How to best optimise your Google My Business listing
Google My Business should be a key part of any organisation’s online presence. Not only does it make essential information – such as opening times and location – easy for searchers to find, it also dramatically increases your visibility in branded searches.
Our in-depth guide takes a look at the best practices for registration and optimisation of Google My Business listings.
Register for Google My Business
We’ll assume you already have a Google account, so to create a GMB listing, go to https://business.google.com/create and click ‘Get Started’. Enter your business name and category (for example, accountant, car dealer, restaurant, estate agent) and click Next. You’ll then be asked to enter your company’s address and select whether you serve customers at your business address, from another location, or if you deliver goods (from a warehouse, for example). Finally, enter your website URL and/or phone number and click Finish.
Next, you’ll need to verify that you have the authority to create and/or manage the account.  You can choose to verify now or later – typically a code will be sent to a given phone number, which then needs to be entered in the GMB account. Once that’s done, you’re ready to go!
Updating and optimising your Google My Business information
Now comes your Google My Business optimisation, which not only improves your company’s visibility, but also helps users to understand more about your operations. Here’s a checklist of things to do:
- Keep your business name exactly as it’s shown on the website. Don’t try to add SEO keywords into it, as this will only confuse users – and won’t deliver any ranking benefits. Also, ensure your address and phone number are correct and match any other listings you may have – on Yell or Facebook, for example.
- Add categories. When you register for Google My Business, you will be asked to provide a category. You can now expand on this with one or two other categories that might relate to what your business is. Keep this light, however, focusing on one to three key descriptions – otherwise Google may become confused about your core offering, and that won’t help your rankings.
- Add in your service areas. You may provide services outside your immediate vicinity, perhaps across a couple of counties, in which case, you can add them here.
- Add opening hours and special hours. Add your regular opening hours. If you are closed certain days of the year or have restricted opening on bank holidays, for example, you can add these in the ‘more hours’ section.
- Add an appointment URL. The ‘Appointment URL’ section enables you to link your GMB listing to a booking or contact form on your website, enabling customers to book directly from Google.
- Add services and/or products. Add the services and/or products that you provide. For a shoe shop, this might include ‘women’s shoes’, ‘men’s shoes’, ‘children’s shoes’, ‘measuring and fitting service’. Here, you can ensure some of your keywords are listed, so you may want to add location terms, such as ‘women’s shoes in Sussex’.
- Add attributes. Add any attributes you’d like to highlight. Google has updated its options for this recently to include health and safety information, so you may wish to select ‘appointment required’ or ‘masks required’. You can also select options such as ‘online appointments’ – and even how you identify (e.g. ‘identifies as women-led’) to get across some core values.
- Add in your description. You have 750 characters (usually split by Google into three paragraphs) to describe your business. Use the opportunity to embed some SEO keywords into the first paragraph – in a natural way that flows with the text. We recommend adding your primary location term, as well as some of the products or services you’d like to rank for. It’s also a chance to sell your business to potential customers with text about your unique selling points and values.
- Add the year you opened. This is particularly pertinent if your business is well-established, as it can help you to stand out from the competition.
Add and geotag photos in your GMB
If you have relevant images of your premises or products, add them to your listing to give customers a better idea of what to expect. Adding visuals also helps to consolidate Google’s perception of your offering, and gives you a better chance of obtaining a higher ranking.
Before you publish any imagery, ensure you geotag it. To do this, simply upload your images to https://tool.geoimgr.com/ and ensure the corresponding map pin is in the correct place (i.e. your business location). Click ‘Write EXIF Tags’ and that’s it – your image is tagged! For an extra boost, add a document name with a relevant keyword, such as ‘women’s shoes Sussex’. Then you can download your tagged image and upload it to your GMB account.
When you upload your photos, you’ll see a set of headings. These are categories that you can sort your photos into. Any images of your premises can be sorted into ‘Exterior’ and ‘Interior’ categories, and you can also categorise photos of the team, 360-degree images, and more. There’s also a separate category for photos provided by customers.
Add logos and text to your GMB images
Google can now automatically recognise the subject matter of your images, as well as any company logos or text that’s present. That means if your logo and a caption with a relevant SEO keyword is part of the image, this will be picked up, and Google will associate your business more strongly with the image.
Upload videos
Adding video content is very similar to adding an image. When you upload it, simply choose the ‘video’ category, then click ‘post videos’ to publish. As with images, it’s a great idea to add a logo to your video, either at the beginning and end, or as an image that remains in the top left hand corner, for example.
Obtain Google reviews
The next step in your Google My Business optimisation quest is to get positive reviews onto your business listing. On your dashboard, you’ll find a review link that you can copy and send to customers, asking them to provide feedback. Obtaining consistent, positive reviews not only helps with your rankings, it also gives potential customers faith that you can meet their needs to a high standard.
Set up Google My Business messaging app
You can enable your potential and existing customers to get in touch or request a quote by setting up the GMB messaging app. In your account, on the left side, click ‘Messages’ and download the relevant app – either Android or iOS. You can then register your business, and receive all reviews, quote requests, and messages to your mobile device via the app. If you’re prompt with responding to customers, this will help to boost your rankings.
Optimise your GMB posts
Google My Business enables you to leave posts that provide updates on your business, showcase special offers, launch new products, and more. This can be done via the app, or on the GMB dashboard – simply click ‘Posts’ on the left hand side of your dashboard and create the post. Add an image to ensure the post stands out, as well as a call to action button, which can send customers to a webpage, or invite them to make a booking or place an order.
When writing the text for your post, try to naturally include one or two keywords to help with your online visibility when people search for specific terms. Again, popping your business location in is a great way to target local customers.
Google My Business best practices
In summary, here are a few Google My Business best practices to adhere to when you’re optimising your listing:
- Ensure your business name, address, and phone number are accurate and up to date
- Geotag and categorise your images
- Keep the number of categories you list minimal to avoid confusing web users and Google
- Add SEO keywords into your product and service lists, as well as into your description
- Consistently obtain reviews by sharing the link provided on the dashboard
This guide is by no means exhaustive, but it’s a great way to get started and make sure you have the best chance of appearing for your chosen search and location terms.
Get your Google My Business listing up and running
If you’re struggling with any aspect of Google My Business optimisation, or simply don’t have the time to set it up, why not get in touch with Whitefish Marketing today? As experts in SEO and digital marketing, we can ensure you have a killer GMB listing and a top-notch online presence.
