Did you know? If you search something on Google, no matter which browser you use, you are more likely to receive results based on your location. These local search results play an important role in building a bridge between you and your customers. As a result, your potential customer can easily find you and rate your business.
Google My Business, is a platform that helps you to achieve the aforementioned goals. In addition to that, it makes easy for the customers to find vital information such as address, business hours, close and open days, contact numbers, about the business, directions, and service information.
Hence, from a Local SEO point of view, it is critical to be listed in the GMB listing. However, just having a presence on Google My Business is not enough. You need to rank your page in the topmost position. Therefore, in this blog post, we are presenting top ten tricks to rank higher in Google My Business listing.
1. Create posts
Let us start with the most important tip. Very few people know that it is extremely vital to add a post in Google My Business. If you have not created any post yet, you can go to the “posts” section of the Google My Business app, and write a lengthy and informative post that is relevant to your business and audience. Furthermore, it is a good idea to provide the link to any page along with a photo and submit it. Once, the post is published, you can see them on your Google My Business listing.
2. Add labels
Labels feature help you to organize the location into the groups. You can search location by the labels you added, from the dashboard. In addition to that, you can use labels to filter location extensions in AdWords. Google My business gives you an opportunity to assign up to 10 unique labels for each location. Note that the length of the labels can be up to 50 characters, and invalid characters are not allowed to use. However, you can add commas. To add commas in the label, use the string “%2c.” For example, “5%2c000+ customers” would create the label “5,000+ customers.”
3. Write an in-depth description.
If you want to rank your local business high, you must write a detailed description. Now, that does not mean you have to write a bulky article of 2500 words. Keep the words of the description to a decent number, and try to cover almost all relevant information. Your description should contain all the information that your customers look for. Since local results are more driven towards the relevant information provided by the business owners, a detailed description can enhance Local SEO.
There is one more factor that is equally important. That is accuracy. Yes, Google expects you to add accurate information. When you do, you are rewarded. The Google My Business pages, which have accurate information, are prioritized over the others. This is because Google wants your customers to know you better.
4. Build a free Google My Business Website
Yes, Google can create a website for you for free. Google My Business comes with a website builder tool that helps you to create a website within a couple of minutes. All you have to do is sign in to your Google My Business page and click on the option of a website on your dashboard.
That is it. Google will automatically create a website by taking all the necessary information from your Google My Business account. Once the website is created, Google will ask you to choose a theme. SEO experts usually do not recommend business owners to use the websites like these. Google My Business websites are very basic and are only for the small-business owners who do not want to spend money on building a website.
5. Build backlinks
When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), backlinks are the deciding factor. They are considered one of the most important pillars of white hat SEO. The same thing is important for local search engine optimization. Do not go for quantity, instead strive for quality. Stuffing the websites with backlinks can do more damage than any good.
Build links via natural methods that do not violate Google webmaster guidelines. Quality link building takes time. Google understands this fact very well. If you build numerous links within a couple of days, Google will get suspicious and penalize you. In the worst case, your website might get deleted from the index.
6. Use keywords in the business name
Keywords tell a search engine when to display your website. So, without keywords, there is no search engine optimization. One of the easiest ways to rank your business locally is to use the keywords in the business name. Developing content only for the sake of giving words to your voice is not a good idea. You also need to optimize your content with keywords.
Before optimizing your content, it is really important to figure out what are the keywords. Keywords differ even if the two websites run the same business. So, carry out a proper keyword research to select the search terms that are relevant to your business. SEO experts usually recommend business owners to pick the keywords that improve the conversion rate.
7. Gain Google reviews
Not many people know that Google reviews influence search engine ranking. Yes, Google trusts your customers more than you. Reviews and star rating are the best ways to know the ground realities of a business. So, it is good to gain as many reviews as possible. There are many methods to increase the review count. Here are the most popular methods.
Send the follow-up emails with the link to the review page.
Encourage happy customers to leave a review.
Offer discount code for leaving a review.
Distribute prizes for the lucky reviewers.
Add the link to the review page on the home page and service page.
Make the whole process of posting a review simple and effortless.
Be calm and professional while responding to the reviews.
Share the links to the review page on the social media platforms.
8. Keep contact number and working hours up to date
In a business, it is not uncommon to change phone numbers, working hours, address, and other important information. So, make sure that all the information in your Google My Business profile stays up to date. These things make the work of the customers easy. They will come to know when you are open without calling you. The whole point here is that Google wants to reduce the work for the customers. When you do the same, Google does reward you indirectly. After all, Google, business owners, and SEO experts want to provide a good user-friendly experience to the visitors.
9. Upload high-quality photos
Just filling your Google My Business account with all the necessary details is not enough. Your profile is incomplete without pictures. Think like an audience. If you own a school, people will like to see how the playground, kindergarten, and classrooms look. They might also be interested in knowing the staff, and achievements of your school.
Google My Business gives you an opportunity to express more with the photos. Make sure that you add high-quality pictures that the potential customers are interested to see. Adding irrelevant pictures can put them off, and you might lose them at the beginning itself. So, if you have not added pics yet, get ready to tell your stories through the pictures.
10. Create multiple categories
Last but not least, it is very important to add categories. This helps both the audience and Google to know what kind of business you run. The main purpose of providing a feature to add multiple categories is to describe your business and establish a relationship with the customers. Let us take an example. If you are mutual funds, you can add categories such as mutual funds, finance, commerce, etc. Such categories impact local search engine ranking to a great extent.
