How To Optimize Your Google Business

It's more important than ever to optimize your Google Business Profile (GBP) to boost your SEO and help customers find you. Whether your customers are searching for in-person options or digital ones, a strong Google Business Profile helps boost your traditional and AI-fuled rankings. 

What is a google business profile?

A Google Business Profile, formerly know as Google My Business, is a free business listing on Google designed to help turn digital viewers into paying customers. When using a GBP, Google allows organizations to have full authority over how their storefront or service are seen on the results page and Google Maps. This is critical for location-based searches, as a GBP listing will quickly display the business’ name, location, hours, reviews, Q&A, posts, and photos to consumers. GBP is an excellent asset and an essential step for any small business’s search engine optimization (SEO) strategy.

An optimized GBP can attract customers and boost revenue by increasing the search ranking and boosting overall online visibility. On average, over 75% of all listings are found through organic search, many of which are achieved through direct and discovery searches. An optimized and maintained GBP listing will make it easy for customers to find your business while boosting your local search ranking.

• Direct searches contain people searching for a specific business; they know what they’re looking for (I.e. GROWL Agency Grand Junction).
• Discovery searches are related to your business and relevant to your area (i.e. marketing agency Grand Junction).

google business profiles & local search

Naturally, GBPs are critical for local search. Businesses can enhance visibility and the end user's experience by adding photos, showcasing products and services, adding events, and by keeping hours, location data, and contact information up to date. These elements not only fuel Google's search engine results page (SERP), but help get your business listings ranking on the map. 

Optimize your google business profile for local search

To maximize the impact of your GBP, it's crucial to optimize first. This begins with verifying your profile and claiming your listing. Typically, Google will require both digital and physical authentication before you can begin making updates to the listing.

Three Simple Steps for Optimization

1.  Claim Your Business & Verify Your Account: Google will walk you through the steps to claim your business so you can have control over the listing. You can verify your business by phone, email, or postcard. After your business has been verified, you can monitor and manage your business listing.
   
   
2. Update Information: Take time to adjust and add relevant details about the business. The details, and keywords, used enable Google to clearly understand your business. For this step, run through all aspects of your Google Business Profile including hours, location, contact information, products/services, photos, etc. The more comprehensive your account details are, the better your rankings will be. 

   Be sure to check the following fields when completing your profile. 

   • Business name
   • Launch date (date you first opened)
   • Address
   • Service area
   • Industry
   • Category
   • Contact information
   • Verify your page via phone or email
     
     

   Then, cross-reference all contact information with your social media and web pages. When your brand leverages the same information across the internet, your SEO strategy improves.  Next, follow these steps to maximize your SEO potential on Google.

3. Introduce FAQs: Google Business Profiles are equipped with a Q&A section, which are not limited to customers only, making the Q&A section prime for businesses to add keyword-rich FAQs. When building out the Q&A section, the business account is able to both ask and answer questions. Consider the common questions you receive from customers online and in-person, what keywords you want to rank for, and the "People Also Ask" section to generate a robust Q&A section. Google will use your Q&A section for both traditional and generative AI search results.

Best practices for GBP Maintenance  

Simply optimizing your Google Business Profile once is not enough. Like any machine, GBPs require ongoing tune-ups. Rather than annual or bi-annual adjustments,  a slow and steady performance plan helps your business rank highly and stay head of AI trends. Integrate the following into your digital marketing operations: 

• Add High-Quality Images: Whether you're showcasing your location, highlighting services, or promoting events, adding high-quality images and videos captures the attention of prospective customers. Not only do visuals help your business stand out, they also give Google content that will be shown through generative AI search results. 
  
  
• Source Positive Reviews & Respond: Requesting reviews from satisfied customers doesn't only contribute to the 5-star rating, reviews also contribute to search rankings. Throughout operations, encourage customers to leave positive reviews that leverage your companies product, service, and category associated keywords.
   
  
• Publish Regularly: Businesses have the unique opportunity to use their GBP as both a directory listing and a social media channel. Posts from LinkedIn and Facebook can be cross-posted onto GBP, providing prospective customers with more information and showing Google that your business is staying up-to-date, helping boost rankings. 

generative ai search implications 

In addition to conversational AI tools like ChatGPT, Google has launched its "Search Generative Experience" (SGE). Google SGE, or AI Overviews, is a search features that leverages generative AI to summarize search results, essentially offering a snapshot of key information. This gives users the ability to explore topics, view top web results, and even ask follow-up questions, all without clicking into individual links. 

SGE is not designed as a SERP replacement, but as a complementary service to help users find the right results quicker. Like ChatGPT, Google's SGE leverages conversational keywords and visuals to produce the best results. Thus, companies that keep their Google Business Profiles up-to-date and content-rich will appear more frequently in relevant SGE results. 

Want to see how prepared your company is for the AI frontier? Contact the GROWL team today for a complimentary AI-readiness assessment!