Your Google My Business profile is an important part of your online presence and findability on Google. Google My Business (GMB) is the secret weapon to your online success—making sure it is accurate, updated, and complete is key to driving more customers and sales to your business.
Your business’s GMB listing should be your top priority when trying to get found on Google, but knowing how to optimize your profile in addition to maintaining it is vital to your SEO success. Here are 3 ways to optimize your Google My Business profile to stand out, get found, and get selected.
1. Claim and Verify Your Business
The first step to optimizing your Google My Business profile is to verify and claim it. In order to claim your GMB profile, you must first create a Google account for your business by going to https://www.google.com/business/ and opting to “Manage Now”.
From there, you should find your business on Google Maps or Search and select “claim this business”, or if it does not appear, you can create a new listing from scratch by clicking “add a place” on Google Maps. Once you have claimed your business, the next step is to verify your listing.
Verifying your Google My Business profile is just as important as completing it, so in order to build trust, strong SEO, and optimize your GMB profile, you must follow these steps. If you do not verify your listing, you will not be able to make any changes to your profile once it has been published.
There are several ways to verify your Google My Business profile via PIN. Once you have requested verification, Google will send you a code or PIN either through the mail on a postcard, to the phone number associated with your business, the email address displayed on your GMB profile or through Google Search Console if you have already been validated. In order to optimize your Google My Business profile, show up on Google results and build strong SEO, you must claim and verify your profile.
2. Post Regularly
Your GMB profile is like a garden, it needs to be tended to in order to grow. A great way to optimize your profile, build strong SEO, and get found on Google is by posting relevant and engaging content on a regular basis. Your GMB Posts should include information about and photos of events, promotions, blog posts and behind-the-scenes peeks at your business.
Posting regularly to your Google My Business profile will help to boost your online presence, improve your search ranking and get seen by more potential customers.
Your profile Posts should follow other social media best practices and should include topics such as:
- New products, services, or offerings available
- Discounts or promotions you’re currently running
- Photos of customers at parties or in-store events enjoying themselves or mingling
- Any business updates, such as extended holiday hours or new locations opening
As long as any content, links or images you push to your site are relevant to your business, high-quality, and accurate, you will be optimizing your GMB profile with every post. Make sure each post includes an image, caption and call to action.
3. Collect Reviews
Collecting reviews is important for optimizing your GMB profile. By building strong Google reviews, you will improve customer trust and loyalty, help establish strong SEO and create vital brand awareness. The best proof that you are a reliable business with a fantastic product or service is happy customers, and reviews are the best way to show that.
Collecting reviews will also help to strengthen your SEO by improving your search engine ranking, making sure your business is getting seen by more potential customers.
If you are struggling to get organic views to your website, asking regular, loyal customers to write a positive Google review is a great way to optimize your profile and improve your search ranking. The more reviews you collect, the better optimized your Google My Business profile will be.
Optimizing your GMB profile is a great way to get found, stand out and get selected over your competition. The more complete, accurate, and updated your Google My Business profile is, the stronger your SEO will be, and the higher you will rank on Google.
Check to see how your Google My Business listing ranks with our free tool. By following these 3 simple tips, you will be able to optimize your Google My Business profile in no time at all.
