
- At the top of the listing the first thing you see is the business name. You want this to be clear and to the point, no frills or extras here.
- Next you will see the address, areas served, hours, and phone number. If you want to be found, it is critical that this information is perfect. In the areas served section it’s possible to include the entire US, but I recommend if you are a new listing to just put the surrounding states and major cities until you are well established and Google trusts your site.
- Questions & Answers at the bottom of the page is a great place to put some of your most commonly asked questions. This will help to eliminate some of the repeat questions you might get asked.
These 3 steps are probably most essential for short term success. The next 2 sections is where you want to focus your attention to on a weekly basis if you want to succeed long term.
Oh the Reviews!
Reviews are one of those items that can sink a business quickly, one bad review written correctly can turn your business upside down and stop that phone from ringing almost overnight.
Reviews need to be managed in a way that you are promoting good reviews and managing the bad ones. First of all you should be responding to every review good or bad, and generic responses don’t work here. Every response needs to be unique. By responding to every review you are letting Google know that you care about your customer and what they think about you.
Description and Updates
Business Descriptions….. this is the area you will need to put some thought into and consider changing periodically. This spot needs to hit all the major points in one paragraph. What you do, where you do it, why they should choose you, and what they should expect. Don’t skimp here, a lot of the information put into this area is used to across Google to promote your business.
The last point I want to touch on is probably one of the most important for your long term success. In the Updates section Google lets you post updates, offers, events, or products. You should be using this section much like your wall on Facebook, providing information to customers consistently. This is one of those things that really didn’t matter much until a couple of years ago. However, Google’s algorithm seems to have changed recently and it’s looking at these updates more and more for information about your business.
Conclusion
Don’t let the competition get the upper hand simply because your google listing isn’t complete and updated. Follow the steps above at the bare minimum to ensure your business continues moving forward.
There is of course more to Google Business Profile then what is gone over in this article, but if I spilled all my secrets then why would you need me? My team can ensure your profile is correct, SEO friendly, and updated consistently. Let us know how we can help you.
Special thanks to Christians Guardian Shepherds for letting me use their business in my examples. https://www.christiansguardianshepherds.com/