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If you work in social media marketing, it’s easy to get caught up in all the latest and greatest platform offerings. But it’s important to remember the value of the more traditional tried-and-true channels too.
When 81% of consumers still use Google to evaluate local businesses, a complete Google Business Profile (GBP) is a fool-proof way to boost your image and increase your online visibility.
A better profile can give customers clear answers to top questions, like your business’s specialization, hours, and location. Plus, it’s a great way to promote brand values and spotlight what you do best with glowing customer reviews!
Below, we’ll look at how this tool helps agencies, franchises, and small businesses stand out from the crowd.
What is a Google Business Profile?
A Google Business Profile is a business’s official listing on the popular search engine. GBP was known as Google My Business (GMB) until the name got a refresh in mid-2022.
The functionality and goals of GBP and GMB are similar, but GBP gives business owners more tools to manage their business information and control their brand’s larger story. In a nutshell, GBP encourages business owners to improve their customers’ online experience by offering better, more user-friendly tools.
With an optimized Google Business Profile listing, you can:
- Manage information: From your website and business address to your service menus, GBP helps customers find details about what your business does and who it’s for.
- Interact with customers: On GBP, you can read and respond to online reviews, helping out current customers and showing potential customers how your business addresses comments and concerns.
- Understand and expand your presence: See how customers use Google search to find your business and what steps they take afterward. With GBP, you can see where customers are when they search and track your campaigns to determine how to best expand your reach.
The anatomy of a Google Business ProfileA Google Business Profile account lets you list more than just your business name and physical address. There’s all kinds of info and content you can add to your profile, including images and video.
If you’re already groaning at the thought of all the tedious work ahead of you, don’t worry! With Sked, you can add GBP to your existing toolbox to easily manage nearly every component. Sked makes it simple to maximize the potential of your GBP by using every section, including:
- Posts: Share official news like promotions, event info, or exclusive deals. With Sked, it’s easy to make changes on the fly. Use text, photos, or videos to promote new products, holiday hours, or general info.
- Info: List your business name, category, products and services, address, hours, phone number, service area, and other contact information. This section helps people quickly find the info they need without combing through your website.
- Insights: GBP offers insights into search methodology, customer actions, photo views, and more. Track analytics over a week, month, or quarter.
- Google Reviews: See and respond to customer reviews to celebrate your business’s successes, uncover any weaknesses, and offer personalized support to unhappy customers. Responding to reviews shows prospective and current customers alike that your business is ready to listen and go the extra mile.
- Messaging: Messaging allows customers to contact a business directly from its GBP page. Quickly see and respond to questions or comments, so customers get fast answers and support.
- Post photos or videos: Share high-quality, colorful photos and videos of your business, tempting searchers to further explore your official website, visit social media pages, or stop by their nearest location. Show nearby landmarks to help people find you, highlight helpful staff members, or even brag about your well-stocked shelves.
- Products and services: Display your best-selling products and services to step up your foot or online traffic.
- Create an advertisement: You can share your Google ads from GMB to give customers more touchpoints or context.
Google Business Profile folds into Google Maps, Reviews, and Ads, acting as a central hub for standard searches. For example, if a customer searches for coffee shops near them on Google Maps, Google’s algorithm pulls the best GBPs in the area as suggestions. Getting more Google Reviews or paying for Google Ads are proven ways to drive up search rankings—especially for new or small businesses.
Why a Google Business Profile is essential for effective digital marketing
A GBP clues new customers into a business’s value, and it’s often used by people with high local search intent. You’ve probably heard that GenZ prefers to use social media platforms like Instagram (67%) and TikTok (62%) to find and evaluate local businesses, but 61% of them also use Google. And Google is by far the preferred option for millennials and up! Google Business Profile optimization puts more information at customers’ fingertips, so they can find businesses that best match their needs.
Meet your audience where they are
Customers rely on Google to answer their questions, and they continue to trust the results that the search engine spits out. According to Google, if a business has a complete GBP, customers are 2.7 times more likely to consider it reputable, 70% more likely to visit, and 50% more likely to purchase from it.
Support your SEO strategy
A complete and optimized GBP supports both your general and local SEO strategies by providing detailed information about your business that the search engine uses to determine SERP rankings. In fact, GBP signals make up 32% of local pack/finder ranking factors. So, if you want one of those coveted top spots (and who doesn’t?), your GBP should be a priority.
Want to learn more about GBP and SEO? Check out our breakdown here!
Get data-backed insights
Better data helps you reduce or eliminate guesswork and base your decisions on hard numbers. When you use GBP alongside Google Analytics, you can see:
- Search metrics: Determine how often your GBP shows up in standard searches vs. Google Maps.
- Actions: See what customers did after they found your business’ profile (called the number, requested directions, clicked through to the website, etc.).
- Engagement rates: View likes, shares, click-through rates, and comments on online posts to see which ones get the most attention.
- Keywords: See which keywords drive the most popular search queries.
