4 ways to make your Google My Business profile work harder for you

The process of optimising your Google My Business profile can begin either as soon as you claim your free listing or, when you realise it’s been a while since you checked in and made sure all was correct and up-to-date. Whether you’re a GMB newbie or a local SEO pro, here’s a few ways to amp up your profile for better search visibility: 

1. Add more pictures

The more complete your profile is, the richer your profile in the search results pages. Adding images makes your listing more visually compelling straight away. Images are also an important psychological tool as they reinforce key messages in the minds of potential leads and can help with moving consumers through the purchase process. 

Google suggests that you add multiple different types of images to your account and we recommend you follow that advice. Even if you have added images when first creating your account, update at regular intervals to keep your profile current. You should aim to include images of inside and outside of your place of business, along with photos of key team members and core products and services. 

2. Use questions and answers

Questions and answers appear in the search results to give search users additional useful information about the local business in question. Logging in to your Google My Business profile will alert you to any questions submitted by search users that you (or others) can answer. You can also ask and answer questions yourself to provide more context and useful information for browsers. These could include common questions asked by customers such as length of warranty or useful details such as whether parking is available nearby. 

3. Use Posts

Posts are small chunks of text with image or video that you can share on your listing in much the same way you’d make a social media update. The Posts can be categories as What’s New, Event or Offer – meaning you can share links back to new blog posts, promote an upcoming event or share discount codes and offers such as free shipping. 

4. Encourage reviews

Encouraging reviews not only further builds out your profile, it also gives search users helpful peer recommendations which they then use in the decision making process. Reviews are also a ranking factor so the more you get, the better your local SEO visibility.