Any owner of an Australian small business looking to optimise his or her Google Business Profile would do well to begin with the most obvious thing: make sure the profile as it appears on Google Maps and Google Search is claimed, verified and in order. Put some effort into managing it and potential customers will have no trouble putting in a call, checking your hours or reading reviews when they are in the market for your services.
I am Evelyn Marlowe and I have put together this guide to show how one can get the most from a Google Business Profile without making local SEO an all-consuming occupation. In it you will be told what requires updating, where the majority of businesses err and how to tell if you need to engage a professional to run things for you.
The Local Importance Of Your Profile
In the eyes of local search the Google Business Profile is something of a public shopfront. Before a customer has even made it to your website you may well be showing up in the Local Pack, Google Maps or a straight Google Search.
For a small business here in Australia that means more of the right kind of traffic to your site and better quality enquiries. This is the foundation of Australian small business SEO. You are not going to be placed above every rival by some miracle but you do take away any unnecessary friction. A sensible way to go about it and far less costly than having to print 10,000 flyers with an incorrect number on them.
Building Trust And Visibility
A customer will look at a profile to see if a business is open, close by and what it has to offer before he or she makes contact. There are photos, reviews and response times to be had.
There is no formula Google will put in writing for ranking on Maps but prominence, distance and relevance are all part of the local search equation. So let your profile be a true reflection of the business and put in the time to get some authentic feedback.
What Is Required By Customers
They are not interested in a cleverly worded description. They want to know if you are open, if you work in their suburb and what is entailed.
Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. A plumber needs to put forward service areas and emergency availability; a café should have a menu link and current opening hours; a mobile tradesman might have to state there is no walk-in location.
Make Sure You Have The Listing
You will want to be in control of the correct listing before you start to improve it. An unclaimed one or a duplicate can only confuse matters and dilute your local standing.
Do a search on the name and location in Google. Make a note of the category, phone number and address. Should someone else have verified it already, do not start from scratch, use the process Google has for ownership or access. It is an administrative bother if a former partner or staff member still has the keys but simpler than dealing with multiple listings vying for attention.
Verification Done Right
Whatever method is put before you in your account be it video, postcard, email or phone, follow through. But resist the urge to make repeated changes to key details during the process unless they are in error.
And keep the name as it is on your signage. There is no point in trying to pack in keywords, slogans or a list of suburbs in the name field under the guise of optimisation.
Do Not Leave Anything Out
If you have filled in every important field you are giving Google a better picture of your operations and the customer little reason to go and look somewhere else. Take a look on your mobile and if a basic query can be answered in a matter of seconds then you are on the right track.
Keep NAP Details Accurate
Then there is the NAP (name address phone number). This has to be the same on your website, social media and any other directory you are in. If you are a service-area business and customers do not come to the premises, adhere to Google’s rules on concealing the address. A post office box, virtual office or some other shared address is no substitute for a proper one.
Realistic Hours
Where the profile will have it, put in your regular and special hours as well as any closures for holidays. Be sure to make changes ahead of staff leave, public or seasonal holidays, extreme weather and the like. In Australia one has to be mindful of Christmas trading, bushfire closures, cyclone warnings in the north or the wet season in the Top End. A customer left at a locked door is not going to laud your attention to detail in a review.
Contact And Access Details
Provide a phone number that is answered in the hours you claim. Put up the right website and booking or ordering information as the case may be.
Any impediments to a visit, be it stairs, parking, loading zones or public transport, should be made plain on the website and in the profile fields. Good access details will spare the customer stress and head off an enquiry that is better not made.
Categories
Google will tell what the business is from the categories you select. The primary one is of particular import, so make it the service with which the customer is most familiar. Secondary categories can give some context but only if they are bona fide; piling on more will not see you rank any higher on Google Maps.
The Primary Category
Be as specific as you can. It would be wrong for a building contractor to put down “hardware store” because he supplies materials, or a bakery to call itself a “restaurant” over the sale of coffee. Many opt for the broadest sounding category and are mistaken. What is needed is a category that speaks to the principal need of the customer.
