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Loebig Ink is a small business consulting firm
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Tag: google my business

Optimizing Your Google Business Profile Listing

Posted on by Brian Loebig

Updated 5/30/2024

Google Business Profiles (GBP) has become one of the most important online properties for a business on the web. In June of 2019, for the first time in history, more than 50% of Google search traffic ended without a click to a paid ad or a *website! This means your Google Business Profile page is even more important than your website from a Google Search perspective. Since Google eliminated the Google Plus social media platform, they have integrated social elements to the GBP product making it a key social media platform as well. On a well-developed GBP, users can see a business’s products and services, it’s latest news, events, hours of operation, staff photos, 30-second videos, and more!

What follows are some basic but crucial tips for optimizing and actively managing your listing for maximum visibility!

  1. Enter Complete Data for Your Listing
    • Local search results favor the most relevant results for searches, and business offering the most detailed and accurate information will be easier to serve in search.
    • Don’t leave anything to be guessed or assumed; make sure your listing communicates with potential customers what your business does, where it is, and how they can acquire the good and/or services your business is offering.
    • Include Keywords
      1. Just like traditional website SEO, Google uses a variety of signals to serve search results, and including important keywords and search phrases to your business listing will be incredibly helpful, especially since your business website is listed directly within your GMB listing.
    • Keep Business Operating Hours Accurate
      1. It’s important to enter your business hours, but equally important to update them whenever they change.
      2. Google offers the ability to customize hours for holidays and other special events, and it should always be used to keep your site accurate and users happy.
    • Add a COVID Notice
      1. This new option in 2020 is featured prominently on the GBP public profile when used and should include a link to a COVID notice web page on the site.
  2. Add Business Information
    • Business name, detailed description, opening date, business categories, service area, address, hours of operation, special hours, phone number landing page URL, appointment links and more are all areas of the Google business profiles that should be included. Retail operations have additional information such as store code, label and Google Ads location extensions phone number can be entered as well.
  3. Create Regular Posts
    • Google provides several different types of “posts” on a Google business profiles and occasionally changes the post options available. The COVID-19 support and update options are recent additions in 2020.
      1. COVID-19 Support
      2. COVID-19 Update
      3. Add Offer
      4. Add Update
      5. Add Event
  4. Publish Photos
    • Photos help business listings’ performance more than most business owners and marketers probably expect. Businesses with photos on their listings receive 42 percent more requests for driving directions on Google Maps and 35 percent more click-throughs to their websites than businesses without photos, according to Google.
    • The most important piece of imagery in your GBP listing is obviously your profile photo. There likely won’t be an image that gets more exposure, and there likely isn’t one that will have more of an impact either.
      1. Your business profile photo should not be the brand logo itself, but of something appealing and encompassing of the brand, what it stands for, and/or what it offers.
    • Set a goal to publish at least 100 photos over the course of one or two months. Research by Search Engine Land and Bright Local that shows profiles with 100+ photos get 520% more calls than the average business! Ref: https://searchengineland.com/new-research-shows-strong-link-between-google-my-business-photo-quantity-and-search-performance-320199
    • Types of photos/video that should be added to your GBP listing are:
      1. Identity images 
        • Logo: Google recommends businesses use their logo to help customers identify your business with a square-sized image.
        • Cover photo: The cover photo is considered an “identity” image on Google My Business. It should showcase a brand page’s personality. It is the preferred photo to be shown on your listing in Search and Maps.
      2. 360 Photos: 360-degree photos allow users to experience an immersive and interactive view of your business both inside and outside. Use 360 imagery to showcase important rooms and public areas of your business. 360 photos must be at least 4K: 3840 x 2160 pixels or greater.
      3. Video: A 30 sec., 100Mb maximum video can be uploaded directly to the platform. One video is a minimum, but multiple over time helps with visibility on Google
      4. Interior: Provide photos of the interior spaces of your business. These are often the most viewed images on a google business listing. Photos should not include people in the pictures.
      5. Exterior: Exterior photos help visitors find your business and provide additional opportunities for branding if you have signage. Photos should not include people in the pictures if at all possible.
      6. At work: Action shots of the business that include people and/or customers in public areas help set the stage for your profile.
      7. Team: Showcase headshots and group photos of employees and team members on this page.
      8. Additional photos: Other, different kinds of photos are used to spotlight features of your business that customers consider when making purchasing decisions. These photos will differ and are dependent on the kind of business you manage. These photos may include the goods and/or services your business offers, business staff working and/or assisting customers, the interior and exterior of the business, and other general photos that summarize the business and what it can do for its customers.
      9. See format-specific criteria by Google: https://support.google.com/contributionpolicy/answer/7411351
  5. Get Reviews!
    • Reviews are a major ranking factor on Google My Business. Businesses with a higher quantity of reviews and reviews that are more positive rank higher. 
    • Reply to all reviews, both positive and negative. The reply you give to a review becomes keyword searchable so reply with a statement about the service provided.
  6. Add Services
    • Add all discreet services provided by the business. Enter the service title, then open the service to add pricing and/or a detailed description. 300 characters max are allowed for each service.
    • Review your Google Business Profile periodically for any relevant Google-suggested services. Add the services to your profile. (this is a new major visibility opportunity as of mid-2023)
  7. Add Products
    • If your business also provides physical products, include product categories and individual products. Photos, product name, product category, product price or price range, description and a call to action button are available for populating the listing.
      1. Button options include: 
        • Order Online
        • Buy
        • Learn More
        • Get Offer 
    • If your business doesn’t have physical products, add your services as products instead! This will provide extra visibility in search results since Google adds a section for products on the business listing directly below the phone number. See our Loebig Ink listing with services listed as products: https://goo.gl/maps/mXjSGt44n9sY8GuN8
  8. Add FAQs
    1. Preload frequently asked questions and add answers to those questions yourself. This helps increase conversions from a Google Business Page. If a customer sees their question and a direct answer to it, they are more likely to enlist your services or purchase your products!
  9. Add a Booking Link
    • If you provide discovery calls for clients, add a link to your ‘contact us’ page or booking page in the section called “bookings” in GBP. Whitespark, a leading SEO research agency, found that adding a booking feature on a GBP profile results in a measurable increase in email form submissions and click throughs to the website.
  10. Add Social Media Profile links
    • In late 2023, Google provided the ability to add social media links directly to the profile. Be sure to add the full, secure version of each social media profile that is owned by the business, e.g. https://www.facebook.com/loebigink/.  As of June 2024 these are the 7 social media profiles that can be added: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, Pinterest, Tiktok, Twitter, Youtube
  11. Post Content Regularly
    • Begin posting content at least weekly with links back to your blog or website. Photos taken at your business from a mobile device get maximum visibility. Go for authenticity over highly produced content on GMB.

