SEO · 7 Oct 2021 · 3 min read
A guide to improving your Google Business Profile ranking
An average local business has the potential to be found in well over a thousand searches a month, and Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is one of the main reasons why. It’s a free tool from Google that lets any business, large or small, show up in local search results and on Google Maps, provided the profile is set up and maintained properly.
How Google decides local ranking
Google weighs three main factors when deciding which local businesses to show for a given search.
Relevance. How well a business profile matches what the searcher is actually looking for. The closer the match, the more likely the profile is to appear.
Prominence. How well-known a business is, based on signals like reviews and its wider online presence. This isn’t something to game with duplicate listings — it comes from genuinely improving your visibility and reputation over time.
Distance. How close a business is to the searcher, which is why linking a profile to an accurate Google Maps listing matters especially for location-dependent trades like electricians, plumbers and HVAC contractors.
How to improve your ranking
Keep your information complete and current
Your profile should include your business name, address, phone number, hours, website and category, kept accurate and updated as anything changes.
List your business on Google Maps
A meaningful share of profile views come through Maps rather than search directly, so make sure your listing is connected and accurately pinned.
Claim and verify your listing
Google will prompt you to verify a new listing or one with recently changed details. A verified listing reads as more trustworthy to both Google and searchers, and it’s a prerequisite for anything else you do with the profile.
Add high-quality photos
Listings with clear, professional photos tend to get noticeably more engagement than those without. A handful of well-chosen images do more for a listing’s credibility than a long description does.
Keep the Q&A section current
Anyone can ask a question on a profile, and anyone, including the business owner, can answer it. Check for new questions regularly and answer them yourself where you can, so incorrect answers from someone else don’t sit there unaddressed.
Post regularly
Use the profile’s own posting feature for announcements, offers and updates, with a clear link or call to action in each post, and keep it in step with whatever else you’re running in your marketing.
Ask for reviews
Most people read reviews before engaging with a business they don’t already know, and Google treats reviews as a real signal of trustworthiness. Encourage satisfied customers to leave one rather than waiting for reviews to accumulate on their own.
Conclusion
A complete, actively maintained Google Business Profile gets you found by the searches that already exist for what you do. None of the seven habits above are complicated on their own — the returns come from doing all of them consistently rather than any single one particularly well.