Learn How to Rank High on Google My Business: Guide to Master Local SEO

Suppose you are a beginner in a competitive digital landscape and looking for an SEO strategy for your local business to thrive in the digital landscape.

In that case, Google My Business (GMB) is to pay attention to.

Retail outlets can grow only by getting local customers. According to Google, “76% who perform online search on their mobile visit a business within a day, and 28% of them lead to a sale.”

So if you do not wish to lose all these footfall of customers and the chance to increase your sales, GMB is the best option.

However, it requires GMB optimization using local SEO tricks to get visibility, foot traffic, and revenue.

So if you are looking for Google My Business optimization tips, you will find the best strategies to help your business dominate local search results in this blog.

Understanding Google My Business and Its Impact

Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that helps business grow their online presence across Google on Maps and Search. If optimized correctly, it can be your digital catalog showcasing key information like location, reviews, business hours, photos, and more.

Key Benefits of Ranking High on GMB:

• If you get rankings in the top 3 on GMB leads (Google-3-Pack) to higher clicks and calls.
• Verified GMB profile with complete details to enhance visitor’s trust.
• Local customers who are searching for keywords like “near me” are the potential buyers.

How Google Determines GMB Rankings

Before you dive into the tips to “how to make your local business rank higher on Google” understand the following factors that contribute to high GMB rankings:

Relevance is the first thing Google looks for. Whether your business is relevant matches with the search query or not.

Distance is the second factor that Google considers. Proximity of your business to the searcher’s location.

Prominence and business reputation matter most for Google My Business rankings.

You need to optimize your GMB listing based on Google algorithms to employ local SEO strategies by influencing these factors. Take a help SEO audit services.

Complete and Optimize Your GMB Profile

What might be the reason for leaving your GMB profile incomplete? It can be considered the greatest obstacle toward realizing a high ranking.

Here’s what you can do to make it right:

Actionable Steps:

Claim and verify your listing:

Start by claiming your business at Google My Business.

It only takes a couple of minutes to do this either by mail, by calling on the phone provided on the webpage, or through email.

Add accurate business details:

Indicate your traditional business name, physical workplace location, and contact number (NAP).

These must be uniform on all sites which will comprise the information about the business. Having this uniformity opened more SEO opportunities.

Choose the right categories:

Select primary and secondary categories that are relevant to what you target to offer in terms of services.

For instance of Google My Business for Doctors, if you are a dentist, the primary category would be that you are a “Dental Care” and make a secondary and third category as “dental surgery, root canals”.

Write a compelling business description:

Choose a few keywords where possible naturally and indicate why the business is unique out of your 700 characters’ worth of space.

Upload high-quality photos:

Listings that had photos had 42% more direction requests as well as 35% more clicks on the website.

Be certain to include quite a number of photographs including the interiors and the exteriors of such places as the team and the product.

For example,
A local Mexican restaurant in New York uploaded high-resolution images of their dishes and their restaurant décor and witnessed a 23% increase in footfall. The images worked very well for clients who were looking for “Mexican food” in their location.

Leverage Keywords Strategically

Keyword has a very important role in improving GMB rankings as they signal search engines about the relevance of your business.

However, avoid keyword stuffing to keep your business safe from penalties from Google.

Also Read: HVAC Digital Marketing – Traffic, Leads & Revenue

Actionable Steps:

Use keywords in your business description:

For example, instead of “We are a diner,” write, “We are a cozy diner in downtown New Jersey serving organic food and coffee.”

Incorporate keywords in your Q&A section:

If your target audience frequently asks “Do you offer vegan options?” reply with, “Yes, our diner has vegan options in downtown New Jersey.”

Optimize for local keywords:

Ensure to add clickbaits like “near me,” “in [city],” or “[service] in [nearby]” to help you get attention from local traffic.

Stat Alert:
In 2023, around 93% of consumers used search engines to find a local business, making keyword optimization essential.

Encourage and Manage Reviews

Reviews are the keystone of your GMB trustworthiness. It is not just essential for SEO to boost your rankings but also important to win customer’s trust.

Actionable Steps:

Ask for reviews:

Ask your satisfied customers to post a positive review for you and give you high ratings by sending follow-up emails or adding QR codes on bills linking to your GMB page.

