A Google Business Profile is a powerful tool for enterprises of all sizes, allowing companies to manage their online presence on Google services, including both the search engine and Google Maps. It doesn’t matter if you’re the owner of a neighborhood bakery or the CEO of a large retail chain with hundreds of stores – properly managing your Google business listings is essential nowadays for attracting new customers, especially at a local level. A correctly optimized Google Business Profile significantly influences ranking, thereby increasing the chances of appearing frequently in local search results, which is key for boosting both internet traffic and visits to physical locations. In this article, we’ll look at the most important factors affecting the positioning of Google business listings and how to effectively manage your Google Business Profile.
What is Google Business Profile Optimization?
This term is primarily known from website search engine optimization (SEO), which is the process aimed at improving their visibility in search engine results for specific keywords. The main goal of positioning is to increase the quantity and quality of traffic to a website through organic search results. This process includes a variety of techniques and strategies, such as optimizing page content, building valuable backlinks, and improving technical parameters of the site, such as loading speed, responsiveness, and security. Interestingly, a company’s website SEO also plays a significant role in Google business listings, which we will discuss further in this post.
In the context of Google business listings positioning, the goal remains the same, but given the multitude of platform possibilities, it takes on an additional dimension. Google business listings allow enterprises to present not only basic information about their activity directly in Google search results and on Google Maps, but also to perform more advanced actions, such as adding photos, posts, offers, and interacting with users by responding to their reviews. All these, along with many other aspects described later in the article, are taken into account by Google’s algorithms when assigning rankings to business listings. The more good practices the owners of business listings apply, the higher their positions will be.
The opportunities provided by Google business listings are increasingly recognized by many companies that use Google Maps as a full-fledged marketing channel. Realizing the immense benefits that high positions bring, competitiveness in terms of visibility on the platform is constantly growing, making it so that enterprises not performing proper actions in terms of positioning may fall behind, which could ultimately result in a significant decrease in both physical location visits and website traffic. Google business listings positioning is an ongoing process, thus requiring regular updating and maintaining of information. Moreover, Google regularly changes its algorithms, causing ranking factors to sometimes change, which can lead to fluctuations in positions despite inactivity in the listings. For this reason, it’s beneficial to stay up-to-date with the latest news or to collaborate with experts who will inform about changes and provide tips to maintain high positions, maximizing the potential of Google Maps.
Benefits of Highly Ranked Google Business Listings
The key benefit of having high positions in Google business listings is increased visibility to potential customers. When a company’s business listing appears in higher positions in Google search results, it automatically receives more views. This directly translates into more traffic within the business listing itself, which in turn increases the chances of converting interest into a specific action, such as visiting the store, going to the website, or making a phone call. Additionally, business listings that are positioned highly are often perceived as more trustworthy and professional. Customers browsing search results naturally lean towards companies that appear at the top, interpreting it as a signal of high-quality services or products. As a result, companies with business listings in higher positions not only gain more attention but also build a stronger brand and reputation in the consumer’s consciousness.
The highest possible reward for effective positioning of business listings in Google Maps is making it into the so-called local three-pack, also known as the Local Pack. This allows your business to be displayed directly in the Google search results, significantly increasing the chance of conversion.
Google Business Profile Ranking from the perspective of algorithms
Google emphasizes that the positioning of business listings in local search results is determined by three main aspects: relevance, distance, and prominence. The significance of relevance comes down to the extent to which your company’s profile matches search queries. Enriching your Google Business Profile with complete and accurate information, as well as publishing content related to the products and services offered, will enable Google to better understand the characteristics of your business and more effectively match your profile to search queries. The next criterion is distance, which the Google algorithm takes into account, assessing how far your business is from the user conducting the search. This is an important factor that affects the positioning of the listing in local results. Meanwhile, prominence refers to the degree to which your business is known. Some entities enjoy greater fame offline, which is reflected in local search rankings. For example, renowned museums, landmark hotels, or recognized brands may achieve higher visibility in local search results. This factor is also based on information available online about the company, including links, articles, and directory listings.