Check out these references and resources too!

* https://searchengineland.com/now-more-50-of-google-searches-end-without-a-click-to-other-content-study-finds-320574

https://theinkblog.net/2019/03/10/how-to-associate-an-email-address-with-a-google-account/

Meet Our Google My Business and Directory Optimization Specialist – Samuel Loebig

Posted on by Robin Renee

Loebig Ink Team Member: Samuel Loebig

Samuel Loebig #71Samuel Loebig has a unique relationship with the founder of Loebig Ink — He’s Brian Loebig’s eldest son. Samuel began working for Loebig Ink in 2012. He started by helping with simple accounting work and developed into one of Loebig Ink’s best Google My Business and Directory Optimization Specialists. Through working with the Loebig Ink team, Samuel has shown his knack for developing an excellent directory strategy for our clients.

In his role as Google My Business Specialist, Samuel makes sure every client’s Google My Business account is optimized for their profession. He ensures correctness, completeness, and consistency for each listing. In addition, Samuel uses his excellent search engine optimization skills to create directory strategies for clients to improve the likelihood the business will appear on the first page of search engines. He has helped numerous companies to reach a broader range of target audiences and to gain more reviews. Samuel’s willingness to never stop learning about the marketing industry has broadened his areas of expertise. His professionalism, detail-oriented style, and compassionate client communication continue to be a great asset to Loebig Ink. 

Samuel grew up in Philadelphia, PA, Southwest VA and Silver Spring, MD. He is currently majoring in Public Health from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, where he is in his final semester. For the last four years, he has been playing Division 1, Big Ten football for the Purdue Boilermakers. His dedication on the football field has made his Purdue experience very memorable. Now, he has begun to focus on his career path of becoming a veterinarian. His passion for working with animals led to his current internship at an Indiana zoo, where he gains first-hand zookeeping experience. Within the next ten years, Samuel would like to finish vet school and be working as a veterinarian at a local zoo. While pursuing this career goal, he enjoys the flexibility of working remotely for Loebig Ink. He continues to demonstrate an incredible ability to work under challenging circumstances and to deliver high quality for each client. 

