Our Guide to Google My Business

Create Your GMB Account

The first step to do is to create your business’ GMB account. Go to the GMB Platform and claim your business if there is already an existing listing. If there’s already an existing listing, then you need to remove any duplicate locations which could confuse search engines. When removing locations, take note not to mark them as permanently closed, otherwise, the listing will stay in the list of results.

Verify Your GMB Listing

Now it’s time to manage your GMB listing. Do this by verifying it through mail, phone, or email. You can also perform bulk verification if you have over ten locations. If you’ve already verified your business for Search Console, then you can verify your listing quickly.

GMB Listing Optimization

Now, it’s time for the fun to start: optimization. Just like how you implement your Search Engine Optimization (SEO), your GMB listing also requires some keywords, content, and other SEO tricks to boost its ranking on local search.

So, where do you begin?

Business Details

The first thing to do is to input all the necessary (and correct) business details, such as your business name, business description, opening hours, service areas, website links, and more.

These are essential details that you shouldn’t skip. Moreover, the GMB details that you have must be consistent across all your online properties, such as your website, social media accounts, and directory listings.

Link Building

Once you have your business details finished, it’s time to start your local link building. Local link building will get you local links back to your site.

To start with your local link building, you need to create a local SEO landing page that is optimized for local search engine operations. These landing pages will highlight your local business’ location. Make sure that the content contains all the necessary keywords, meta information, and URLs. You can get local backlinks from reputable websites that you can reach out to.

Directories Building

Now that you have your local link building running, it’s time to focus on directories building. Directories are your chance to create instant wins, as being listed in online directories is a great way to boost the visibility of your local business. Set up accounts on reliable online directories and advertise your business there.

Reviews

Consider customer reviews as the slingshot to success for your local SEO marketing. Reviews play an essential role in your GMB listings, and with that, you need to encourage customers to leave you business reviews. Reviews have a significant influence on the purchase process and most consumers today will only consider a business if it has four or more stars.

So, how will you generate reviews? Consumers who naturally leave a review on businesses are a godsend, however, some still need a bit of push. A good thing to do would be to create a consistent process to ask for online reviews. You don’t need to do this manually as there are a lot of tools that can automate the review request process.

Conclusion

Local GMB optimization offers numerous benefits for local business owners. With these tips, you can look forward to greater local search visibility and more customers. If you need help, you can hire an SEO company to help you with your GMB listing and local SEO marketing.

We are a well-known SEO agency in Huddersfield. Contact our team at Fallen Leaf Web Design today to improve your local business!