The former name of GMB or Google My Business was recognized as Google Places for Business. It offers different companies an amazing chance to pop up in search results of Google but the ideal thing when it comes to the creation of Google My Business listing is that it doesn’t take any charge.
Google My Business allows users to list their location of the business on local search results as well as Google Maps. A local SEO consultant would guide you in the overall process like how the business is displayed, which includes your contact details, website link, opening or closing time of your website.
Recently, a new feature has been released by Google which allows users to post a link to their content or upcoming events. This helps in keeping all the visitors well informed about your recent or future activities.
What have suggested ways to optimize Google My Business Page or GMB?
After claiming or setting up a GMB page for the business, the very next step of a local SEO consultant is to ensure if it’s properly optimized and all the necessary information has been filled by the user. The primary goal should be to include sufficient information on the GMB listing.
After the required research has been done by the users, they find their business in the Google search results, the next step is clicking on the business to know detailed information about the business like directions and contact details.
This is how you can strongly compete in your online business, so it’s important to ensure that the visitors who are landing on your page are well informed about your services and the ways to contact you for further assistance.
Here are a few beneficial tips to abide by:-
1. Write a correct description
Ensure to add a good description about your business and try to make it relatable and local so that users can relate to it and find it useful. Since the description is showcased as an overview about the working of your business and make sure to include related keywords in the description.
The word limit of the GMB description could be only up to 750 characters, it would be worthy to get the most valuable information in the initial 3-4 sentences. Including 2-3 keywords that would be the best description of your business is beneficial.
2. Optimisation of Meta descriptions
Meta descriptions play an essential role when you want to improve your click-through rate. However, Google states that the meta descriptions don’t play a wider role to determine your ranking. Search engines are known for improving the meta descriptions for every unique search.
Although this shouldn’t discourage users to write a default proper meta description for their page. In a similar way tags, meta descriptions are preferred for the description of the contents of your page.
3. Adding around 8-10 images or videos to your GMB posts
As per the new feature, the users can easily add a maximum of 10 pictures or videos to their Google posts. This means you can take more effort to elevate your content to be distinct from your potential customers. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, this feature would be beneficial for your e-commerce business as you can add many images of your products.
4. Collecting reviews
Asking for feedback is essential to improve ranking and to be in top results in Google search. Reviews are regarded as one of the important signals about the image of your page in the eyes of visitors. This is a significant key factor that determines the ranking of your page in local search.
They also act as trusted social proof for your targeted customers which helps them in making a proper decision whether to consult with this business or not. One of the ideal ways to collect reviews is to ask for them from your visitors.
5. Be consistent in adding images
Most of the users stop after adding core images like about interior or exterior of the business logo but this is not an endpoint. It is recommended to post as many images as you can. This would ensure the active status and productivity of your ecommerce business to Google. As a result, your site would be shown higher in both local search results as well as maps.
What is the role of local SEO in GMB?
The display of the local map is done within the organic search listings of Google. The main search results of Google are mainly powered by separate algorithms for local rankings as well as local map results.
Being a local business owner, there’s a good opportunity to appear within the local map as well as main organic search results at the same time. Many location-based factors such as to get your business listed in GMB or Google My Business, review signals along with local citations from the data aggregators.
The one’s which are published by the local customers are also considered in the SEO ranking and as a result, those could also be taken into account in the local SEO efforts.
How does local SEO work?
The optimization of the local searches makes Google familiar through different signals that the location of your business is in a particular area and you prefer to get your business discovered by the customers in that area.
Optimizing your pages becomes ten times easier if you have put up a proper address of your business by mentioning a particular region or city. This also promotes the creation of local landing pages and increases the discovery of your pages amongst your potential customers with a store location on the website.
One of the significant things on every website is the right scheme markup of every local business which would strike a clear age of your local business and the area you serve into Google.
Although this might appear quite technical, a local SEO plugin could look after this. The users are required to add necessary details about the business and the output of the plugin would result in the proper Schema markup.
How to improve your citations to increase the visibility of your page?
Some people prefer hiring a professional local SEO consultant to get their citations done. Some of the tips to improve citations are detailed below:-
- Focusing on the company and ensuring to avoid common mistakes such as putting inaccurate information or duplicate listings.
- Based on your top priorities, determining a list of directories is suggested.
- Some directories ask for manual verification such as a text message, a postcard or a phone call.
Hiring an expert local SEO consultant would save a lot of your time as well as effort. Since these experts are well aware of every strategy and specialise in local SEO. Consulting a good consultant would help you to improve the Google ranking.
How to select the best local SEO agency or consultant?
At the time of choosing a local SEO consultant, the cost is not the only important factor. It’s suggested to look for their record and their success rate with their customers. Be informed about the tools used by the company to build an essential local SEO presence.
Hiring a company that has proficient knowledge of website design agencies, local SEO optimization as well as google my business ranking or GMB is necessary.