Secondary Categories
These are to be used in moderation and must be an accurate description of the business. Do not be tempted to change them each week in the expectation of a ranking boost; review them when the business warrants it. They should be in keeping with the rest of the profile. When the website and reviews say one thing and the category another, it confuses the customer and leaves Google to make of it what it can.
Services And Areas
For a mobile business, a consultant or a tradesman operating in several suburbs, this is where the customer makes up his mind to get in touch. Write in a way a person with a problem to solve can understand: state the service and location and any limitations, there is no need to work every suburb into a sentence.
The Description
Here is the place to set out in factual terms what you do, who you are for and your area of operation, without resorting to empty guarantees. An electrician might note that he does fault finding, lighting repairs and domestic switchboard upgrades in certain Melbourne suburbs. That is preferable to a list of keywords touting the “best electrician in Melbourne”.
Service Areas
Be honest about what can be reached. Covering half of Queensland might seem a good idea but is of no use if you cannot be there in a timely fashion. Factor in the fuel, the road and the distance; a run down the Stuart Highway or the Gibb River Road is not the same as a short drive in the suburbs. In regional Australia a realistic claim is worth more than an inflated one.
Photos, Posts And Updates
Let the photos show the work and what a customer will see on arrival. A natural picture will put more questions to rest than a stock image. There is little point in using a logo put up years ago.
Choose Helpful Business Photos
Exterior and interior shots, team and product images, examples of the work done are all appropriate. Include the entrance, reception, vehicles and equipment if that is of interest to the customer. But do not put up anything that is misleading or shows unsafe practices, nor private information. Get permission from anyone identifiable in a photo, customers or children in particular.
Publish Useful Updates
With Google posts one can make a timely communication, though they are not a replacement for a sound website. A word about a new product, a community event or a temporary closure is best kept concise and linked to the site if possible. You will find a post on summer bushfire closures or a change in the pickup point has more value than a generic proclamation of being the best. Relevance in the local area is what counts.
Reviews
There is value in reviews for the confidence they give a customer and the way their words can mirror actual search behaviour, but that is only so long as they are an account of a real experience from a real customer.
The time to put a request to your customers is once the service has been done. Do not be tempted to buy reviews or dangle rewards for a favourable one, nor should an honest opinion be put under pressure to be altered.
Properly Soliciting Feedback
A neutral ask with a straightforward path to the review function is all that is needed. It can be part of a receipt, an email or a conversation so long as you are not unduly influencing the outcome. Be specific without being leading; it is better to say “we would be grateful for an honest review of your experience if you have the time” than to invite someone to use certain keywords or put down five stars.
Put Some Care into Your Response
Whether the review is positive or not, reply in a manner that is calm and human. Put any private matters off the public thread and thank the customer for his or her input. There is no need to make an issue of every point or put personal details on display. A well considered answer will put future customers at ease even in the face of an unfair review. Should a review be in breach of Google’s rules then report it as you should, but do not think an uncomplimentary one is grounds for removal.
Local SEO in a Wider Context
For local SEO Australia, your Google Business Profile is most effective when it is in line with the rest of your activity. The story told by your profile, website and directories ought to be the same as the one your customer experience conveys.
On the website there should be no ambiguity as to what services are on offer, where you operate, how to get in touch and other pertinent information. Rely on Google Analytics to make sense of what is happening on the site, not wishful thinking.
Outcomes Worth Measuring
Before any major overhaul, set a baseline. Where the data is to hand, keep tabs on things like calls, direction requests, profile views, website clicks and any enquiries.
Be judicious with percentages. An uptick in monthly calls from 20 to 30 is a 50% rise (10 over the original 20), but a percentage figure in isolation is just a pretty number with nothing to guide you.
Guidance from the Government
When it comes to marketing and compliance in Australia, consult the Australian Government’s business guidance. This will put digital promotion in its proper place alongside record keeping and communication with the customer.
Google Profile Checklist
After you have claimed the profile and at times of change, be it a move or an alteration to services or hours, go through this checklist. A quarterly run through is prudent, and more often before the seasons turn.
- Have the right Google Business Profile and verify it.
