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Google is the go-to website for every difficulty we face in our day-to-day lives. That is what makes google the most visited website among all the others. Google currently holds most of the search engine market share, making it the leading search engine for all your needs.

In today’s online era, Businesses are aggressively targeting & focusing on google to break in and have a presence in the online market by grabbing the top search spot that will attract a high number of users and visitors to their websites from all over the world through Google searches and google maps.

Another important way to attract new customers to your business website through Google search and Maps is by creating a Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business). Google search and local SEO has become an integral process for a business’s successful digital marketing strategy.

What is a Google Business Profile?

Google Business Profile or Google My Business is a free business listing tool from Google for businesses of all sizes, including large-scale businesses, small-scale businesses, and local businesses. Google Business Profile is the best suit for businesses looking to have a strong presence locally or give hyper-local services.

Creating a Google Business Profile allows you to share details and photos of your business, including physical business location, services you provide, and products you sell. Sharing this information with your clients will let them know more about your business.

A great way to increase your visibility across Google is another benefit of creating this free Google Business profile. Your business information that you have added to your Google Business Profile may appear on all other Google Platforms like Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Shopping giving you a better chance of driving more traffic and getting more business through by implementing this SEO trend.

Is Google Business Profile Listing a Free Service?

Creating your business profile on Google Business is FREE. A Google business profile can help you connect with the customers interested in your services or products that you sell. A well-optimized and regularly updated Google Business Profile can help you increase your business revenue by giving valuable insights about your client base and interests. Users can also get in touch with you through contacting and messaging directly through the contact number that you have updated on your listing.

Why Is It Important to Have A Google Business Profile? How Will It Help Your Business?

Get Discovered: Having a Google Business profile helps you get discovered in Google searches and on Google Maps. It also helps ensure that people find your business profile when searching for products & services like yours in their locality. Your Google My Business listing profile guides users about where and how they can find and visit your business. Google Business Profile also improves and boosts your local rankings. When people look for a nearby business using Google Maps for a specific service or product, there are more possibilities for a local business listing to appear.

For Ex.

Update Business Information: Google Business profile helps you regularly update your business information like address, business hours, contact details, business description, business opening date, photos, and other important details. It will also help you post updates about your business like expanding services, temporarily closed, or sharing any achievement or award that your business receives. Google Business Profiles have strong local SEO, which will rank the updated information that you share above the third-party sites that might have out-of-date details.

Gain Trust Through Reviews: Reviews are a major source of social proof that can help you build trust and credibility in your business. A section of Star rating with space for detailed reviews by Google allows your customers to share whatever they feel and the experience they had about your product or service. All these ratings and comments will help your future potential customers decide whether they should choose your business or not.

How To Easily Set Up Your Google Business Profile?

Now that you know how much potential Google Business Profile provides to your marketing efforts for promoting your business online, let’s move ahead knowing how to create a new google business profile that will assist and boom your online presence along with the efforts that you may have put into Paid Media Marketing or Social Media Marketing.

The steps given below will help you create a new Google Business Profile for your Business.

Step 1: Sign in to your Google Business Profile

If you’re already logged in to a Google account, you will be automatically logged in to Google Business Profile Manager. If you don’t have a Google account, go to google.com/accounts to create a free account for your business with any email address.

Step 2: Add Your Business (Business Name & Category)

Enter your business name in the blank field to check if a Google Business Profile already exists for your business or not. If it exists, go ahead and claim your business profile. If it does not appear in the drop-down menu, click Add your business to Google. Moving ahead, select the closest relevant business category for your business and go to the next step.

Step 3: Enter Your Location

Add your business address to your profile If you have a physical location where you want your customers to visit you. You will also be asked to adjust and add a marker for your exact location on the map when you add your physical address.

If you don’t have a physical location where your business is located, but your business offers deliveries or in-person services. In such a case, you can list the service areas where you offer your services. Move ahead to the next step when you are done.

Step 4: Fill in Your Contact Information

Add a phone number, website address, or both on your Google Business Profile to make it easy for your customers to get in touch with you. You can leave the phone number field empty if you don’t want your customers to contact you. If you don’t have a business website, you can select the “I don’t have a website” checkbox below the current website URL field.

When you are done adding your contact info, click Next.

Step 5: Get Your Google Business Profile Verified

Enter your complete physical address in the blank fields provided. This step is done to verify your business. It will not be displayed on your Google Business Profile or shared with the public.

Step 6: Customize Your Google Business Profile

Add and update all your business-related information to your Google Business Profile. Add and list all the products & services that your business offers along with the service description.

Also, make sure to add a business description to your business profile. The business description field is where you can share relevant and helpful information about your business with your potential customers. Details about the types of products and services you offer, history about how you started your business & what was your idea behind it, or about your business mission.

Your business description should help customers understand and have a clear idea of whether they should consider your services for the betterment of their brand or not.

