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Optimize Google My Business – the complete guide [in 11 steps] for more customers and better visibility
As a company, you should definitely use Google My Business, because the free tool brings more visitors to your website or business. By optimizing Google My Business, you will become more visible to customers, especially locally, and your customers will also receive all the important information from opening times to the web address.
Benefits of Google My Business for businesses:
better found locally
draw more customers to your business
make a professional impression
provide all important information for customers
share the latest news
Use statistics about user behavior for your business
Optimize your Google My Business account step by step
Haven’t created a Google My Business entry yet? Then you will find everything you need to do in our step-by-step instructions.
#1 Enter NAP data
No, you shouldn’t take a nap now! This is about the NAP (name, address, phone number) data known in the field of SEO. This includes company name , company address and phone number .
The NAP data should be entered and communicated identically on all important channels such as your website, on social media platforms, in business directories and also on Google My Business. The entries should be identical as far as possible. For example, if you abbreviate the name of your street to Str. on your website, you should do this on all channels if possible. And the spelling of the phone number should be the same everywhere.
#2 Enter opening times
Do you have a local shop? Then the opening hours are crucial for your customers who want to visit your shop on site. Check regularly that your opening times are up to date and that everything is correct.
You can also add specific opening times for special events, such as delivery times, under the “Other opening times” section. And you can also set special opening times, for example if you have company holidays on certain days.
#3 Choose the right category
In your Google My Business account, you can choose the right category for your company from various categories , which will then be visible to customers in the account. This way, visitors know immediately in which industry your company operates and can classify it better. Many users search directly for specific companies, such as SEO agencies , and become aware of your company.
The following applies: It is better to specify the category specifically and instead of simply specifying “Restaurant”, for example “Chinese Restaurant”. You also have the option to set a secondary category depending on the business category .
Depending on your main category, you will have various attributes available to you after you have defined these, which can also be supplemented. These attributes are particularly worthwhile for gastronomy.
#4 Link website
Make sure to link to your website so customers who want more information can get it. This way you get a strong link from Google at the same time and you increase user-friendliness.
If you don’t have a website, you should definitely consider getting one. Many customers do extensive research on the Internet before they become buyers. Without a website, you might miss the chance to convince them of this company – despite an optimized Google My Business account.
#5 Add business description
You have a maximum of 750 characters, but only the first 250 characters are immediately visible without having to unfold the text. For example, the description should include your services , USPs , etc. Think of the most important keywords for your business, but don’t stuff unnecessary keywords into the text.
Just take a look at what other companies in your industry are writing about. It’s about putting yourself in a good and authentic light, false promises and ramblings have no place here 😉
#6 Insert photos and videos
Photos and videos are often more meaningful than pure text. You should always add the cover photo and your logo , but you can also upload additional images and add videos.
This gives customers a good impression of your company and encourages them to make a purchase decision.
Of course, pay attention to high-quality and meaningful pictures . Good quality and a meaningful motif are required here. If you don’t have good photos, don’t upload any and hire a photographer or take good pictures yourself.
#7 Use product catalogue
Recently, Google My Business has also been able to create certain products or services, including prices, and make them visible to customers. Whether it’s special offers or your bestsellers – customers can keep a good overview of your company and your range.
When you upload products, be sure to include the name, price, and a description that will appear when a customer clicks on the product. For companies that do not offer products but services, there is a “Services” area where you can add the most important services including a description of a maximum of 300 characters. In this way, you not only link meaningful keywords to your company profile, but also give customers valuable information without having to search the Internet for a long time.
#8 Use the Google Post feature
The Google posts in the Google My Business account are not quite as new, but still undiscovered by many companies. Here you can regularly inform about current events, new products on your website, products etc. and keep your customers up to date.
The posts are displayed directly under the reviews in your Google entry and even have a link that leads interested parties directly to your website, for example.
Tips for Google My Business optimization with posts:
Post the latest news, blog posts, etc. regularly. This shows that you are active and keep your customers up to date.
Remember to include links in the post that will take users to the appropriate source via a button, here “Learn more”.
With offer and event posts, you can only make posts visible for a certain amount of time, which is worth it if you have current events or offers.
Look at the evaluations, how many clicks your posts have, how many visitors have viewed posts and derive what interests your customers.
