Everyone is targeting to reach and get a targeted audience on their website and lately, the competition has been tough. But why do they all want a targeted audience for their website? Because targeted audiences mean more conversions.
But still, most of them are unsuccessful. Around 167 billion search queries are entered on Google every day but, websites only get about 1260 views on average, and if you want me to continue, only 50-60 people take action. Can you think how low it is? Why is it happening?
The mistake that most website owners make these days isn’t about not implementing on-page SEO or Off-Page SEO but ignoring their Google My Business profile and its optimization. When you list your business on Google My Business it highlights the best features of your business and lets your potential customers find you and no more about you. And the more important thing is that all of these features are free.
Eager to know how to optimize? Let’s move further to find!
Create And Connect
The very first step towards optimizing one’s profile is creating it. You can’t optimize a profile that doesn’t even exist.
To create a GMB Profile, you’ll need to register with the email ID you use for your business. After that claim it and connect it to Your Google Business Profile. Remember, Google My Business Profile is Different From Google Business Profile.
Complete Every Section
After you’ve performed the basic tasks like creating the profile, the next step is to fill in the information. You’ll see there are many sections, some can be filled quickly but need too much focus and accuracy like business name, address, phone number, website and your working/open hours.
Some sections consume time, like, filling in attributes, products/ service information and questions and answers that are generated by the owner. You’ll also encounter sections that you’ll have to update regularly, like posts, reviews and answering questions asked by your customers.
If we ignore the time and conditions, all of these have one thing in common i.e., they’ll help you rank higher and there’ll be an increase in the actions taken by your customers.
Fill In Accurate Contact Information
Google prioritizes uniqueness, so, be careful while providing and filling in your contact information. What you can do is –
- Keep your business name the same as that on your local store name. This way, your business would look genuine and legit.
- Make sure that your address and name are the same everywhere where you’ve shared your contact information. Because, if Google finds out any error, it’ll surely penalize.
- With that, don’t forget to inform your audience about the hours you’re present at the store/offline location. Share your regular hours as well as holiday hours.
Choose Category
For the business names that don’t indicate the service they provide, choosing the category is a must. For example, you sell pizzas, but your business name is Alex’s Kitchen. Here, we know there’s a kitchen, but what’s cooking in? In this condition, it becomes crucial to choose a category for your business.
It highlights the unique features of your businesses and lets the users searching for the same find your website. All you need to do is, choose a primary category – the one most important for you, something that describes you the best. After that, you can choose around 19 more secondary categories which tell more about your services.
But remember, choose a category to expand your range of appearing in the search but don’t manipulate the users. Suppose, you offer take-out, so don’t choose any category that indicates you offer a “dine-in” option too. This can affect your business negatively.
Focus On Getting Reviews
Reviews have always been an attractive tool for websites. It helps you attract a lot of customers who engage and convert. How can you get reviews?
- Reach out to your loyal customers, and share your profile, they’ll surely leave a review!
- Keep the steps and links short to make the process of giving reviews easier.
- The easiest way is to ask your customers directly to leave a review.
- Show your customers how they can benefit and how they’ll be helping you as well.
- The most important step, respond to reviews! Engagement shows how much you care about your customers’ opinions and experience.
Handle Your GMB Profile With A Great Strategy
Having a GMB Profile is never a one-time process. You need to be regular here, or it’ll not fetch you anything. It’s better to create a strategy, or a plan and go with it!
The plan should include updating your GMB profile regularly – even if there are minor changes. You should post regularly as your posts get deactivated after 7 days. A regular stream of reviews would surely attract a lot more customers. Monitoring these reviews should be one of your priorities.
Optimizing a GMB profile is an ongoing process. So, start slowly, and be regular. Try to be on top of every new feature that Google puts in and take fast steps towards success!
