Last Updated on Apr 8, 2020 by James W
If you happen to run a business locally, then it would be wise to ensure that the Google listing of that venture is satisfactorily optimized. Customers use local search to gain knowledge about the businesses located in the area and also evaluate the entities they will be transacting with on a regular basis. Usually, many of the searches, pertaining to the businesses and services offered locally, are facilitated by geo-modifiers. However, the process of optimization is not something that is done once and then forgotten. It requires constant maintenance, tuning, testing, and monitoring. You can find sites that offer affordable search engine optimisation that can get you started in an excellent manner. The following are the key concepts necessary to optimize your Google business.
- Accurate information
It is estimated that 33% of customers will conduct a search on a smartphone prior to visiting a physical business outlet. Such customers usually are looking for information about the particular store like the address and operating hours. The information must be filled in completely for the listing to work effectively. A listing which is filled with care and attention to detail will answer the questions of visitors doing the searches. Google will also rank those listings which have been completed higher than those ones which have not. The search engine gives more priority to the sites which have been completed.
- Images
The moment you are done keying in all the important information about your business, look to insert images of your business. Images that work well with Google include the interior and exterior design of the office, the workforce, and brand images. For businesses offering visual services like painters, images will be of paramount importance. Customers should be able to see your work clearly, by having a pictures showing before and after results of your services. For other professionals like lawyers, people will scrutinize your modern office technology and the professionalism you exhibit. Great priority should be given to work and brand images.
- Links
Links are indubitably a crucial part of optimizing a Google business. Make sure you have listings on sites like Facebook as they will help you reach more customers, and also prove to Google that you have an accurate listing that deserves to be noticed by the people conducting the local searches. Remember to include your website URL on your Google listing, as it allows search engines to read your website with ease. This increases traffic to your site during local searches.
- Reviews
Most customers tend to give more importance and trust reviews that are provided by other customers more, over advertisements done by the company. While most advertisements can be over-hyped, there is little chance of the same to happen in reviews given by real customers. Over 90% of customers prefer trusting recommendations from other people rather than paid advertising. Having numerous positive reviews can be of great help, given how prominent google local listings are. Most customers actually use reviews to make decisions on whether or not to use a product or service. It is important to note that nothing of monetary value should be given in order to get good reviews as this can leave Google with no option other than suspending your account.