Respond to every review:

Irrespective it is a positive or negative review, ensure that you reply politely to show your customers that you appreciate feedback and are ready to improve for good.

Also Read: How to Generate Leads for Pest Control?

Address negative reviews constructively:

You should always respond to negative reviews in an apologetic manner such as “We’re sorry for your experience. Please contact us directly to make it right.”

Pro Tip:
Add a review section on the GMB profile and your website to show your credibility.

Fun Fact:
Listing with 10+ ratings and reviews has seen a 10% high CTR compared to the ones without any.

Post Regular Updates on GMB

GMB is like a mini-advertisement space for your business. You can post new offers, seasonal discounts, product launches, or events there.
Actionable Steps:

Create engaging posts:

To advertise on GMB, you should use high-quality images with concise yet actionable messages. For example, – you can write “Get 15% off on all new merchandise on Black Friday_click now to avail the offer!”

Use call-to-action (CTA) buttons:

Add choices like “Call Now,” “Learn More,” or “Book” that can lead to conversions.

Post frequently:

Ensure to post regularly. Posting once a week signals Google’s activeness and keeps the audience engaged.

If you want to what kind of posts can increas engagement take advantage of Local SEO Services.

For Example,
A plumbing business in New York saw a 10% increase in bookings after posting promotions once a week “15% off on referrals”.

Watch Out for the Progress Using GMB Insights

How will you use potential customers’ data to give them experience? Quite easily if your business accounts are organized. For this purpose, it is possible to obtain data directly from the GMB account.

Key Performance Indicators:

• Search queries: Understand what keywords are generating interest in the listing.
• Customer Engagements: Get call/s, get directions, or visit websites through the GMB account.
• Photo engagements: Determine the type of photographs that attract the attention of target customers the most.

Tip of the Day
Try to focus more on the ‘search’ section over the ‘review’ section when analyzing the data. For example, if in December ‘discounts on winter wear’ becomes popular, promote posts or offers that feature the product.

Create Local Citations and Create Backlinks

Local citations (the name, address, and telephone number of the business’ website) and backlinks increase local SEO weight.

Get Registered in business repositories: Register your business on platforms such as Yelp, Bing Places, and Trip Advisor.
Friendly contacts with local bloggers: Blogger collaborations can improve your credibility. You can ask them for reviews or features on their sites.
Attend local community events: Promote events and see if the organizers can endorse the event on their web pages.

Fact Check
20% of B2B companies that have NAP information with at least 20 variations in business directories achieve higher ranking positions in local inquiries.

Optimize for Mobile and Voice Search

Mobile devices and voice searches are continually increasing within local search queries. Make sure that your Google My Business listing is resistant to these types of searching.

Actionable Steps:

• A user-friendly and SEO-friendly website: Your website should load under 3 seconds and be user-friendly.
• Optimizing voice search keywords: To optimize for voice search instead of adding keywords like, ‘cafes in my area’, try out, ‘which is the best cafe in my area’.
• Update your business hours: Many voice searches start with, ‘Are you open now’?

Stat Alert:
According to a study, 58% of local businesses are searched via voice by consumers.

Keep Your Information Up-to-Date

Inaccurate information such as the wrong number of business listing webpages and services listing pages annoys the visitors and harms search engine rankings. Makes it important to edit or update the GMB profile around any changes.

Actionable Steps:

• Any change in holiday hours, or any changes such as temporary closing procedures.
• Whenever possible introduce new services or new items on the menu.
• Deleting the old or unwanted photos, or any old posts.

Conclusion: Your Roadmap to GMB Success

GMB is not a time activity once you update your address and it’s done. If you have a similar approach, well you are losing all your potential customers to your competitors.

Because GMB optimization requires continuous efforts by changing marketing activities over time according to trends and algorithms.

Review words, compete, and update regularly to increase a business’s online visibility and more importantly win over those customers searching.

Lastly, keep in mind that by diluting your resources in the wrong direction, GMB does not lead to the best positions in search engines, instead direct your resources to create trust and earn relations with the local people.

So why waste time? Now that you have learned “how to make your local business rank higher on Google” start doing it and enjoy the expansion of the company.