When it comes to local SEO strategies, GMB or Google My Business is one of the most important tools you can use. It’s a great way to build trust for your business while also making you more visible to potential customers.
If your business isn't using Google My Business yet, we’re here to provide a quick guide to using it for local SEO, along with some tips on how to optimise GMB listings for those new to the process.
The basics: What is GMB?
Google My Business is a free tool from Google that allows businesses to manage how they appear on Google properties like Google Maps, Google Search, and so on.
It’s also been rebranded as Google Business Profile, but many people still call it GMB, so we’ll stick with that name for now.
The simplest way of thinking of GMB is as a free business listing on Google. In it, you can include things like these, which customers may commonly look for:
Your address
Your business hours
Images of your storefront and products
Your service area
FAQs
This is also a platform where people can leave reviews. Ever seen Google star ratings or reviews of businesses like restaurants? This is where people write them!
Who can make a GMB listing?
Before we go any further, it’s probably a good idea to settle this question as well. Not every type of business can get on GMB, after all.
To qualify for a GMB profile, a business needs to make in-person contact with customers during its stated hours. There are exceptions to this, though.
For a full list of examples of exceptions as well as ineligible businesses, check out Google’s page on the matter.
How does GMB affect local SEO?
One of the key ways GMB helps your local SEO is that it boosts how often Google surfaces you for local searches. This is by giving you a chance to show up in the 3-pack.
The 3-pack refers to the top results (made up of 3 businesses, as the name suggests) for local business searches. To see an example, try running a local business search like “cafes near me”.
You’ll get a list of suggested businesses’ GMBs at the top of your results, with star ratings, reviews, and their locations on Google Maps prominently shown. That’s the 3-pack!
How to optimise a GMB listing
Setting up a GMB is fairly easy, fortunately, as Google provides a step-by-step guide for that once you sign up. Where it gets tricky is optimising your GMB profile once it goes live.
That’s where we’ll help you out now. Below are our top tips for GMB optimisation!
1. Keep your profile up-to-date and complete
If the information on your business is either outdated or incomplete, that’s neither a good look nor helpful for potential customers.
Set a schedule for updating your GMB profile based on how often significant changes happen to your business that customers should know about. Check that you haven’t left empty fields in it too during each update or review.
2. Choose categories wisely
Your business categories matter. Choose the right one and you get shown more often to the right audience; choose the wrong one and your GMB’s lead generation goes down the drain.
It may help to check out what your closest competitors use for their categories. Make sure too that your primary category is actually the most accurate one. This is because Google values it higher in assessing your relevance to local searches.
3. Publish professional photos
People love photos – and can make decisions about businesses based on them. If a photo is a blurry, messy shot of an indeterminate shopfront, people are less likely to trust the business linked to it.
So, try to show them how credible and professional your business is from the first photo they see in your profile!
4. Encourage customers to give you reviews
Positive reviews and high ratings on a GMB are incredibly good at bringing up conversions. To get customers to leave you reviews on Google, try asking them for it after each purchase!
Once reviews do appear, don’t forget to reply to them too. It’s a great way to show others how your customer service works.
5. Show off products in your product catalogue
This won’t be applicable to every business (e.g. service-based ones), but if you have products, be sure to take advantage of GMB’s product catalogue.
Upload product data and media to that to beef up your listing and show customers what you offer at a glance. It’s basically free advertising for your goods!
Still need help with your local SEO or Google My Business?
The tips above can help you get your GMB listing where it needs to be. If you’re still not completely sure of your next steps, though, that's all right.
Whether you need help with GMB or some other part of your local SEO, talk to us. We’ve done a lot of local SEO in Singapore and have certainly optimised our share of GMB profiles, among other things. We can even help with the other parts of your digital marketing strategy.
We’re always happy to talk to business owners about their needs. Contact us for a no-obligation chat today!
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