Your Google Business Profile
Needs Help
If you are a small or local business that needs to stand out from the crowd, the first thing that you need to do is claim and verify your Google Business Profile.
If you haven’t, you’re missing out pal.
To be honest, Google does a terrible job of emphasizing just how important and potentially powerful a Google Business Profile can be.
Below we’ll walk you through the whole song and dance, from setting it up, verifying it, and tweaking it for the best results.
So, grab a pen, paper, and let’s get started.
Before I begin, I need to lay some foundations so that you can better understand what I’m talking about.
When someone searches for a business or a service often, they will be looking for a local company that they can either go to or have come to them. Often these searches will look something like, “florists near me” or “plumber near me”.
These kinds of searches are referred to as “local searches” and Google takes various signals to determine whether a search is “local” or not. If a search includes the phrase “near me” then they will always return some kind of “local” result. These results will be dominated by businesses that either service the area that the searcher is in or have a physical location in the city that the person searching is in.
The top results in these local searches will always get the most traffic and as a result, the most sales.
Below is an example of a local search for “plumber near me”
In the image above, you’ll see that there are three main parts that I have highlighted for you.
- Ads – these are targeted at the search term, “plumbers near me” for the Reno and Sparks area.
- The Map Pack – The top ranked results for businesses that serve the area that you are in, based off of information from their Google Business Profile.
- The remaining organic results.
If you want to be in the local search results with any kind of rankings you need to be managing an optimizing your Google Business Profile. A website is only the start of your work for a small, local business. Your Google Business Profile works with your website to tell Google about your business.
So, neglecting your Google Business Profile can lead to missed opportunities, because your Google Business Profile is like having a direct line to Google.
Through it you can tell them all about your business without having to rely on Google crawling your website. Google takes time to parse through all the information on your website and understand it properly. Even once it does, it may not fully understand the purpose of your website nor the services that you offer.
A Google Business Profile is a shortcut to helping Google understand your Business, it’s a direct line instead of the game of telephone that can occur when they just crawl your website. Think of it as picking up the phone and calling someone instead of writing them a letter by hand. Your penmanship may be bad, the letter could get lost. Over the phone you are talking to the person directly.
For brick-and-mortar businesses, or those that serve a specific area, a Google Business Profile becomes doubly important.
You want to appear in local searches, and in that Map Pack, why?
Guess who gets the most traffic?
The Map Pack.
44% of the clicks will go to a result from the Map Pack
Below are screenshots of results for a Google Business Profile that ranks in the top spot for Chiropractors in my area.
You can see some of the various aspects of the profile that people will see when searching and looking at specific businesses. These Google Business profiles will appear not only in search results but Google Map results as well. Yet another reason to not neglect your Google Business Profile.
Below are screenshots of results for a Google Business Profile that ranks in the top spot for Chiropractors in my area. You can see some of the various aspects of the profile that people will see when searching and looking at specific businesses. These Google Business profiles will appear not only in search results but Google Map results as well. Yet another reason to not neglect them.
So, what do you need to do to take advantage of all of the features of a Google Business Profile?
- Create a Google Account if you do not have one already
- Click on the link below to start creating a Google Business Profile
- Get your business on Google
- If a Google Business Profile already appears for your business when you search for it, you will need to claim the listing. The link below will walk you through the steps on how to do that.
- How to add or claim your Business Profile on Google
- Follow the set-up instructions and verify your Google Business Listing.
- Most of the time Google will require you to submit a verification video or other means of verifying your business listing. You’ll see a prompt like the one below when you are viewing your listing while logged in.
- The prompts will guide you through what to do to submit your verification video but plan ahead and include things like the area around your business address, opening the door to your business or home with a key, a business card, and other tools of your trade such as your home office and more.
- For those that work from a home office the address that you use for your verification is not public and remains private.
- This Community Help page outlines the requirements in more detail for businesses that have storefronts and home-based businesses.
- Tips for Successful Google Business Profile Video Verification – Google Business Profile Community
- Fill out any additional information that is relevant to your business. Remember that not every feature of your Google Business Profile will be relevant to your as some are for specific types of businesses
- Business Name – As it appears in the real world and on your branding and signage.
- Category – The type of business that you operate. Select the proper category so that Google understands your services.
- Address – Only applicable if you offer services to customers at your location.
- Service Area – For businesses that serve a specific area, you are limited to 20 service areas, and they should be roughly a two-hour drive from your place of business.
- Regular Hours – Your normal Hours of Operation.
- Holiday Hours – Special Hours for the holidays.
- Phone Number – Where people can call you.
- Your Google Business Profile will allow customers to call you directly from the Profile on the phone number that you provide.
- Website – Link to your business website.
- Social Media Links – Links to your various social media profiles.
- Other Links – Such as links to lists of services or an online menu.
- Attributes – Such as the amenities that you offer.
- About Your Business – A brief description of your business.
- Opening Date – When you first opened.
- Services – Any services that you offer.
- Products – Any products that you offer in a physical store location.
- Bookings – Link to your online booking service or webpage.
- Check In or Out Times – Specifically for hotel locations.
- Hotel Amenities – Amenities offered by a hotel.
- Menu – Specifically for Restaurants.
- You can learn more about each of the things that you can add or edit on your Google Business Profile in the link below.
- Edit your Business Profile on Google – Google Business Profile Help.
Now the Google Business Profile sections that you will be interacting with the most often
Questions & Answers
Here people viewing your Google Business Profile can ask questions and you can respond to them.
If you already have questions that you know will come up, you can post them and answer them yourself. However, you should be mindful that you are not just promoting yourself in the Q&A section but asking and answering legitimate questions that may come up about your business.
Posts
Here you can update your profile with announcements about promotions, general updates about your business, and anything else.
With each post you can add additional information such as links, photos, and more.
Reviews
Here customers and clients can leave reviews about your business.
As the business owner you can respond to reviews, a critical function to not only build customer trust but also get valuable feedback.
Honest reviews, even the negative ones, can be critical sources of feedback for improving your business.
Businesses that have a strong number of reviews have increased trust in the eyes of customers and Google as well.
Google Ads
If you want to run paid ads you can access the Google Ads platform from your Google Business Profile. Running and making effective ads that convert is a massive topic and deserves a dedicated book of its own.
Actively Managing Your Google Business Profile
Now that you have everything set up, you’ll want to stay on top of your Google Business Profile, here’s how you do it.
- Turn on notifications – go to the link below
- Google Businesses
- Under settings (on the left-hand side) turn on notifications for all the relevant options so that you will be updated about all activity on your Google Business Profile
- The image below shows all the current options for notifications.
- With these notifications turned on you can easily manage and respond to any reviews, customer questions, and receive other updates in your email or push notifications to your phone.
Wrapping up
A Google Business Profile is key to rising in local rankings and making sure that your business is visible to anyone who is looking for your services or products.
It’s your digital billboard that helps you to attract customers and promote yourself not only to potential customers but Google as well. If your website is your digital store, then your Google Business Profile is the billboard that sits on top of it attracting customers to your business.
A well optimized and complete Google Business Profile can allow you to stand out from the competition, potentially bypassing larger brands and giving small and medium-sized businesses a leg up on the competition.
Don’t neglect it.
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