Local SEO with Google Business Profile
If you want your business to stand out, even if you don’t have a website running yet, and you want more traffic to your business through online leads, then it is important to learn two things: What is Local SEO, and What is Google My Business?
With these answers, you can see how they can help your business achieve a higher conversion rate from people specifically searching for products or services the business offers.
What Is Local SEO?
Local SEO is the process you use to optimize your online presence, find local keywords, and create locally relevant content. If your business has a physical location or serves a specific geographical area, then you can benefit from the best SEO practices and local SEO.
Did you know that more than 30% of Google searches are actually related to a specific location? That comes down to billions of searches daily. So, the best way to get your business seen and at the forefront of these searches is by utilizing local SEO.
How Does Local SEO Work?
To learn how best to use local SEO in your favour, you must first learn how it works. The local search algorithm on Google uses different local SEO ranking factors to find the best match for the search query: Relevance, Distance, and Prominence.
It then uses these local SEO ranking factors to display the local search results. A local pack is a search result that includes Google Maps and Google Business Profiles. These are considered organic results. You will know these results as they are those in the blue links you typically see after a Google search.
It also shows a Google Map at the top showing the business listing and its location on the map pack. Underneath the local pack, you will find the typical Google search results or regular organic search results. However, these results do not include the keyword phrase
near me.
Google Local or Google+Local was developed from Google Places. It is a Google service that allows a company to be present in a Google Map search. The entries are usually automated by Google but can also be created and then managed by the company through the Google Places Business Center.
Local SEO Ranking Factors
Google’s algorithm typically uses over 200 ranking factors, making it difficult for businesses to know exactly where their marketing efforts and local SEO services should be focused. Here are a few things you should know regarding local SEO ranking factors.
Local Pack vs Local Organic Results
A local pack result is the Google Map result at the top of search terms with local intent. They usually have the words near me in the keyword phrase. Local organic search results pop up under the Google map result. Google weighs these ranking factors based on the search query.
7 Most Important Local Pack Ranking Factors
- Google Business Profile
- Reviews
- Website
- Backlinks
- Behavioral
- Citations
- Personalization
7 Most Important Local Organic Ranking Factors
- Website
- Backlinks
- Behavioral
- Citations
- Personalization
- Google Business Profile
- Reviews
Let’s break each of these down and then will go into even more detail further down in our article.
Google Business Profile
This is one of the primary components of SEO success for any business that uses local SEO. The biggest factors affecting your ranking on your Google Business Profile are your business title, categories, website URL, proximity to the searcher, and listing completeness.
Reviews
Google uses online reviews to weigh the trust of a business. More reviews will naturally lead to more rankings and website traffic. Google will also look for specific keywords written in online reviews and use these as a ranking factor. Additionally, a text-based review will carry much more weight than a star-based review with no text.
Website SEO
Regarding website SEO, there are many ranking factors to consider, including domain and business page authority, NAP (name, address, and phone number) presence, and technical and on-page optimization.
Backlinks
Google uses backlinks to vote on different pages. If you have more votes or links, you will have higher rankings in Google. Google uses these factors to assess the value of a backlink: editorial placement, the number of inbound links, the authority of the linking domain or page, bad sites that could harm your site, anchor text, link diversity, and link relevance.
Local Citation
A local citation is a mention of your local business online on other websites that include your name, address, and phone number. Google will check each local citation reference for accuracy.
Personalization
Finally, personalization is something Google is placing more emphasis on these days. As a whole, though, this ranks lower in local SEO strategy. However, to take advantage of what it offers, just make sure your website runs well on a variety of different browsers. Personalization is really limited to the location and device the user has.
User Behavior
When it comes to behavioural factors and local SEO marketing efforts, it all comes down to how people searching are interacting with your business listing.
So, you want to work on improving dwell time (the amount of time a user spends on your listing or page), clicks-to-call (how many are clicking on your call button), clicks for directions (how many times people hit directions on your business listing to find you), and clicks to site (how many people visit your website.) All of these user behaviours can increase your local results and SEO rankings.
Finding Keywords for Local SEO
When conducting keyword research for local search engine optimization, you are on the hunt for phrases that people use when searching for products or services locally. Ranking for these specific keywords in your local area helps drive highly-targeted traffic to the website, increasing your potential customer base.
Research Competitors
It is always beneficial to see what your competitors are up to. If you see that your competitors are targeting certain keyword phrases, they will probably prove relevant to your business. When researching competitors, see how their websites are structured and if the content is high-quality.
Consider Using Google Autocomplete
Google Autocomplete is a feature within Google Search. It can save an internet user time by predicting what the search query is going to be. Google Autocomplete is also an opportunity to find long tail keywords that will prove to be valuable for local SEO.
Use Google Keyword Planner
Google Autocomplete is a feature within Google Search. It can save an internet user time by predicting what the search query is going to be. Google Autocomplete is also an opportunity to find long tail keywords that will prove to be valuable for local SEO.
Google then suggests various keywords you should use based on the terms that appear on the page. You can do this for each competitor site you can find. It provides search volume data for local SEO.
What Is a Google My Business Profile?
Google My Business, now known as Google Business Profile, is a free service offered by Google that allows you to present business information on the Google Search Engine Results Pages.
A Google My Business account allows you to manage your business name, address and phone number, set opening hours, add photos and manage customer reviews that are left behind. You can even publish a link on your Google My Business page to book appointments.