- Make sure the name, address, phone and web address are in order.
- NAP consistency should be evident in your key online listings.
- Put in your hours for regular, special and holiday occasions.
- Select a primary category and secondaries that are apt.
- Lay out your services plainly, no keyword stuffing.
- Service areas must be realistic; drop those you are unable to cover.
- Put up some photographs of the premises, team and work.
- Only post on Google when there is something new to tell.
- Get reviews from customers on their own accord.
- In responding to them, be professional and mind the customer’s privacy.
- Log the calls, traffic and enquiries.
- And after a rebrand, a change in staff or service, look the profile over again.
Support Options
An owner with a single location and the inclination to see to it can manage a small business Google profile with little trouble. But with multiple locations, staff turnover or the odd duplicate listing it is more of an undertaking.
You may want support for an audit of the profile and its categories, for photo and review processes, local landing pages and the like, and to control staff access. Google Ads will put you in front of people for a price but it is no substitute for good organic profile information and a dependable experience for the customer.
A Priority Plan for a Day
Make a day of it and first of all get the name, address, hours, phone, website and primary category right. Then put the profile status to the test, put in some necessary photos and set up an easy way to solicit real reviews.
Let the core information be right before you take on the more involved tasks of citation cleanup, multi-location governance or in depth reporting. A well ordered foundation is preferable to a fine looking dashboard that has the opening hours wrong.
Who would benefit from additional assistance?
If staff are stretched or there are pressing reputation concerns, professional management of your Google Business Profile can be called for. The same goes for businesses with multiple premises or a history of ownership changes. An expert is useful when the owner is at a loss as to why a profile has been suspended, is a duplicate or is putting forward incorrect data.
Any provider should be able to tell you which account will have ownership, what they intend to alter and how they will put results in a report. Do not be swayed by any assurances of a top spot on Google Maps; a good operator knows he cannot dictate the outcome of every review, update or the location of the searcher.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are a number of misconceptions to be had about profiles, SEO and the like of paid advertising. For the most part the answer is straightforward: one is better off with consistency and relevance than with any number of tricks.
How To Put Your Google Business Profile on a Higher Plane
Make sure to fill out all the fields, have clear service descriptions and accurate categories, put up some good photos and keep the hours current. Earn some honest reviews and link the profile to a website where you can monitor calls and direction requests.
Resist the urge to stuff keywords into the business name or buy reviews and make duplicates. They will only get you in trouble with policy and erode trust, they do not confer any lasting visibility.
Optimising Google Ads for a Small Business
Pick a single customer action to focus on, be it a booking or a call. You want each advert to go to a landing page that makes sense and you should be targeting only the areas you can cover. Measure the cost of a lead, not just the clicks.
Keep an eye on your search terms and cull the irrelevant ones. With the right budget and conversion tracking Google Ads will give you quick exposure, but they need to be tweaked from time to time.
What of Google Search Engine Optimisation?
SEO is simply making a website and its online signals comprehensible to the search engines so they will put it in front of the right searches. Local SEO brings in such considerations as reputation, service area and location.
One cannot expect a guaranteed position. The quality of the site, the competition, the intent of the search and other things will determine the outcome.
Is there a way to get a free Google Business Profile?
You can have one through the official process at Google without paying a listing fee, provided you are eligible and can verify your details. But a free listing is not free to manage. Expect to put in the time on the photographs, the website, responding to reviews or perhaps enlisting some professional help.
Does a Google Business Profile ensure leads?
It will not. While it makes you more discoverable and gives customers an easier way to get in touch, the rest is down to the quality of your service, your pricing, responsiveness and how you are reviewed.
The aim is to be readily found and trusted. In Australian small business SEO that means having the kind of information that people rely on to make their decisions.
A Useful Kind of Local Visibility
What an Australian small business owner can put in place with his Google Business Profile is a matter of being measured and having the facts straight, from the reviews to the categories. It does not have the allure of some ranking secret but it is much to be relied upon.
Attend to the weak spots and check the profile for any change in the business. Whether you do it or have someone else do it, the profile should be a true reflection of the business and not require the customer to put in any effort to find what he wants.