Having a strong presence on Google My Business (GMB) is crucial for businesses wanting to get found by customers searching locally. GMB listings appear prominently in Google search and maps for relevant queries, providing your business name, address, website, photos, and more.

Optimizing your GMB listing for search engines – known as local SEO – helps customers discover and engage with your business online. Follow these 8 tips to improve your local SEO and make the most of Google My Business:

1. Completely Fill Out Your Business Profile

The more complete your GMB profile, the better Google can understand your business and match you with relevant searches.

Ensure every section is filled out, including:

• Business name, address, phone number, website
• Opening hours
• Services, products, categories that describe what you do
• High-quality photos depicting your business exterior, interior, products, services
• Description summarizing your offerings and strengths
• Website URL pointing to your homepage
• Menus and price lists, if applicable

For example, a restaurant would list categories like “restaurant, café, breakfast, lunch, dinner, cocktails”.

Set up virtual services like bookings or food ordering if you offer them. Keep all information up to date.

2. Optimize Your Business Profile Fields

Choose strategic keywords and phrases that customers would use to find your products or services when filling out profile fields.

For your business name and categories, focus on:

• Industry, services, niche specifics
• Location or area served

For example, a landscaping company in Austin might be “Austin Green Gardens – Landscaping & Lawn Care”.

For descriptions and additional profile items, include:

• Top products, services, specialty offerings
• Business philosophy or mission
• Awards, certifications, achievements

A medical clinic could highlight concierge services, medical specialties, and awards for outstanding patient care.

This allows Google to understand your business and return your listing for relevant local searches.

3. Maintain Strong Citation Consistency

Citations are mentions of your business name, address, and phone number across key sites like your website, directories, and review platforms.

Having consistent citations builds authority signals. Avoid:

• Mismatched business names, addresses, phone numbers
• Duplicate GMB listings
• Outdated directories listings

For example, verify all citations use your exact registered business name “Salty’s Seafood Restaurant”, not variations like “Salty’s”.

Build citations on your website, aggregator sites like Yelp, industry directories, social media, and local business associations.

4. Encourage Customer Reviews

Reviews influence local search visibility – more positive reviews improve rankings. Encourage customers to leave detailed, honest reviews on:

• Your GMB listing
• Relevant third-party sites like Facebook, Yelp, industry forums

For example, a dentist might provide reviewer cards for patients to scan and leave a Google review immediately after appointments.

Respond professionally to any negative feedback and fix underlying issues. Interact with reviewers to show you value customers.

5. Structure Your Website for Local SEO

Your website provides critical local signals that associate your on-site content with your business identity. Optimize with:

• A Google Maps embed showing your location
• Schema markup for your business name, address, phone number
• Alt text on images describing your business/location
• Prominent mentions of your service area on relevant pages

For instance, a plumber would mention serving specific zip codes or neighborhoods throughout their service city.

This helps Google match your website content to your GMB listing.

6. Get Photos and Virtual Tours

Visual content demonstrates your local business better than words. Add:

• Exterior and interior photos showing your location
• Product/service photos and videos
• Staff photos and owner selfies
• Images of your area or local community
• 360 virtual tours of your space

A retail clothing store could showcase storefront, products on racks and tables, dressing rooms, and staff modeling product.

Update photos regularly to keep your listing fresh.

7. Leverage GMB Posts and Q&A

GMB lets you share posts – updates, events, offers – directly on your listing. Take advantage by:

• Posting weekly updates, specials, seasonal messages
• Promoting events, new menu items, reopening announcements
• Responding to customer questions in the Q&A section

For example, a coffee shop might post about pumpkin spice latte season arriving or an upcoming open mic night.

Posting frequently fosters engagement with customers browsing your listing.

8. Analyze and Improve Your GMB Insights

Dive into your GMB Insights for data on searches, views, actions, and customers. Identify successes and areas needing improvement.

Monitor metrics like:

• Impressions
• Search queries driving views
• Calls, directions, website clicks
• Peak times of customer activity
• Most popular posts and photos

A hotel could use insights to optimize underperforming photos or add more posts during high-traffic times.

Optimizing underperforming elements boosts your local SEO impact.

Make the Most of Your Google My Business Listing

A complete, optimized GMB profile builds your visibility for local searches and helps new customers discover your business every day. Stay on top of your local SEO with these best practices for standing out.

Focus on consistency, high-quality content, and responding to customer needs and questions. Analytics tools like GMB Insights provide the guidance you need to continuously improve.

For hands-on help managing and optimizing your Google My Business listing for maximum SEO benefit, our local search marketing services deliver proven results. Contact us today to get started!