#9 Monitor and respond to reviews
Reviews are the holy grail when it comes to purchasing decisions. Bad reviews scare customers away . So be careful not to collect too many of them. Bad reviews not only affect your customers, but also the Google ranking . Because poorly rated companies appear further down than well rated ones. Sure, Google wants to show users the best result.
According to MOZ , review signals (i.e. ratings) influence the ranking within the Local Pack by 15.44% and have an influence of 6.47% on the local organic search results.
If bad reviews come up, it’s not the end of the world. Just don’t make the mistake of reacting angrily to them, that seems dubious. It is better to show understanding for the disappointed customer and respond to the bad rating with an offer to help him with his request. This also shows other customers that you take feedback seriously and care about it.
And very important: Do not buy fake reviews. Many users question customer reviews and are often more critical of only positive reviews than if a mediocre review was given.
Respond appropriately to negative reviews
Use a personal form of address and express your regret.
If the customer has been the victim of a mistake (e.g. late arrival of their products or unfriendly service), take the criticism seriously, admit the mistake and emphasize improvements.
Suggest solutions that might help the customer in their unique situation.
Offer to contact service if necessary.
And especially important: Always remain factual and don’t get carried away by the anger of the customer.
Have negative, inappropriate reviews removed from Google
Received a review intentionally badmouthing your business without a valid reason? Or you find an inappropriate expression in the rating? You then have the option of reporting them to Google and requesting deletion.
To do this, go to your business listing on Google and find the inappropriate post. Next to it, simply click on the three-dot icon and report the post to Google.
Alternatively, if the review violates Google’s guidelines, you can also request deletion. To do this, you must fill out the legal infringement form and send it to Google.
Then you have to wait, because the processing of your application may take some time.
Use #10 Questions & Answers feature
In order to optimize the Google My Business entry, you should definitely use the FAQ area in your account. Users have the opportunity to ask your company questions that are publicly visible. Either the company itself or other users can answer the questions.
So react as soon as possible to questions asked so that you can answer them yourself. The response will then also be marked as “Response from the owner”.
You can also use the FAQ section to include relevant keywords that your users are searching for – only where it makes sense, of course.
#11 Use stats from Google My Business
Under the “Statistics” section, Google provides you with a variety of data that you should look at regularly. For example, here’s how people search for and find your business:
direct : via company name or address
indirect : via the category, products or services
branded : about a brand or company related to your brand or company
From this you can derive, for example, which area you can still expand. Many users only find you via the brand name, you should perhaps take a look at the entered category and attributes again and optimize them.
You will also find a graphic in the statistics that shows how users most frequently interact with your Google My Business entry. Do they visit your website? Are you looking at directions? This shows you how the individual steps from the customer to you look like.
Be found better locally with Google My Business optimization
The main purpose of optimizing your Google My Business account is to make it easier for you to be found in local search results. Local SEO is the keyword here.
With an optimized Google entry that is regularly maintained, interacts with customers, provides all important information, stands out through good ratings and also contains suitable keywords in the area of services, in the description text, in the category, posts and the questions and answers area, you increase the chances of being displayed at the top locally in your region.
Search queries with a location reference such as “Bäckerei Essen” are frequently made and are the way for customers to conclude a purchase. But also search queries that do not contain any direct location reference, but are strongly location-related , are also part of this. For example, if you search for “drugstore”, the search engine usually suggests personalized search results tailored to your location .
Different local searches are distinguished:
Search queries with specific location information such as “supermarket Dortmund”
Search queries for a specific business location such as “DM Munich”
and search queries that usually have a strong location reference, such as “Italian restaurant”
For such search queries, Google almost always uses Google Maps data and so-called Knowledge Graphs or Local Packs. Here you will appear with your Google My Business entry. The better this is optimized and the more relevant you are for a specific local search query, the higher you appear on Google Maps or are even displayed as a Knowledge Graph and are directly present and visible to customers .
Conclusion: It always pays to optimize Google My Business. Keep your data up to date and share news with your customers, answer questions and keep an eye on the reviews. Maintaining the Google entry is time-consuming, but worth it because you become more visible to customers locally. The use of Google My Business is free of charge for you. So let’s get to the optimization!