In his time away from work and school, Samuel enjoys playing bass and guitar. He has cherished performing with his dad at the Root Studio Open Mic in Columbia, Maryland, which Loebig Ink sponsored. Their shared love of music is very special to Samuel and Brian. Samuel also enjoyed traveling overseas for the very first time in 2019. His number one bucket list item is to travel as much as possible and to experience what the rest of the world can offer. After Rome, Paris, and Florence, he is ready to explore any destination. 

Get in touch with Loebig Ink about your project, and you may have the chance to grow your business with an excellent directories strategy by Samuel Loebig!

Optimize the Top Five

Posted on by Robin Renee

The Top 5 Local Directories to Claim for Your Business

Optimize the Top Five local directoriesThere is always another improvement to be made on your online presence. It is important to add fresh content to your website, fine tune your personal branding, and to make the most of your SEO efforts. With endless actions you could take to increase visibility and effectiveness, setting priorities is an essential task.

As a small business consultant, I advise clients that one excellent way to raise your profile is to get your business listed in local directories. Popular directories provide additional places where you can be found by people who are interested in what you do. Each new backlink from a reputable directory also gives your site a boost in trustworthiness across the web. If you have an established business, you may already have a listing in many directories. In that case, you should claim and optimize your listings. Otherwise, start from scratch and provide the directories you choose complete and consistent information. No matter your other online goals, make time to snag your listing in these five top local directories:

Since most people search through Google, get your Google listing right first. Claiming and optimizing this listing gives you control. Once you complete and verify your information on Google My Business, you will be twice as likely to be considered reputable by consumers. If you have a public business space, you can list your hours and pinpoint the location so customers can find you. If you have a home-based business, you will have the opportunity to show only your service area. Once you finish with basic information, add some images and consider posting offers or updates periodically on Google My Business as you would on other social media platforms. Read more about the “Benefits of Claiming and Optimizing Your Google My Business Listing.”

Yelp

Chances are you’ve encountered and maybe even decided to try out a restaurant or two in you travels based on Yelp reviews. Founded in 2004, Yelp was created to help people find great local businesses. Claiming and optimizing your Yelp profile will put you among them. Yelp has a very strong social aspect in that users are encouraged to read reviews, write reviews, share photos of businesses they’ve  vps visited, and to follow others who visit businesses they find of interest. It’s not good protocol to pester people to leave you reviews on Yelp or to recommend what they might say. Yelp reviews have the best affect when they are organic. Make it clear to your customers that they can leave you a review on this platform and make it easy for them to find how to do so. The good business you do will lead them to leave you positive feedback that others will trust.

Nextdoor

Nextdoor is the most local of the local directories. Individuals and businesses who join this site connect with others in their immediate neighborhood. Neighbors post items they have for sale or for free and people share information on crime and safety. Area events can be posted, and a formidable section is dedicated to reviews on everything from mechanics, dentists, and lodging, to pizza. Join this site, add your business, and stay engaged. Getting to know people and building trust in the local microcosm can lead to great connections and a good word-of-mouth reputation that contributes to your positive online presence. In addition, Google favors businesses that are well established in a locale, so taking part in Nextdoor can be another data point to help establish you in local search, and ultimately, beyond.

Thumbtack

Thumbtack is an online service that matches customers with local professionals. Thumbtack currently lists over a thousand types of services. Do you offer web design, real estate law services, plumbing, singing lessons, or tattoo artistry? Whatever you do, there’s a place for you on Thumbtack. There are two ways you can use Thumbtack. The first is to simply keep your listing up to date and respond promptly to potential customers who contact you. Promote your profile for more visibility. Secondly, you can browse the jobs tab. Bid on jobs that potential customers have reached out to others about and bid on the gig. Read the details about getting started on Thumbtack for details on creating a listing plus bidding on, and accepting jobs on this platform.

Foursquare

Foursquare offers its City Guide app users personalized recommendations on places to go near the user’s current location. Based on previous browsing history, purchases, and check-ins, Foursquare helps find people who care about what you do when they are near you and prompts them to connect in real time. Foursquare boasts it helps its users “find the best places to eat, drink, shop, or visit in any city in the world.” Sign up for Foursquare to make sure you’re on that list!

Remember to choose the specifics of the information you put on the web and keep it consistent. Spelling, spacing, and even details of punctuation count! When your address, phone numbers, URL, hours of operation, and any other details remain the same, becoming a trusted business easily found in search engines becomes all the more likely. Sign up for these five local directories and you’re on your way.