Key Ranking Factors
Managing Business Information
Ensuring the consistency and up-to-dateness of the information on your Google Business Profile is the foundation of Google business listings positioning. Making sure that all data, such as address, opening hours, contact numbers, and business description, are always current, ensures that potential customers receive reliable and accurate information, which Google’s algorithms also take into account when assigning rankings. Moreover, if any information about your business appears somewhere on the internet, e.g., in a business directory, Google will associate it with your business listing, making it more recognizable in the eyes of algorithms, hence it’s important to maintain consistency and currency of information. Unfortunately, the ability for external users to suggest changes to business listings, which if not rejected by the listing owner, are accepted, does not help in this regard. Therefore, for businesses with a large number of locations, it is advisable to equip oneself with tools that allow protecting business listings by collectively rejecting changes with the push of a button.
Appropriate Business Categories
Choosing the right primary and additional categories in your Google Business Profile is extremely important for improving your business listing’s position in search results. The category you assign to your business helps Google understand what kind of services or products you offer, which directly affects how visible you are to potential customers searching for those goods. Google introduces new categories from time to time, so regularly checking and updating them is crucial to ensure that your business is properly classified and easily found by people interested in your offering.
A Large Number of Positive Google Reviews
Positive reviews on Google business listings are a key element that influences the positioning of your company’s listing in Google Maps. A good approach is to encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews and to respond quickly and professionally to all comments, both positive and negative. It is important that reviews are authentic and in accordance with Google’s guidelines, as attempts at manipulation can result in negative consequences for your profile. High-quality reviews are one of the most direct ways to increase trust and authority of your business in the eyes of potential customers and in Google’s algorithms. An excellent solution for acquiring quality reviews from customers is Review Booster.
Proximity to the Searcher
The proximity of the business to the searcher is a key factor affecting the positioning of the listing in Google Maps. Google’s algorithms take into account the user’s location to display the most relevant and nearest businesses to him. Therefore, it is important that the location information of your business is always up-to-date and accurate. While you cannot influence the location of your potential customers, you can use professional tools to monitor the positions of your listings for specific phrases, depending on the search location.
Website Link
Including a link to the company’s website in the Google Business Profile is extremely important for strengthening online presence and increasing authority in search engines. Linking to an updated and SEO-optimized website allows Google to better understand and classify your business in relevant searches. For multi-location businesses, it is important to link to specific pages for each listing, allowing for more precise, local targeting. A well-configured link profile is significant for the positioning of business listings in Google.
Adding Photos and Posts
Regularly adding high-quality photos, posts, and offers is essential for increasing engagement and visibility of the business. Photos should be of high quality and accurately reflect the business atmosphere. They can include, for example, the building from the outside, the interior of the premises, the team, or the products and services your company offers. Posts and offers, on the other hand, are an excellent tool to inform customers about news, current promotions, or events. Actively maintaining a dynamic and attractive profile, enriched with regular posts and photos, contributes to building a positive image of the company, not only improving the positions of business listings but also positively impacting conversions. While for companies with one to a few listings the matter seems simple, for larger retail and service networks, it is worth considering solutions for bulk publishing of photos and posts.
Offer Presentation
Actively presenting the company’s product and service offerings in the profile is possible not only through post publications. The Google Business Profile also allows for informing about the assortment and availability of services by adding this information directly in the listing of a given location. Additionally, there is the possibility of updating inventory levels. This can be done both manually and automatically, through integration with the point of sale system. These issues are extremely important for the positioning of business listings in Google. Updating this information when introducing new items increases the attractiveness of the profile, and a good presentation of the offer affects customer decisions and helps Google’s algorithms better match your company to relevant search queries, as in the example below.
Summary
In summary, improving your position in Google Maps requires a holistic approach that focuses on optimizing your Google Business Profile, meticulous management of business information, effective use of keywords, acquiring and managing positive reviews, and avoiding negative practices. Consistent SEO efforts and regular updates are key to maintaining and improving your company’s position in Google Maps. Success in this area means not only increasing online visibility but also building stronger relationships with customers and growing your business.
