Optimizing Google My Business helps ensure that your business listing will get the most attention when users are searching for your brand or services. When you first get your listing setup, there are a few things to focus on; which will help you optimize your listing.
Business Name: It is an obvious one, but often times people try to stuff keywords into the business name. While this may bring some sort term gain, this is not an effective brand builder. This also will lock your company into singular services making future expansion harder. If it is on your business card, this is what you should have on your GMB listing.
Phone: Use your primary phone number! You can do call tracking number to track calls from GMB, but with Google’s new call tracking feature, it really isn’t necessary.
Address: Your address is primary going to be used if customers come to your location. Not all businesses have to show their address on GMB, but if you are – make sure your address is correct and you are including any suite numbers, floors, etc.
Category: This is probably one of the most influential elements within the GMB listing. In fact, we have seen businesses grow and shrink based on this selection. It is important that your primary category best describe your business – i.e. Mobile Window Tinting. You can add a secondary category ie. Mobile Tinting. However, if you switch those it is likely that your business listing for Mobile will drop considerably.
Posts: Once you have all of your core INFO completed, make sure you consistently add posts to your GMB listing. This will help add keywords, relevant content and more to your Google My Business Listing. We have seen search results impacted by Posts that cover everything from Brand, Services and Products.
The most important thing to consider is that if Google My Business is asking for specific date fields, complete it if you have information they can use. Leaving information blank simply tells Google you aren’t interested in providing the best presence on their system for their customers… Those customers that could eventually be your customer.