The SEO 80/20 Rule

Posted on by Brian Loebig

Get the Most for Your SEO Efforts

The SEO 80/20 RuleIf you are an entrepreneur or business owner, you are undoubtedly a very busy person. You know that search engine optimization is essential to achieve visibility for your website, and a multitude of consultants and web service firms have advice on all of the things you need to do for great SEO. You likely have heard or read about how to improve your site from those with the most general of guidelines to those with the most niche-specific services such as PlumberSEO.net.

Avoid being overwhelmed by work and information by applying the SEO 80/20 rule. As it is with the balancing of priorities in many aspects of life and business, about 80% of results will come from 20% of your SEO efforts. Here is a list of common optimization tasks with the most critical 20% at the top of the list.

Make These Your SEO Priorities

  1. Develop regular, quality, well written content.
  • Make your website content original, well written, and useful to your target audience. Update on a regular interval to keep your site fresh and your audience engaged.
  1. Select the best keywords for your site.
  • Identify 5 to 10 keywords (usually phrases of 2-3 words) that you want your business to show up for in search engines.
  • Evaluate the popularity of your selected keywords using a tool such as SEMRush or Google Keyword Planner.
  • Use your selected keywords in your content. You can add keywords to older content by editing them in where they would most naturally appear. But don’t overdo it! Keyword stuffing can result in lower SEO results. Use of your target keyword 2-3 times per page is ideal.
  1. Create internal, contextual links to important pages of your website as often as possible.
  • Create links to important content by linking the words that best describe that content. Avoid linking a page to text that uses generic language such as “click here.”
  1. Optimize your website title and metatags.
  • Ensure that each page has its own unique title tag with keywords relevant to the content on the page.
  • Include H1 and H2 metatags on each page. Use only one H1 metatag per page. Include keyword, title, and description tags unique to each page.
  • Read SEO Definitions for more on metatags.
  1. Make sure your site is mobile-friendly.
  • If you have an older site that has not yet been updated for mobile, do that now. Google penalizes sites that don’t provide a good mobile user experience.
  • If you are building a new website, make sure the developer creates a mobile-friendly site from the start. Alternatively, use a platform like Wix that does so automatically.
  1. Claim or list your website in the top local directory and review sites in your industry.
  • Google My Business is a must! Get listed in other directories including Yahoo Local, Angie’s List, Yelp, and your local city/town/regional directory.
  • Choose the best local review site for your business. If people are already reviewing your site on a directory, claim that listing!
  • Determine the most important review sites in your specific industry and obtain listings. For example, if you own or manage a car dealership, Dealer Rater is where you want to be.
  1. Discover and use the social media channels that your customers use.
  • Understand your clients’ demographics and social media use. If they are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, or Snapchat, keep a presence there.
  • Choose the intervals on which you will post to those channels, and maintain the schedule.
  1. Keep it speedy!
  • Speed optimization is easy to forget, but doing so could greatly reduce the effect of all the other hard work you’ve done. Use tools like Test My Site and Pingdom to discover your website’s load time and what you can do to make it faster.

Additional Useful SEO Activities

The following optimization list doesn’t make our top 20% of the SEO 80/20 rule, but do what you can, when you can.

  1. Canonicalize your domain. (Read Matt Cutts’ discussion on canonicalization.)
  2. Add sharing tools to your website.
  3. Put deep level navigation links in the footer of all pages.
  4. Optimize website images with descriptive ‘alt’ text.
  5. Add 301 redirects for pages that have changed or no longer exist.
  6. Register your site with Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
  7. Replace dynamic URLs with URLs that contain relevant keywords.
  8. Install an xml sitemap for your website.
  9. Create an hcard on the contact page or footer of your web pages.
  10. Claim every relevant free local directory listing.
  11. Create multiple web pages that are optimized for local city search results.
  12. Block duplicate content with robots.txt.
  13. Create a blog or write articles and submit them regularly to an article directory.
  14. Conduct a ‘black list’ check of the server where your website is hosted.
  15. Find opportunities for .edu and .mil sites to link to your website. [Ask us how!]
  16. List your website in social bookmarking sites such as digg.com and stumbleupon.com.

Use the SEO 80/20 rule to get the most out of your time and your SEO efforts. Experiment to see which of these tasks brings you the best results. Which SEO activities are at the top of your list?

Let’s Review!