Google Business Profile dos & don’ts
To use the posts section, you’ll need to review and approve your business information and verify your account. As you go through it all, we’ll share a few tips and tricks to keep in mind. And if you’re setting up separate GBPs for different locations of the same franchise, don’t be intimidated! It gets easier as you move from one profile to the next.
Here’s what you should do
- Complete every section: GBP asks for your business name, hours, location, contact info, and other important details that customers are looking for. Fill out all sections as thoroughly as possible for the best results.
- Claim multiple listings when applicable: Franchises or businesses with several branches need separate GBPs for each physical location—even if they all offer the same products or services.
- Use high-quality media: Post professional videos and photos to catch customers’ eyes, and regularly update your graphics with new and compelling content.
- Prioritize customer reviews: This is the single best way to boost your search rankings and promote customer trust. Ideally, you’ll weave requests for reviews into every customer experience and address areas for improvements with staff members.
- Add relevant keywords: Using popular search terms in your posts, profile, and website helps your rankings. Drive category and local search results with organic additions.
- Use Google Posts: Post your events, sales, and offers, and call out any restrictions or limitations. These posts can help you target ideal customers so more people engage with your business.
- Use tools to boost efficiency: Today’s automation tools and AI programs help agencies and franchises keep up with FAQs and ensure that they’re meeting users’ needs and search intent. Just remember that not all tools are created equal, and AI can easily spread misinformation or otherwise fail to answer the question.
Here’s what you shouldn't do
- Neglect your listing: GBP requires regular updates, typically at least once a month. We recommend designating a responsible team member and scheduling regular updates to keep anything from slipping through the cracks.
- Use commercial slang: Terms like BOGO may be common in your industry, but jargon can confuse customers and hurt your profile.
- Post irrelevant content: All text, photos, and videos should be current and related to the business.
3 ways to use your Google Business Profile
GBPs are excellent places to post new offers, updates, and events. Here are three ways to use the different post types.
1. Highlight special offers and discounts
Create offer posts to tell customers about new sales and discounts. Use the title section to showcase the offer and then add relevant, everyday language to explain. For best results, we recommend avoiding deals with too many exclusions, as it can feel like a bait-and-switch or just too much of a hassle to figure out.
2. Promote upcoming events
Invite searchers to your most exciting events and generate buzz for your latest affair. Make sure to include details on what, when, where, and how to sign up.
3. Share updates and news
Whether you’re launching a new service, opening a new location, or adding more team members, you can use Google posts to share your big news.
Challenges of managing Google Business Profiles
GBP is an important part of your online presence, but it’s just one of many. If you’re managing multiple social media accounts alongside your GBP, it’s easy to overlook customer questions, miss a post, or ignore falling engagement metrics.
These hiccups often start small and then quickly multiply across platforms. For instance, your Instagram business page might show your accurate holiday hours, while your GBP still lists standard operational hours. Or services for one franchise location get copied and pasted to all locations, but services range by store.
Franchises also run into problems if their customer reviews aren’t centrally managed. Leaving franchise owners responsible for managing their own locations’ reviews might be the easiest option—but it’s rarely the most effective. You end with a mix of voices and solutions, and even worse, some franchise owners don’t always have the tact to gracefully address major complaints.
Errors and inconsistencies don’t just confuse customers—they hurt a business’ SEO rankings. When experts estimate that Google’s algorithm changes up to 600 times per year, it’s hard enough to keep track of the rules and latest best practices. If you want to make it easier on yourself, a smarter approach can alleviate a lot of these common issues and help you build trust.
How a scheduling tool alleviates workloads
Tools like Sked Social offer an all-in-one GBP management platform to schedule posts, manage reviews, and get the best insights from your analytics. Plus, Sked makes it simple to view and manage posts across all social media profiles from a centralized dashboard, so you don’t have to worry about dropping the ball!
Sked also helps agencies, franchise owners, and entrepreneurs use AI to answer FAQs, whether it’s how late a location is open, how long a special promotion lasts, or whether the business welcomes pets. Plus, our integration features allow you to quickly scale every new update without individually managing each profile.
Think about how often you’ve searched through Yelp or Google reviews to find out where to park at a new venue or whether a restaurant offers a kid’s discount. By optimizing GBPs using a comprehensive, automated tool, businesses can start off their relationships with potential new customers on a much better foot.
Integrating Google Business Profile with your Sked account
It’s all too common to find misleading or inaccurate business information online. But better tools can help you catch mistakes before they go live and supply customers with the up-to-date details they need before making a purchase or dropping by a store.
With Sked, you can easily create and schedule posts for your Google Business Profile alongside all your social media content. As a leading social media scheduler, Sked is perfect for agencies and franchise owners who post multiple updates across platforms.
Sked helps you cut down on manual updates and improve customer satisfaction, all while boosting your business’ SEO, SERP rankings, and general reputation.
Want to learn more about managing Google Business Profiles with Sked? Check out our tips here.
