{"id":6929,"date":"2017-12-11T06:58:57","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T12:58:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ilfusion.org\/dev\/staging\/?p=6929"},"modified":"2023-07-05T00:24:34","modified_gmt":"2023-07-05T05:24:34","slug":"3-ways-to-optimize-your-google-my-business-listing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ilfusion.org\/dev\/staging\/3-ways-to-optimize-your-google-my-business-listing","title":{"rendered":"3 Ways to Optimize Your Google My Business Listing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Whether you\u2019re a brick-and-mortar business or a home-based business without a physical storefront, it\u2019s crucial to have a prominent online presence in today\u2019s digital age. Nowadays, search engines are the primary source for local business information. In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.hubspot.com\/marketing\/local-seo-stats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">60% of mobile device users in the US<\/a> search for local product and service information on the web\u2014just like how people search for business information from the yellow pages back in the day.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to having a business website, listing your business to Google My Business can help people find you easier through local Google search results. Google My Business streamlines your business information across other products that Google also offer: Google Plus, Google Maps, and the organic results of Google Search.<\/p>\n<p>All you need to do to get started is to <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/business\/answer\/6300716?utm_source=gmbmktg&amp;utm_campaign=faq&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;hl=en&amp;_ga=2.30134975.1639645893.1509955951-1876441831.1509955951\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">claim and verify your business<\/a> in Google My Business and take the following steps to optimize your listing for local SEO:<\/p>\n<h5>1. Confirm that the information is accurate<\/h5>\n<p>The most basic and essential step is to confirm that the business information stated in the Google My Business listing is accurate and correct. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/business\/answer\/7091?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google<\/a>, \u201cLocal results favor the most relevant results for each search, and businesses with complete and accurate information are easier to match with the right searches.\u201d Enter as much data as you can; the more complete your data is, the easier it is for Google to match your listing to organic searches.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Business information basics &#8211; <\/b>Your business\u2019 name, the country it\u2019s located, the address (including the city, postal code, and state\/province), and business phone or contact info should be consistent with all other listings you have and with the information in your website.\n<ul>\n<li><b>Business Name<\/b> &#8211; Make sure it isn\u2019t in all caps and doesn\u2019t have legal terms (e.g., Corp., Inc.,etc.)<\/li>\n<li><b>Address<\/b> &#8211; Do not use PO boxes, and make sure you phrase them consistently (e.g., \u201cSt.\u201d vs. \u201cStreet\u201d)<\/li>\n<li><b>Phone Number <\/b>&#8211; Do not use vanity numbers (e.g., 1-800-PIZZA), and make sure it\u2019s a local number<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li><b>Category &#8211; <\/b>The category tells people what type of business you have. Unfortunately, you can\u2019t create your own category, so it\u2019s best to choose one from the list that is close or still accurately describes the nature of your business.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Business hours<\/strong> &#8211; Business hours tell people when your business is available. Include your regular hours to your listing, as well as your special hours for holidays and special events.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Website &#8211; Providing a link to your business website brings customers further into your sales funnel. If you\u2019re a small business and don\u2019t have a website yet, Google My Business also offers a simple one-page website builder that you can use for free.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>2. Include photos and a 360-degree view of your business<\/h5>\n<p>Visual presentations of your business greatly improve your Google My Business listing. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/streetview\/hire\/Power-of-maps-listings.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google,<\/a> business listings with photos and a virtual tour are twice as likely to generate interest and conversions.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Photos &#8211; <\/b>It\u2019s recommended to add at least 3 to 5 high-quality photographs of your business, such as photos of your products and services. When adding photos to your listing, make sure to rename the photo\u2019s file name using your keywords; this is an essential SEO step to optimize your photos.<\/li>\n<li><b>360-degree photos &#8211; <\/b>It\u2019s also a good idea to include a 360-degree photo of the interior of your business. This serves as a \u201cvirtual tour\u201d of your business place that your customers can view online before they even decide to go to your physical store. To get started, you need to hire a Google-approved photographer and have them come to your business and take photos.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h5>3. Encourage reviews from customers and manage reviews regularly<\/h5>\n<p>Input from your customers in the form of reviews are valuable in improving your Google My Business listing. \u00a0In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.brightlocal.com\/2014\/07\/15\/9-essential-stats-convincing-smbs-invest-local-search\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">88% of customers<\/a> trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b>Encouraging reviews &#8211; <\/b>Google has made it easy for business owners to share a link to customers and encourage them to write a review for and rate your business. It\u2019s important to remember, however, that Google doesn\u2019t allow soliciting or asking reviews from customers by offering incentives in return. While Google doesn\u2019t penalize you for reviews that go against their <a href=\"https:\/\/support.google.com\/business\/answer\/2622994?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">review policy<\/a>, reviews of these nature may be removed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Managing reviews<\/strong> &#8211; You can\u2019t make everybody happy, so negative reviews are expected. In this case, it\u2019s important to address negative reviews promptly by replying to them and making the necessary measures from this feedback to improve your business.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Editorial summaries<\/strong> &#8211; Snippets from customer reviews are algorithmically selected by Google to show as \u201ceditorial\/review summaries\u201d or a short introduction of your business in your Google My Business listing. You have no control over the editorial summaries that appear in your listing, but it\u2019s recommended to monitor your reviews regularly for seldom inaccurate descriptions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>After the above points are well taken care of, it\u2019s important to keep your business information updated especially when there are changes to your business, such as a new location, new business hours, and new product offers.<\/p>\n<p>Google My Business is a powerful and free tool to boost your local SEO ranking, especially when used properly. If you need help with maintaining your local SEO, or if you\u2019re interested in working with a <a href=\"http:\/\/ilfusion.com\">digital marketing agency <\/a>for your SEO needs, give Ilfusion a call at <a href=\"tel:888-420-5115\">888-420-5115<\/a>, or shoot us an email <a href=\"mailto:creative@ilfusion.com\">creative@ilfusion.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whether you\u2019re a brick-and-mortar business or a home-based business without a physical storefront, it\u2019s crucial to have a prominent online presence in today\u2019s digital age. Nowadays, search engines are the primary source for local business information. In fact, 60% of mobile device users in the US search for local product and service information on the&#8230; <a class=\"readM\" href=\"https:\/\/ilfusion.org\/dev\/staging\/3-ways-to-optimize-your-google-my-business-listing\">view more<\/a>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6930,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1280],"tags":[1385,1393,1394,1395],"class_list":["post-6929","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marketing-articles","category-seo","tag-digital-marketing-agency","tag-google-my-business","tag-local-seo","tag-seo-tips"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>3 Ways to Optimize Your Google My Business Listing - Ilfusion Creative<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"3 Ways to Optimize Your Google My Business Listing - Ilfusion Creative\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Whether you\u2019re a brick-and-mortar business or a home-based business without a physical storefront, it\u2019s crucial to have a prominent online presence in today\u2019s digital age. 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