How to Optimize Your Google My Business Profile

After setting up and claiming your Google Business profile page for your business, the next step is to properly optimize the data and information you’ve added to the page. 

Add as much information as possible on your Google Business listing as it will help your customer know more about your business. In the search results, when people find your business, the next they will do is click on your business to know more about you and what products/services you offer. They will look out for business descriptions, contact details, website addresses, listed products & services, photos & videos.

But before all this happens, your business needs to be listed in the top search results. For Local search rankings, google considers relevance, distance & prominence as the three important factors. (This can be a very helpful SEO Tip for small businesses)

• Relevance – It checks how relevant is your business for the keywords or search query the user is looking for? If it fits what the user is looking for, it will show your business name and other business information in the local search results.
• Distance – If a user near your business area is looking specifically for a nearby business to fulfill his needs, your business will be shown in the search results. For example, If someone searches for “SEO Company Mumbai,” all the nearby business profiles listed in Mumbai for “SEO Company“ will appear in the search results. This strategy is hyper beneficial for local service businesses such as plumbers, electricians, and HVAC contractors.
• Prominence – It checks for how well-known your business is, based on the number of backlinks, number of reviews, review ratings, etc.

Let’s focus on these steps below to increase your business profile score for all the above factors for your business listing to rank higher.

Complete All Necessary Fields of Your Google Business Profile

Having a completed Google Business Profile increases the possibility of making your business more reputed among other businesses. This, in return, encourages the users coming to your profile to visit your location.

Google says that business profiles with complete and accurate information are easier to match with the right search terms. Having a completed business profile also improves your score for relevance which google considers before ranking your listing.

The importance of having a completely updated business profile is to tell the visitors about your business, where it is located, and when they can visit you.

Verify Business Locations

A verified business profile has more chances to appear in local search results in Google Maps and Search. If you have already asked for verification, Google will send you a postcard with a verification code to your registered address.

If you have not verified your business profile during the account creation steps, go to your profile dashboard and request verification of your business profile by postcard.

Add Images & Videos To Your Business Profile

A Google Business Profile includes a logo and cover photo section displayed at the top of your business listing in search results.

Use consistent images that you have posted on your website & social media profiles to make it easier for customers to recognize your brand. Keep adding more images and videos to showcase your business location, work environment, and team activities.

How to Add or Edit Photos on Google Business Profile

1. Go to your business profile dashboard – http://business.google.com/. Click on Photos in the left menu or click on Add Photo.

2. First, start adding your logo and cover photo. Add business location photos with your business name tagged, and add your team photos & business event photos.

3. To add videos to your business profile, click the Video tab on top of the photos page.

Include High-valued Keywords in Your Business Profile

Adding keywords means not stuffing as many keywords as possible into your description. Keyword stuffing is a very bad SEO practice. You have to focus on using the right & important keywords necessary to improve your business relevance. You can use Google Trends or Keyword Planner to list your business’s targeted keywords. Naturally, adjust the keywords in your Google Business profile’s business description. Don’t make your description sound like keyword stuffing or using irrelevant ones. This can badly hurt your search rankings.

Ask your Clients for Genuine Reviews and Post Relevant Questions & Answers on your profile

People usually get influenced by a product or business by knowing what others say about it. A Google review can be the deciding factor that tips prospective customers in your favor. Having important keywords in your reviews can also improve your Google ranking.

You can ask your client for a review after giving them a great experience of your business. Ask your customers to review your business with Google’s direct review link.

Respond professionally to positive and negative reviews. When responding to a negative review, keep it simple and be honest by offering an apology to your customer.

Keep your Google Business information up to date

Keep your business profile updated when you change your business hours, contact information, etc. Not keeping your profile updated with important information will annoy your customers more.

If you have any different working hours for holidays or special occasions, update them and check if they are reflected in your Business Profile.

Also, create and post the latest updates, product offers, business events &  informational posts on the Google Business profile.

Add special features and attributes to your business.

If this sounds too confusing for you, get in touch with our experienced Digital Marketing Team.

ThirdSlash is a Digital Marketing Agency in Mumbai helping small & medium businesses over the globe drive engagement by giving SEO Services & Paid Search Marketing Services. We help you drive traffic to your website by boosting your business’s online rankings and getting you the top spot in search results. Check out our successful SEO case studies to know more.

Get started with us today!

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. What actions can a user take through your Google Business Profile?

A. A user can take multiple actions through your Business profile, such as visiting your website, contacting you on your phone number, texting you on your profile, requesting directions, and requesting answers by asking a question.

Q. What are the key elements to a successful GMB account?

A. Key elements for a successful GMB account are:- Enter complete data about your business in your profile, include keywords, keep the accurate business working hours, add photos & videos about your business, and ask your customers for genuine reviews.

Q. How will Google Business Profile reviews help your business? 

A. People usually get influenced by a product or business by knowing what others say about it. A Google review can be the deciding factor that tips prospective customers in your favor.