Google is running some heartwarming ads right now with stories of small businesses that have been saved through COVID by people like us, specifically searching online to shop locally. Each year American Express runs its Shop Small campaign and features local merchants on a map, offering rebates to members to shop from this list. Shop Local has been a trend for a while, and even more so through COVID.
I know we’re all concerned about rebuilding our communities, so here are three fun facts:
- When you spend $100 on local business, $68 will stay within the community, compared to only $43 with national companies.
- Local businesses need local infrastructure, which creates more jobs right here at home.
- Local businesses donate to community causes at more than twice the rate of chains.
But as local business owners, I don’t need to tell you the importance of shopping in your neighborhood. You’re already networking because you recognize the value of a strong community to nurturing small businesses. The question you may be asking yourself is, “Hey, I’m a local business; how do I get found?”
This brings me to my topic of optimizing your Google My Business page. That’s the little box about your business that shows up to the right of the page when you search your name, and it’s the page Google takes visitors to if they find your listing on Google Maps. Don’t have one? Go to business.google.com and sign up. Google will want to verify that you truly have a physical location, so be sure to include a photo of your business name on the door, and keep an eye on your physical mailbox for a validation postcard you may receive. Have more than one Google listing? This situation can be trickier as you’ll need access to the one you want to shut down, but getting rid of duplicate listings is essential, or Google will discredit your business since it thinks you’re trying to game the algorithm. And that algorithm gets quite testy when it believes it’s being gamed!
Your Google My Business page has become increasingly important in getting found, and for some businesses may outperform their website. In fact, 46% of searches on Google have local intent. And 84% of the time Google My Business profiles are viewed, they are discovered. This means that someone entered a search term and not the name of your business to find you. When someone searches for your type of business and adds “near me,” or if they search from a mobile device, or even if they don’t include “near me” in their search term, Google wants to deliver a positive local experience. It will return the map results with the highest number of 5-star reviews, are close in proximity, have lots of inbound links, and are the most complete and active. Your website still plays into these search results, but optimizing your Google My Business page is key. Unlike the organic search for your website, there are only 3 top spots in map search results.
So how does your Google My Business page outperform your competitors? Here are seven tricks:
Be sure to complete all of the information for your listing. Include your contact information, website, primary and secondary business categories, service area, hours, attributes, products, services, and description. Your business category should be as specific as possible. Don’t just choose “attorney” choose “family law attorney,” for example. Add frequently asked questions. Set up messaging so visitors can text you from your listing.
Build up your 5-star reviews from clients, colleagues, and associates. The more, the merrier, but if your page has had cobwebs growing on it for months or longer and suddenly receives a bunch of reviews, this may freak our friends at Google out a little, and they may put some of those reviews in the penalty box until they can validate them. If your page has been active, then you can continue to receive a steady stream of reviews. Also, be sure to respond to reviews, both good and bad, to build trust in your brand.
Write a keyword-rich description of your business but focus on describing what makes you unique in the first couple of sentences.
Add weekly content to your page as posts. These will show up as “Updates” on your profile. You can upload images and videos, describe events, and share information. These posts will disappear in a week, so you’ll need to keep replacing them. Remember to include a call to action in your posts. Google has even added a COVID-19 post type, which you can use to communicate if you’re open and additional precautions you’re taking to keep customers safe.
Regularly add images of your business and team. Take photos inside and outside of your office, or when you’re meeting with clients (with their permission of course). Many people will find your page because they searched for images.
List your business name, address, and phone number consistently in as many directories as you can. Each directory creates an inbound link to your Google My Business page. It uses the same type of popularity contest as an organic search for your website. I do mean consistently, by the way. If you spell out “street” in one listing, then don’t abbreviate it in another. Google’s algorithm checks inconsistencies as it assesses your business credibility. More is better, so aim for hundreds of directories.
Keep track of them in case you move. Oh and be sure to include your full address on your website contact page and footer.
Finally, keep your questions and answers updated on your profile. You can set up alerts, so you don’t miss them but pose your own leading questions on your profile and answer them. Remember those keywords when selecting questions. Don’t make it obvious; just create and answer the most popular questions your customers are asking.
Like any SEO strategy, getting found on Google Maps is not “set it and forget it”. It needs to be worked regularly to perform. If you’re looking for shortcuts, there are ad strategies that may also be used, but it just makes good sense to at least take advantage of being found organically, if you’re willing to put some elbow grease into it.
Remember, when you shop local, a real person does a little happy dance.
And when you’re the business being found locally, well, it’s party time!
Keep dancing, my friends.