Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is a free tool that lets you manage your local SEO and get your business into local search results quickly. Here are a few tips to make the most of it.
But what exactly is a local search?
A local search is simply a search made by an internet user to which the search engine responds with local results provided by Google Business Profile. There are two types of local search. In the first, the user includes a location in their query. This might be the name of a neighbourhood or a town. Example search: “SEO agency Geneva”. In this case, Google shows local results based on the user’s query in order to give them the best possible answer.
The second type of local search is one where Google shows local results based on where the user is, because they have not included any geographical term in their query. For example, “Chinese restaurant” is a search with no geographical term, yet Google will show local results because its artificial intelligence determines that the user intends to find a Chinese restaurant near them. In this case, the results shown are based on the user’s location at the time of the search. So remember: a search can be local for Google without even containing a geographical term.
To rank well in the local results generated by both types of local search, having a Google Business Profile listing is essential, because the platform ranks businesses by location but also by relevance.
And what about Google Business Profile?
It is a free web service, yet another one offered by Google, that helps local shops and services improve their online presence. Locksmiths, plumbers, hairdressers, printers, craftspeople, petrol stations, restaurants, sports coaches, car body repairers and many more are typical examples of businesses affected by local searches. In short, a plumber without a Google Business Profile listing will miss out on a huge number of customers who use the web to find a solution to their problem. In fact, Google Business Profile lets you appear in the local results (the “local box”, to the experts) and therefore stand out above the standard organic results, as the screenshot below shows:
It displays various pieces of information, such as the business name, the average review rating, opening hours, a link to the website, directions and the postal address. By clicking on a particular listing, we can see the details and content of the reviews to help us decide. Given how important customer reviews are to a company’s online reputation, managing them well is essential. Now that you know what it is, how can you use Google Business Profile to boost your business? We can see that only three results appear by default, so it is essential to be one of them.
Local SEO, a real boost for your business
Customers can find you
That is the tool’s core purpose. More and more people search for a service or product directly on Google. They no longer go through traditional directories such as the Yellow Pages and the like. Google Business Profile has become a necessity for increasing your online presence, and it lets you win customers online quickly. Take a printer who has just opened a print shop. How will they make themselves known? Of course, they will use word of mouth, social media and other advertising. But they will not necessarily reach the people who are looking for a printer on their own initiative. With Google Business Profile, this printer can quickly win customers online with keywords such as print shop followed by the name of the town or neighbourhood.
And contact you
As well as finding you, these people can even contact you directly through your Google Business Profile listing. They can send you a message, call you and even ask you a question directly via Google. Needless to say, using the tool and the time it saves you are invaluable. However, the buying process very often comes after one fundamental step: gathering information. Internet users and prospects may want to find out more first, and that is the stage where you need to stand out.
But also find out about your business
Google Business Profile puts information front and centre, such as reviews, the company’s activities, services, products, prices and photos, for example of the premises themselves. And if that is not enough, users can also choose to visit the company’s website. Note that you do not need a website to use Google Business Profile, although it is an excellent complement. There are methods for properly managing the information in your Google Business Profile listing to drive your business forward and climb the search results. As usual, Google also ranks the local results it shows, and if you do not appear among the first, Google Business Profile loses its power. That is why it is important to apply the right methods to make the most of it.
Proven methods and tips for improving your local SEO with Google Business Profile
Claim or create your Google Business Profile listing
If you haven’t done so yet, go for it! Creating a Google Business Profile listing is very quick and completely free. This is the tool from which you can manage and optimise your local SEO. Google or an internet user may also have already created a listing for you. Fortunately, you can claim it directly from the search results and take control of it. Once your listing is in your hands, let’s look at the optimisations worth making to gain visibility in the local rankings.
Reviews: a major impact on your online reputation
Reviews have a significant impact on how businesses rank in local results. They are also very widely read and used by internet users to make their decisions. For the moment, Google only takes into account the total number of reviews, not their rating. So, for Google, what matters is getting reviews and replying to them. Of course, the best marketing strategy is to please the bots, but also the humans. So it is best to get, above all, a large number of good reviews.
Getting reviews
The key is to get as many reviews as possible, but in a natural way. What do we mean by that? You shouldn’t get 100 reviews in one week and then nothing more. Google finds this pattern suspicious. That is why it is better to collect reviews regularly rather than en masse over a short period. It is an ongoing, steady process: systematically ask your customers to leave a review in order to improve your Google Business Profile ranking.
Replying to reviews
Reply! Whether for the Google bots, which recommend it, or for the people who read them, it is very important to reply to good reviews and bad ones alike. Ideally, offer personalised, high-quality replies. When it comes to how to reply to negative and positive reviews on Google or on other platforms, it is best to avoid bare “Thanks.” or “That’s kind.” replies, as well as aggressive responses to negative reviews. Diplomacy and originality are your allies for your online reputation.
Optimising your photos
Another ranking factor in local results: photos. Google Business Profile lets you add a wealth of them. Add relevant photos, such as your logo, your business, your services and products and your cover photo, taking care to name your files with keywords before uploading them to the platform to optimise your local SEO. For Google, what matters is the number of photos and the engagement per photo; for the human audiences who view them, it is their relevance.
Fill in your listing meticulously
Google Business Profile offers a multitude of features. The secret is not to use them all, but to make the most of the ones that are relevant to you and optimise them. The most important things are to write a high-quality description of your business, to get your brand name into your business’s URL on Google Business Profile (by default your URL is too long and contains numbers), and to use the “posts” feature to publish content regularly: news or events about your business. This shows Google that you are active, and it will reward you with a better ranking. Depending on your type of business, you can add opening hours, the areas you serve, how to get there, your menu if you are a restaurant and even all the services you offer. In short, be as complete and relevant as possible!
Optimise your website
Your Google Business Profile listing includes a link and a button to your website, so don’t neglect it. Many factors come into play for good SEO for your website. Above all, we will focus on speed, mobile compatibility and content: your site must be fast, mobile-friendly (“responsive” on every device) and offer quality content, in other words content that is relevant to your target audiences and to search engines. To improve your ranking in local results, content plays a vital role. Imagine you own a Chinese restaurant in Geneva but don’t mention it, or mention it poorly, on your site: Google will be suspicious and your rankings will suffer. The Google Search Console application is your ally for optimising all these factors. We at Digital Cuts would be delighted to be your ally too: some of the activities mentioned in this article look simple, but subtle details have a major impact on your results and your turnover. Our passion is online performance: when our clients entrust us with their web activity, we “drive” it all the way to the “podium”. Our other passion is digital marketing coaching and training: we enthusiastically share the strategies and tactics behind revenue growth. So you can take the wheel with us, or on your own, whenever you like. To find out more, contact us.
