Optimizing Google My Business: 7 ultimate tips
Have you already claimed and optimized your free Google My Business? With this listing you have the chance to appear in Google’s free results with local searches and in Google Maps. Include important company information, such as opening hours, address and a link to the website. We would like to give you 7 ultimate tips to optimize your Google My Business to be visible online locally in 2023.
What is Google my Business?
On Google My Business (GMB), you can share your contact information, location, and hours of operation with the public. This is also the place where you can comment on Google reviews and share your own photos and videos. If you have an important announcement, you can also share it via a post. This way your visitors get a better picture of your company at a glance. By optimizing your company profile, you help your company with a higher ranking in the local search results and Google Maps.
Sign your business in to Google My Business
Before you can start optimizing your business page, it is important to register your company. Registration is completely free and can be done by following the step-by-step plan on Google My Business (GMB):
How to sign in to Google My Business?
- Click on ‘Manage Now’ at the top right of your screen;
- Add your company name and click next;
- Add your business location and click Next. Google verifies your listing, so make sure data is correct;
- Verify your location with the pen on the map and click ‘Next’;
- Choose which area you are active and click ‘Next’;
- Choose the category that best suits your company and click ‘Next’;
- Add your business website URL and phone number to your contact information. Click ‘Next’;
- Choose whether you want to receive recommendations from Google and click Next. It is advisable to click on ‘Yes’. You’ll then receive personalized recommendations that can help you with your listings;
- Finally, click ‘Finish.’
you have now set up your Google My Business page. All you have to do now is verify your listing. This confirms that it is about your company. There are several ways you can do this. You can choose to verify your business with an automated call or text message, or you can choose to verify with a postcard. If you choose the latter option, you will receive a letter at your address with a code. Keep in mind that this can take up to 15 days. That is why I recommend that you request the code via an automatic phone call or text message. You will then immediately receive your code and then you can start adjusting your business profile.
7 Useful Tips to Optimize Your Google My Business
Tip 1: Optimize your business information
Local search results prefer the most relevant results for searches. As a company, you have an advantage when you offer the most detailed and accurate information. Therefore, fill in as much information as possible under the ‘Information’ section. You can find this on the left side of your GMB dashboard.
Tip 2: Include your most important keywords in the company information
Just like with traditional SEO, the use of strategic keywords is a determining factor for determining the search results. Therefore, use your most important keywords in the business description and every time you make a local post for your audience.
Tip 3: Collect reviews and answer questions
Interacting with customers shows that your company values customers and the feedback they leave. Convincing reviews have a positive effect on potential customers when researching your business. In addition, positive reviews are an influencing factor on the search results. Therefore, encourage customers to leave feedback on your business page.
Tip 4: Business photos: the ultimate guide to looking good online
According to Google, businesses with photos and videos on their Google My Business page receive 42% more requests for directions on Google Maps and 35% more clicks to their websites than businesses without photos and videos. Moreover, with high-quality business photos, you can influence how people see your company. Your rankings will increase because Google sees that you are updating your Google business page. According to Google, businesses have an average of 11 photos on their business page, but businesses with more than 100 photos on Google My Business get 520% more calls, 2.7% more leads, and 1.1% more website clicks than an average profile.
Here’s how to optimize your business listing with photos, videos, and virtual tours:
- Go for a crushing first impression with high-quality photos and videos
- Don’t forget to add photos of common areas
Add as many (qualitative) photos of your product/service as possible - Add a virtual tour video to give a good picture of your company.
- Post photos of the outside of your office/business from different angles.
- Also post photos of colleagues interacting with customers
Tip 5: Share the latest news with posts
It’s the Twitter of Google My Business: the posts. These mini messages ensure interaction with your audience and provide extra traffic to your website. Share relevant news or blogs. But keep it short and sweet. Use attractive visuals and make the reader curious about the content. Place a clear call-to-action under your post and eventually refer the reader to your website.
Tip 6: Show your product range
Give customers a better idea of your business by offering products directly through Google my Business, as long as you sell products, of course. Share information like pricing, details, and photos so visitors interact more with your business. These product details also allow Google to better understand your business and that creates a positive influence on your search results.
Tip 7: Measure your GMB traffic with UTM-Tagging
To measure is to know. Therefore, set up a UTM tag to accurately track the traffic from your GMB page to your website. You will be surprised how much traffic you get through this channel. Add your UTM tag to your website URL and place it on your GMB profile under the ‘Information’ section. Are you curious about how you can create a UTM tag for your website? Download our UTM Builder spreadsheet for free to easily generate UTM tags yourself!
