As a business coach, I can’t stress enough how important it is for your small business to have a Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business or GMB). It’s not just another social media platform, it’s a local powerhouse that generates consumer interest and website traffic with direct calls to action. In fact, over 80% of searches are classified as discovery over direct, meaning people are asking questions rather than looking for a business directly. This makes being locally ranked on GMB vital for your business.
Now, I know you may already prioritize Google reviews, but optimizing and having a complete profile that is consistently updated will yield up to 7x more views, resulting in more contacts. So, let’s talk about how to optimize your GMB profile.
First, updating and uploading pictures weekly is a must. This helps to showcase your business visually and keep your profile fresh. Second, updating posts daily to weekly, also known as Google posts, is a great way to promote your business and share relevant information with potential customers. Third, completing the profile in its entirety is crucial. This includes adding all relevant information, such as your business hours, address, phone number, and website. It’s also important to link all of your social media accounts to your GMB profile.
Another useful feature is setting up an appointment scheduling program, such as Calendly or Acuity Calendar, on your profile. This makes it easy for potential customers to schedule appointments with you directly from your profile. Additionally, completing the Q&A portion and setting up messaging are great ways to engage with your customers and provide them with the information they need.
Consistent updating is key to maintaining a high ranking on GMB. Ideally, you want your profile to rank in the “local pack” when someone is seeking your business category locally. By completing and optimizing your profile with consistency, Odds become much better that you can get your business in that top 3 “pack”.
Fully optimizing your GMB profile will not only help with local search engine optimization (SEO), but it will also help with voice search optimization (VSO). This is because GMB is integrated with Google Assistant, making it easier for people to find your business through voice search.
In conclusion, having a complete and optimized GMB profile is crucial for your small business. It’s a local powerhouse that generates consumer interest and website traffic with direct calls to action. So, take the time to optimize your profile and keep it consistently updated. Trust me, it’ll be worth it!