It is particularly important for businesses that provide products or services in their local community. In fact, according to Moz Local Search Ranking Factors Survey, Google My Business is the biggest driver of local SEO success.
You can find the Google Business Profile information by searching for the name of your company and the city or town you’re located in.
How to Set up a Google Business Profile
If you’re just getting started with your business, then setting up a Google Business Profile is easy. You do it from the Google Business Profile page. Follow the instructions to set up an account and claim your business.
Google will send a postcard to verify that the address is correct. After verification, you can manage the information in your account and get regular statistics sent from Google to show how many people searched your company, clicked for directions etc.
Claim an Existing Google Business Profile
For most companies, however, a Google Business Profile will already exist. It may have been set up in one of the predecessors of Google, such as Google Places. Also, Google is constantly looking for information on the internet to present to its users, so chances are that your business already has an account.
Just search for the business name and the city or town you’re located in, and you’ll find the business information next to the search results.
If your company has already claimed the account, you may be able to log into the account. If someone else has claimed the account, then you’ll need to take steps to claim it back. Google has provided extensive help pages for that. You can find the relevant information under “fix issue.” Alternatively, you can use Google’s phone support to quickly solve the problem.
In many cases, the account will not have been claimed yet. You will see the message “Own this business?” Simply click on the link and follow the steps to claim the account for your business.
Duplicate Listings
Sometimes you’ll find that your business has duplicate listings. It’s important to remove duplicate listings and ensure that there is just one with the correct information about your company. Here is Google’s help page for duplicate listings.
Editing Your Google Business Profile Listing
You can change the information when you have established access to your listing. The best way to do this is to open Chrome, sign in to your Google Account using your Gmail address and password, then click on the Google Apps square.
Then scroll down to “My Business” (you may need to click “More” if it’s not in the list)
You’ll now see a dashboard allowing you to edit all listing elements. Below you see the example for Mawazo Marketing in Burlington:
Name, Address, and Phone Number
Getting your company's name, address, and phone number correctly represented on Google is the most important step you can take to establish a local online presence for your company.
Make sure this information is 100% correct and spelled exactly the same as on your website and anywhere else on the internet (e.g. on your Facebook profile, directories such as YellowPages and Yelp, etc.).
Optimizing Your Google Business Profile
The next step is to optimize your listing. Your company must be correctly represented on Google, and Google offers a lot of functionality to do just that:
- Make sure you complete every section in your Google Business Profile account. Write a complete description, be more meticulous about the contact information you include, and answer any questions.
- Make sure the business category you are listed under is as specific as possible. For example, should your business be listed as “accountant,” “accounting firm,” “auditor,” or “chartered accountant”? You can list a primary business category and several additional categories.
- Add relevant images of your company, products and services, events etc.
- Check your opening hours and make sure they are correct. Add special opening hours, e.g. during vacation periods or public holidays.
- Create posts on your listing, e.g. to announce new products, events, workshops etc. This feature gives you a good opportunity for additional free marketing for your company!
- Messaging allows you to publish a mobile phone number that can receive an SMS to communicate with your clients
- The appointment URL allows your visitors to book an appointment in your system.
Online Reviews
The online Reviews menu allows you to reply to reviews that your customers have put on Google for your business. It also lets you flag individual online reviews as ‘inappropriate,’ but make sure you do this according to guidelines for inappropriate reviews.
Insights
Insights give you statistics and useful information on how your visitors engage with your listing content and how that compares to your competition.
As you can see, optimizing your Google My Business profile listing isn’t very complex, but it can be time-consuming. It may simply not be the best use of your time. Let us know if you’re interested in having your listing set up for you.
Why You Need to Optimize Your Google Business Profile
To get ahead of your competitors and achieve more effective local marketing strategies, you want to follow our steps above to optimize your Google Business Profile.
Engagement: Zero-click searches are becoming more common because people visiting Google find the information they need within the search results pages without clicking on anything. So, more people are interacting with a Google Business Profile than the website, so you want to ensure everything is optimized for better engagement and conversions.
Boost Local Ranking:
The algorithm Google uses considers location as well as the quality of the information. When you optimize your profile, you are sending signals to Google that will rank you higher in local search results. This means improved engagement as well as visibility.
More Conversions:
A Google Business Profile alone isn’t enough for acquiring new customers. When people search, they want to see reviews and where your business is located. When the account is optimized, you can be discovered using keyword searches. You can then use Google Analytics to track website clicks, appointments, and more.
Is a Google Business Profile Worth the Effort for Local SEO?
Creating a listing with Google is a good way to help you show up in more local searches. It boosts local SEO efforts and earns more traffic, phone calls, and website visits. Local SEO services can grow your online presence.
Who can benefit from local SEO? a small business with just one physical location can benefit just as much from local SEO services as a larger company does. Just make sure you create online authority and maintain all the local SEO techniques we have discussed.
At Mawazo Marketing are happy to help small and medium-sized businesses in Burlington, Hamilton, Oakville, and surrounding towns optimize their web presence. Just email thomas@mawazo.ca or call us at
+1 (888) 612 4356.
Do you have any questions on the above, or would you like to share your experience? Just email ideas@mawazo.ca or call +1 (833) 503-0807.
At Mawazo Marketing we work with owners of B2B companies who want to accelerate their business. We help them with a concrete digital growth plan, a website that saves operational cost, and a digital marketing system that generates leads. For qualifying clients we offer a 5x ROI guarantee: if we don't reach the objective, then we pay back the difference. Book a Free Strategy Session to find out more.
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