Posted on by Brian Loebig

Boost Your Visibility with Customer Review Sites

Let's Review - Google Reviews, Amazon, Yelp, Angie's List logosHave you been avoiding using review sites? At first blush, it is understandable. If you give people ideas about leaving you a review, it’s just as easy for a disgruntled customer to leave a one-star complaint as it is for a happy customer to rave about you. However, it’s time to stop hiding from the review site scene. Avoiding review sites is like avoiding driving a car in favor of a horse and buggy, believing that you can be more seriously injured in an accident with a car. Yes, you can get hurt, but you’ll also get to where you’re going ten times faster. Similar to driving a horse and buggy on a highway, you can also get hurt by the fast moving traffic while you hold on to an old style of transportation. A business trying to avoid review sites will get passed by other businesses who have learned to navigate those sites. Review sites are here to stay. Learn to pay attention to them and leverage their use to help improve your overall SEO.

Places to leave reviews on the internet abound, so to boost your visibility with reviews, start out considering several that are most relevant to your brand. If you are an attorney, it is a good idea to claim and optimize a listing on the Avvo directory. If you’re a musician, reviews on iTunes will be excellent. Don’t miss out on other major sites where it would be of benefit to be seen, such as Yelp, Angie’s List, Epinions, and Amazon. Claiming and optimizing your Google My Business listing is indispensable in terms of SEO value. Some sites that deal in reviews and ratings encourage you to upgrade to a paid ad or listing. That decision is up to you, but consider that often maintaining a simple presence there and encouraging reviews goes a long way.

The next step is to get the word out. Don’t beg or browbeat for reviews, and don’t give clients suggested text to use. The key is to make all the ways someone can leave a review abundantly clear, provide a great product or service, and then encourage feedback, in their own words, from the people who care about what you do. Getting creative could be a boon for positive reviews. One great example is the eWebResults Unknown Secrets of Internet Marketing podcast, which does a terrific job in each episode of letting listeners know how to find them, where to chat about them on social media, and they even create a contest involving the information on how leave a review. However you do it, keep the links to your review sites visible and readily available. Parlay reviews into fresh content on your website for added value.

So fear not! Yes, it is possible that someone may leave a fake or negative review, but many more are likely to leave real reviews that lend credibility to your business. Give them that opportunity. In a 2015 Nielsen poll, 66% of respondents said they trust consumer opinions posted online. This statistic alone is reason enough. Get in the fast lane and get visible with review sites!

 

Benefits of Claiming and Optimizing Your Google Business Profile

Posted on by Brian Loebig

Benefits of Claiming and Optimizing Your Google Business ProfileFor SEO purposes, claiming and optimizing the Google Business Profile listing creates a strong signal to Google that your business is active and allows you to rank higher in local Google searches for your industry. Google has a strong preference for local searches which allows small businesses to compete with national brands when someone is searching for a business or services from your community. Prominently featured Google Local Pack results are populated by businesses that have Google Business Profile listings. The more accurate and active your listing, the more likely you will appear on page one for your industry locally!

Here are some of the top benefits and reasons to claim your Google Business Profile listing:

  1. Claiming and optimizing your listing allows you to manage the information that Google users see when they search for your business or the products and services that you offer. When you verify your information with Google Business Profile, you are *twice as likely to be considered reputable by consumers (source: Google).” Also, when people find your business on Google Maps and Google Search, you can make sure they see the right information including hours of operation, website, and street address.
    1. NOTE: If you are a home-based business or if you serve customers at their location, users will just see a red line encompassing your chosen service area.
  2. Claiming the Google Business Profile listing will allow you to read and reply to reviews from your customers and post photos related to your business such as the logo, business owner, office building, ad graphics, products, etc.
    1. NOTE: *Businesses that add photos to their listings receive 42% more requests for driving directions on Google Maps and 35% more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t. (Source: Google)
  3. You will also be able to see detailed insights on how visitors have searched for your business and where those customers searched from. You will see information including how many people have called your business from the phone number listed on local search results in Search results and Google Maps.
  4. Many people use the Google Maps app for driving directions. Ensuring that your address is correct will allow them to easily navigate to your location from their mobile device.
  5. Making sure the phone number is available and valid will also allow customers to call your business directly from the Google Search results page. If they are searching from a mobile device, they can tap directly on the phone number and call.
  6. Your Google business listing is considered a primary data source by many data aggregators and directory listing services such as Moz.com and Yext. Ensuring your listing is accurate and up to date will help improve and validate your other directory listings.

CHECK OUT: How to Optimize your Google Business Profile Listing!

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