GMB Ranking Factors
Many businesses turn to Google to gain more exposure and reach a broader audience. One free tool that this search engine offers is the renowned Google My Business option, designed to help companies rank in local search results. You’ll be able to drive more traffic and increase your leads and potential sales. So, we’ll elaborate on the most important GMB ranking factors and how to optimize your business for optimal results.
By highlighting the key ranking factors and elaborating on their meaning, you’ll better understand how to optimize your website. You’ll be able to identify various areas of improvement regarding local SEO efforts.
Continue reading to discover the best practices when it comes to GMB ranking and how to use them to your advantage!
Source: shutterstock.com / Photo Contributor: Lori Butcher
Understanding GMB Ranking Factors
Before elaborating on the key ranking factors, we want to emphasize their meaning and importance. GMB is short for Google My Business, and it’s used to create a free account that gives you access to your Google Business profile.
Doing so will give you full management and editorial access to your business’s online presence. This can be used for SEO and lead-generation efforts. As one of the most important business directory listings, it offers numerous free optimization options to enhance your business’s online visibility.
Moreover, creating a Business Profile on Google automatically places it on Google Maps, allowing users to leave reviews, attach photos, and ask questions. To list your business in this directory, the main information required are its name, location, and category.
Even though your business will appear without a GMB account, Google will most likely populate it with information it’s found about your company online. To ensure the profile displays your desired information, creating a Google My Business account will help you customize this information and manage the reviews it collects.
Optimizing this listing will help local users discover your business faster and improve your reputation and engagement. It might lead to enhanced conversion rates and sales.
Key GMB Ranking Factors to Consider
As with any results shown on search engines, Google has specific standards and algorithms to help users find relevant information about their search query. To ensure high user satisfaction, it’ll prioritize businesses that have optimized their user profile.
So, if you want your company to appear as one of the first results, you have to abide by Google’s rules and regulations. That being said, the key GMB ranking factors you should consider are the following:
- Business information accuracy
- Relevant business categories and attributes
- Customer reviews and ratings
Business information accuracy
The most important GMB ranking factor is business information accuracy. It’s only natural that Google will rank businesses that display relevant and genuine information higher because they provide more useful content to the users.
As mentioned, the main information you should include about your business is its name, location, and category. But there is additional information you should consider, such as the working hours and phone number.
Regardless of the information you choose to display, you must ensure all the details are correct and up to date. This is especially important if your business has made any recent changes, such as moving to a new location or changing the phone number, and requires you to update it.
Furthermore, your NAP descriptions, as in the name, address, and phone number should always be identical across different platforms to avoid confusing the users. There’s also the business description section, which you can use to your advantage.
As with any SEO strategy, you may include the keywords you want to rank for within the natural flow of the text. Once you’ve conducted thorough keyword research, you can incorporate the appropriate words and phrases within the responses to the reviews and customer questions.
Relevant business categories and attributes
Choosing relevant business categories and attributes is the second-ranking factor you should consider. Selecting a key category for your business is one of the prerequisites for listing it in Google’s web directory.
This should always describe your business as best as possible while being relevant to your niche. For example, it could be an internet marketing service, a jewelry store, or a financial consultant service.
Besides the primary category, you can choose additional categories to describe your business further. You can choose subcategories such as web design and marketing agency if you’re providing internet marketing services. Since Google makes constant changes to ensure a positive user experience, it’s important to frequently check if there are any new relevant categories you can include.
Another feature you can use to your advantage is the business attributes. They’re used to highlight specific qualities that your company possesses. Not only will you provide additional information to the users, but it’s also thought to increase online visibility. Based on the type of business you own, some common attributes you should consider are:
- Accessibility features
- Dining and service options
- Amenities and activities
- Payment and language options
- Crowd and planning attributes
- Highlights
Customer reviews and ratings
It’s important to gather positive customer reviews and ratings. Search engines like Google are known to prioritize user experience above all. Thus, having users display positive interactions with your business will certainly aid in higher-ranking opportunities.
The easiest way to garner reviews is by providing quality services to your audience. A user-centric design and prioritizing customer satisfaction will improve your brand reputation and online visibility.
However, while you can directly ask your customers to leave a review on your Business Profile page, remember that these reviews should remain organic to avoid violating Google’s guidelines. Failing to do so can hurt your chances of getting ranked and may even result in being delisted.
Another tactic you can try regarding customer reviews and ratings is always to respond swiftly and professionally. Regardless if the comments are positive or negative, you should always reply to the users and share your thoughts with them. If you notice someone dissatisfied with your service, remain polite while reassuring them and asking for further details about the issue.
Source: freepik.com
Essential Elements for GMB Optimization
Now that you’re well-informed about the most important ranking factors for GMB, we also want to highlight the essential elements for such optimization. The factors that affect your ranking opportunities the most are the following:
- Using actual business name: While some may be tempted to use additional keywords alongside the business name, this can only hurt your chances of ranking. Google has a strict policy against this practice, which may penalize your listing.
- Using keywords in business description: Utilizing the appropriate keywords within your description helps search engines acknowledge which words or phrases you’re trying to rank for.
- Uploading high-resolution images: While it’s thought that a picture says a thousand words, it’s especially important to capture the visual aspects of your services to provide proof for the users. Uploading high-resolution images highlights your efforts and provides the audience with a compelling story.
- Regular updates: Since Google frequently changes its algorithms, it’s best to frequently check your listing and make necessary changes. This is especially crucial if you’ve changed your business’s primary information, such as the location or phone number.
Conclusion
After discovering the most important GMB ranking factors, you should always take the time to craft a thorough strategy to achieve the best results. By providing the users with relevant and accurate information about your business, you’ll also increase your chances of ranking higher. Additionally, you should keep the information you display consistent across your platforms and update it when needed.
If you don’t feel confident in your experience, contact our professional team at Clickvision SEO to come up with the right solutions for your unique business needs! By utilizing cutting-edge SEO methodologies, we’ll help you maximize your online reach and drive digital success for your business. So, contact our team today and discover all the possibilities that await you!
