Google Business Profiles are an incredibly useful marketing tool for any business looking to expand their reach, increase their online visibility, and attract more customers. They are an excellent way to build trust and credibility, and can even help businesses rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) if optimized correctly.
Creating a Google Business Profile is easy, but optimizing it for maximum results can be a bit more challenging. That’s why it’s important for businesses to have an effective strategy for optimizing their profile, and some strategic direction. In this article, I’ll outline some of the best ways to optimize your Google Business Profile so that it acts as an effective marketing tool for your online store.
Utilize Relevant Keywords
The first step to optimizing your Google Business Profile is to utilize the right keywords. Keywords are words or phrases that people use when searching for products or services related to your business, and are a key part of SEO. By including keywords in your profile, you’ll be able to ensure that your profile shows up in relevant search results.
Most of the time when we think of keywords, it’s for the purpose of optimizing a page on your actual website or online store. In this instance, it works in a similar fashion: you want to uncover keywords that are relevant to your brand and products, that you wouldn’t mind incorporating into the content within your Google Business Profile.
When selecting keywords, it’s important to think like your potential customers. What words or phrases would they use when searching for your business? You don’t need any fancy SEO tools here, you can simply use Google’s Keyword Planner tool to get more ideas. Once you’ve selected a few keywords, make sure to include them in the profile description, titles, and other sections.
Complete All Sections
In order to get the most out of your Google store profile, it’s important to make sure that all sections are completed. This includes the profile description, business hours, contact information, and more. Make sure to include all relevant information, such as the address, phone number, website, and social media links.
It’s also important to keep the profile information up to date. If there are any changes to the business hours, contact information, or any other details, make sure to update the profile accordingly. Sometimes, Google will actually send you reminders and prompts when it believes you should update your information, such as during holidays. This is to ensure that you are providing the most accurate information possible.
Remember, Google is all about user experience and making things helpful and easy for users. If your business profile has any inaccurate or outdated information, this could harm your ability to appear high in the search results or in map listings.
Add Photos and Videos
Adding photos and videos to your profile can help make it more engaging and attractive to potential customers. You can add photos of your storefront, products or services, and even videos of customer testimonials. This will help give customers a better understanding of what your business is about and what it has to offer.
You can also add various graphics such as product photos, infographics about your store or industry, branding items such as logos, and other visual items to your profile as well. The more content, the better, so long as it is relevant.
Ask for Reviews
Reviews are an important part of any business’s success, and they can be especially impactful when it comes to Google Business Profiles. Ask your customers to leave reviews on your profile, and make sure to respond to any reviews that you receive. This will help show potential customers that your business is reliable and trustworthy.
Trust is one of the most important trends in eCommerce right now. If you want your store to stand out and attract customers, you want those star ratings to stick out. While there are quite a few different places you can source reviews from, Google is one of the best, simply because the platform conveys so much authority. Much like ranking high on Google carries more weight than ranking high on search engines like Bing and DuckDuckGo, the same holds true for Google reviews.
Other Ways to Use Your Google Business Profile
There are plenty of different ways to utilize your Google profile for marketing purposes. For instance, you can use it to announce sales with catchy graphics, or even use it like a product “look book” or collage.
The one thing you don’t want to do is completely ignore it. You should try and add new content at least every month, this way your customers will know you are an active business without even having to visit your social media profiles or website.
Recently, our CEO, Dan Kogan, was interviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer regarding the subject of optimizing Google business profiles. He stated that these optimizations are one of the simplest things you can do in terms of positioning your small business for success. By following through on some of the recommendations above, not only can you generate more traffic and leads, you could even boost your revenue as well.
Ready to Start Optimizing Your Business Profile?
By following these tips, you’ll be able to optimize your Google Business Profile and get the most out of it. Keep in mind that optimizing your profile is an ongoing process, so make sure to review it regularly and update it as needed. Doing so will help ensure that your profile is as effective as possible.
If you aren’t exactly sure where to begin (or how), that’s fine. Google profile optimization can be somewhat intimidating, and like any other form of marketing, should be handled strategically if you want to gain the most benefit.
Here at 1Digital, we specialize in local SEO and Google profile optimization for eCommerce businesses. Whether you want to appear more frequently in the Google map listings in your area, or simply want a professional-looking Google My Business profile to call your own, we can take care of it for you. With one-time optimizations and ongoing local business profile content campaigns available, we have plenty of different options that can help you reach more customers and outplay your local competition.