Search engine optimization (SEO) is the digital Wild West these days. So much is changing swiftly that it’s hard to keep up. With recent updates and the push of AI, what used to work, doesn’t anymore. And then there’s the Google antitrust lawsuit. I won’t get into that but I will say local SEO still works because people often go to Google Maps to search for “hair salon near me” or type in “Charlotte web designer” in a regular search bar. The Google Business Profile (also called Google My Business) still matters and still directs people to you. Are you taking full advantage of it? What follows are the fields to prioritize.
Business Title
It may seem obvious, but use your real business title and not keyword stuffing like “Curly Hair Straight Hair Child Hair Stylist Chicago.” If you use the latter, first it looks fake to potential customers. Second, it doesn’t build brand recognition. Third, someone may mark it as spam.
Address
Your address isn’t just about foot traffic, it also directs people to you if they’re close to your location when they’re searching. This is tough when you have a service-based business that goes into people’s homes but staffing a physical office can overcome this issue because otherwise, you’ll never show up when someone googles “Charlotte plumber near me.”
Categories
When you’re filling out the business category field, make sure the primary listing represents the thing you most want to rank for. As a Charlotte web design company, Web Symphonies wants to rank for that primarily but there are nine additional categories we can use to fill in a fuller picture of our business. If a category applies to you, apply it!
Website link
Hopefully you have a beautiful, high-quality website and people are inspired to do business with you. (If you don’t have a website or you want a redesign, check out our website development services. As a Charlotte web designer, we’d be happy to help.) Don’t let your website just sit around though – shout it from the rooftops and brand yourself as an authority. When you link to your website from your Google Business Profile, you help your local SEO results.
Hours
You may not know this but Google will filter search results based on whether you’re open or not. Sometimes that’s useful – like if you want to buy a coffee right now – but other times it’s not; like if you want to research the best coffee places at a vacation destination. Instead of being open 24 hours a day, it can help to study your competition. Are they closed on Mondays? By being open, you could draw in more customers. Do they close at 5 p.m.? If so, staying open until 6 could make a difference.
Reviews
Reviews help not only with enticing people to work with you/buy your products, they also affect how well you rank in Google Business. Specifically, the overall star rating, number of reviews, and language of your reviews support your ranking. Getting a steady stream of incoming reviews will indicate to Google that people should head your way.
Attributes
There are some attributes of your business that you can control in the “more” tab. Things like “woman-owned” and “small business” could really help you. However, two fields to avoid are those labeled “offers online appointments/estimates” and “onsite services” because they override other justifications and muck up your profile. If you have online appointments, that should go under “services.” For better clarity and impact, ensure your website design accurately reflects your offerings.
Services
Add as many services as apply. For instance, as a Charlotte web design company, we could add “IT consulting” and “internet marketing” in our Google Business Profile. Also add other services that Google isn’t suggesting to you.
Lastly, this isn’t specifically related to the Google Business fields but instead an overall suggestion: spellcheck and copy edit! Typos can make a huge difference. For instance, Claudia Tomina found a Google Business Profile listed “Caesar salad” as “Caesar kitchen.” By changing that one mistake, the restaurant went from ranking 71 to 1 overnight!
If you’re looking for help with your Google Business Profile, get in touch with us via email or call (704) 336-9113.
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