Sections
Google My Business: 7 Best Practices and Tips
Did you know that 97% of people use the internet to find local businesses, and 12% do so on a daily basis?
Optimize your Google My Business profile, and you can make sure those people find your business—instead of your competitors. (See Your Marketing People’s GMB profile.)
Investing in your Google My Business profile significantly expands your real estate in the SERPs. A better GMB profile makes you more likely to appear in the local map 3-pack. Plus, whenever someone searches for your business by name, you can take up virtually the entire right rail of search with your Knowledge Panel!
Ready to optimize your Google My Business profile for more views, more traffic, and more customers? Get started with these Google My Business best practices and tips.
1. Completely fill out your profile.
Google My Business is your brand’s biggest opportunity to reach searchers in Google. It’s also one of the few avenues businesses have for communicating directly to Google the most important details about their business.
Don’t treat that lightly. Take the time to completely fill out your GMB listing. Fill in your address, phone, hours, location, and more. This should match the information you have displayed in your website footer:
2. Treat your Description like a mini-advertisement.
Your business description shows beneath your reviews in the Knowledge Panel, introduced by “From [Your Brand].” Here, you have 750 characters to share what your business is all about. You’re not allowed to post sales or promotions in this section, per Google’s guidelines.
Rather, you should use treat this field as a meta description for your Google My Business profile. What are the best things you could tell a local searcher about your business to pique their interest? At the same time, try to naturally include target keywords here about your location and your products or services.
While you have 750 characters total, only the first 250 or so appear before users have to click a “More” link to expand, so prioritize your selling points accordingly.
Ramp Up Your SEO
Need help with your SEO? Your Marketing People’s team has the expertise and creativity to get your business noticed in the SERPs.
3. Ask and answer your top FAQ in the Q&A.
The Questions & Answers section displays right above the “Reviews from the web” section. This is basically a crowdsourced FAQ for your business, where anyone can both ask and answer questions.
If multiple users answer a question, the answer with the most thumbs up votes will appear first. Questions are ordered similarly, by popularity.
Add your own FAQ to this section, and you’ll help guide potential customers. More importantly, you’ll be able to better control the discussion taking place around your brand in the SERPs. Monitor your Q&A frequently, and upvote crowdsourced questions and responses that you like.
4. Get visual with photo and video.
Business owners as well as Google users can add media to Google My Business. Attract a searcher’s attention with enticing photos and videos that make them want to click through and engage with your listing.
At a minimum, upload at least 10 high-quality photos and 2 videos on your profile. Videos must be shorter than 30 seconds, 100mb or less, with 720p resolution. Refresh your photos regularly, and use professional editing or camera equipment if you have it available. You want to show your business in the best light possible.
Pro tip from our SEO Manager Chris Casarez:
“Embed metadata in your images before you upload them to Google. Don’t just use the default filename of IMG_1234. Instead, re-save the image with a new file name reflecting the relevant keywords, like “Pumpkin Spice Cold Brew from Sara’s Coffee Anaheim.” If you take your photos on your phone, you can also add geo-tags to automatically associate your photos with your business location.”
Photos get ordered by popularity, so your brand can upvote certain ones from the community to make sure the ones you like show up first.
5. Drive conversions with Action URLs.
Google My Business can be frustrating because it gives users everything they need to know right in Google, instead of forcing them to visit your website (which business owners would prefer). However, that’s the world we live in, so you’re better off playing Google’s game than resisting it.
Fortunately, Google has added buttons that make it easy for you to drive business, straight from the search results.
In the URLs section of your GMB dashboard, you can upload links and activate buttons to let people book appointments, reserve a table at your restaurant, order online, or view your menu. On Google, these links display as a prominent bright blue CTA button:
6. Stay engaged with strategic Google Posts.
When users search for your business by name, they’re likely in a conversion-state of mind. They want to visit your location, call you to book an appointment, or learn more about what you offer. Answer their needs with a Google Post that pushes them over the edge.
These 1500-character fields allow your brand to share short announcements about your business. They only last for 7 days, so you’ll need to share a new one every week in order to maintain this extra visibility in search.
You can share any information you want here, whether that’s your latest blog post, a new product launch, or in-store event:
Pro tip: Increase your conversions by adding Book call-to-action buttons to your Google Posts and highlighting your products or services.
Early research indicates Google Posts may be a ranking factor, so this section is worth putting effort into. In your posts, you can also add photos (the ideal size is 750×750), videos (again, shorter than 30 seconds), and links. The ideal word count is 150-300 words.
7. Get your badge on.
Is your business family-owned, or founded by a woman? There’s a badge for that. Do you offer outdoor seating or free Wi-Fi? There’s a badge for that too.
In your Google My Business dashboard, click the Pencil icon under the Attributes section. Here you can select various characteristics about your business. These display as a special badge by your business name on both Google Search and Google Maps. Currently these only appear on mobile search.
Make sure you select as many attributes that are relevant to your business. Attributes like women-led and LGBT-friendly can attract mission-oriented shoppers, while free Wi-Fi and outdoor seating serve those with an immediate need. Appeal to a wider range of customers by filling out your attributes.
Optimize your way to the top of Google
Large or small, a robust Google My Business profile is essential for any local business.
Take advantage of the tips above. Not only will you improve your position in the SERPs, but you’ll stand out to customers searching for a business like yours.
Get more from your Google My Business profile. Contact Your Marketing People to find out how.
