A Google Business Profile (GBP), which was previously known as Google My Business, is a vital and valuable tool for any business owner, as long as it’s used effectively. From showcasing your products and services to quickly providing contact information and updates, and from building trust with customer reviews to showing up more prominently in search, your business can benefit a lot from a GBP listing.
The fact that it’s a completely free tool gives you even more of a reason to fully utilise it!
Table of Contents
Why Should You Optimise Your Google Business Profile?
1. Local search
A Google Business Profile helps you show up in local searches and searches on Google Maps, which means you are more likely to be seen by people who want to use your service or buy your products.
As is the case for websites, Google will rank your business profile based on a number of factors, which includes quality of information. So the more optimised your profile, the better the information, the higher it appears in search, and the more people find you.
2. User engagement
Website click-through rates from Google have been dropping over the last few years. This is because many users are finding the answers they need directly on Google thanks to rich snippets and AI-generated answers.
Although this isn’t ideal for website traffic, it’s an ongoing trend, so you’ll want to leverage it to your own advantage. This can be done by making as much information as possible available for users right there on your GBP listing in search. After all, if a customer can’t easily find your information, they’ll find it from a competing business.
An average GBP profile sees around 200 interactions every month. That could be a click-through to a website, a search for contact details, or a view of your reviews – all really useful interactions with your audience and potential audience.
3. Google holds the market share of traffic
Google as a search engine is a true giant, claiming over 90% of worldwide search traffic. That equates to 8.5 billion searches every day! Even if your business is seen for only a tiny percentage of those searches, it’s still a huge opportunity to make an great impression.
Even beyond Google Search, there are a huge number of third-party platforms that use the information Google holds to provide local information to their own customers.
If any part of your target audience is local, then a Google Business Profile is vital if you want to be seen by them. So set some time aside to create and optimise your profile.
How to Set Up A Google Business Profile
If your business has been around for a while, there’s a good chance that there’s already a GBP out there for it, and it’s important that you claim it so you can take control of the information. If there’s no existing profile, it takes just a few minutes to create one.
You should first log into your Google account, or create one if you don’t already have one. Then head to Google Business Profile and click Manage Now. From there, follow the instructions to set up or claim your account.
Optimise Your Google Business Profile
Basic details
Before anything else, you need to include the very basics:
- Business name
- Address
- Telephone number
- Website address
- Opening hours
Make sure everything is correct and up-to-date. You don’t want someone trying to visit a website that no longer exists, or calling a number for an old office.
It’s also important to make sure that you use the same information across the internet. If you have a landline contact number on your website, don’t put a mobile number on your profile. And your business name should be an exact match of what’s on your website. Ensuring this consistency in all potential touchpoints demonstrates trust and reliability amongst both your users and Google itself.
Business category
This may seem straightforward, but make sure you take some time to select the correct primary business category. There may be several very similar options, so go through them all to pick the one that most closely matches what you do. Be specific, too: e.g. choose Italian Restaurant rather than Restaurant.
Your primary business category will help you show up in the right kind of searches and also determines the features you can use in your Google Business Profile.
If you provide a number of different types of services, then you can also choose secondary categories.
Remember that categories indicate what your business does, not what it sells.
Verify
It’s vital to verify your business, otherwise you’re less likely to see much benefit. By doing this, you tell Google that you’re a bona fide business and that you really are the owner.
Google has a number of verification options, including by phone, email, post or a live video call. While you wait for verification, you can continue working on your profile, though be sure not to edit the business name, category or contact details.
Service area and business location
Depending on the type of business, you may have a physical location, a service area, or both.
If you have a brick-and-mortar business where customers come to your location – such as a store or an office – then add the address to business location.
If, instead (or as well as), you provide a service within a certain region, add a service area.
For example, a garage will have a physical location where customers bring a car for an MOT or repairs, but they may also offer roadside assistance within a 20-mile radius. In this case, they’d have both a business location and a service area. A mobile hairdresser, however, may only have a service area and no physical location
Including your business address helps Google link your business with other information across the web, but you can opt for it to be hidden on your Business Profile.
Logo and cover photo
Your logo is an important part of your business identity that makes you easily recognisable and memorable. Make sure you add a good quality version of your logo. Then add a cover photo to make your profile look more appealing.
Business description
This section is where you tell people what you do. With 750 characters to use, you have a good amount of space to talk about your business and encourage customers to buy from you. Make it clear what you offer, be engaging, and include important keywords.
Take a look some of my tips for writing good copy.
Additional photos and videos
Additional photos and videos, alongside your logo and cover photo, help you tell more of a story about your business. You can include images of photoshoots, your team, where you work, your products… There are plenty of options!
Video, too, is an underutilised tool. A high-quality, professional video is ideal, but an informative and interesting video shot on your phone is good too. You might showcase your products or services, or simply talk face-to-camera about some exciting news.
Social profiles
As part of the contact details section, you can include links to the most popular social platforms. If you have any of these, add them onto your profile so users have other places to interact with your business.
Products, activities and services
When adding a product or activity, you should fill in as much information as possible to make the most of this feature. As well as a name and description, you can add an image, categories, price, price range, visitor type, description and a call to action button. These options will vary depending on whether you’re adding a product or an activity.
Like the description section, all this information together should appeal to your potential customers and give them the information they need. Write naturally using keywords that are relevant to the product. Show an image that accurately represents the item or activity.
The call to action button is particularly important. Don’t spend all your time crafting a fantastic description and then forget to give the user something to do next! Include a suitable call to action and remember that each button should link to a relevant page, most likely on your own website.
Services can include other business activities that wouldn’t be considered a product or activity. They don’t yet allow the same level of detail, but this information is still worthwhile including as it will aid users in finding you in relevant searches.
Booking, ordering, and waitlists
The booking options on Google Business Profile are a great way to encourage users to take an action right there and then. You can take general appointment bookings, table bookings, food orders, and delivery or collection bookings.
If you take bookings online through a third-party provider, check if they integrate with Reserve with Google. If they do, you can set up an account and link to your GBP profile to make it even easier for users to book. If not, you can still add a link to the bookings page on your website.
Restaurant businesses also have the additional option of a waitlist. Sign up with a third party provider with Reserve with Google and allow customers to add themselves to your waiting list.
Updates
There are currently four types of update on Google Business Profile:
- Update
- Offers
- Events
They may not all be relevant to you, but you should utilise those that are by adding relevant content on a regular basis.
Messaging
Messaging, when switched on, allows you to interact with customers in real time. You receive notifications when someone reaches out to your business and should ideally respond within 24 hours.
This option not only allows you to provide amazing customer service, it also helps you make sales. If you don’t respond to messages, Google may automatically switch off messaging (or you can do this manually yourself).
Reviews
Reviews are a great way to build trust and a good reputation, and Google makes it very easy to collect them from customers.
Every time someone buys your product or uses your service, encourage them to go to your GBP listing and write a review. They’ll rate you out of 5 stars and have the option of giving more information about their experience. Google then adds up all your reviews and displays them prominently on your profile.
Bright Local found that reviews play a big part in whether a user clicks on your business profile or not.
Share a review request by editing your profile and selection the option to Ask for Reviews. You’ll be provided with a link to share.
Request a quote
When switched on, a Request A Quote button will display on your profile. When clicked, this opens a form (which is based on your primary business category) that a potential client can fill in. You can then respond as necessary.
This option is available to businesses that match specific eligibility criteria.
Additional attributes
A section for more details allows you to provide bite-size chunks of special business attributes. Take a look through the options available and select all those that apply. They include attributes such as women-led, LGBTQ+ friendly, accessibility features, child-friendly offers, and whether online appointments are available.
Opening date
The opening date of your business is a small but nice snippet of additional information. If you’ve been around a while, it also helps demonstrate that you’re an established business.
More hours and special hours
If you provide particular services or special offers at certain times of the day, then add them under the more hours section. There are a number of pre-defined options including happy hours, breakfast, and online operating hours. This is ideal for providing your customers with more specific information about your services.
Special hours is for those dates when your opening times differ from usual. You can, for example, add Christmas or bank holiday closing times.
Settings
Once you’ve updated all the information, make sure you check your settings so you receive updates and changes. You don’t want to miss an appointment or an important question because your settings aren’t correct.
Keep Your Profile Up-to-Date
Once you’ve set up your profile and fully optimised it, set aside a bit of time each month to keep it updated. Like your website, Google rewards those profiles that are active and keep users up-to-date. You can keep your profile fresh in lots of ways including:
- Uploading new photos
- Writing posts
- Responding to reviews and questions
- Updating opening hours for holidays
- Adding new products, services and special offers
- Reviewing current information to make sure it’s up-to-date
- Analysing insights and making adjustments to improve your profile
You should also be aware that Google will sometimes automatically update your profile information with data it has collected from user activity or from elsewhere on the internet. There is often inaccuracies in the data, and it won’t notify you when changes are made, so make sure you regularly check all information and correct any errors.
Conclusion
An up-to-date and optimised Google Business Profile is vital for any business that wants to be seen in local searches. Creating and maintaining a profile is a free and easy way of boosting your visibility and engaging with new potential customers.
