Google Business Profile & Its Place in Local Search

So do you recall in early March when I discussed the value of optimizing a Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) listing? I shared some real world data with you from one of our Advice Local partners. Today I want to revisit this subject – and that data.

The Importance of Google Business Profile for Local Businesses

As a recap, our Advice Local partner had just taken on a new local SEO client mid-December. One of the first items they addressed was optimizing the client’s Google Business Profile (GBP) listing. With just a few adjustments, the business’ search and map views for the GBP listing began to increase. Over that month they continued to add services and other additional optimizations to the client’s GBP listing.

Toward the end of January the partner added products with descriptions to the client’s Google Business Profile listing. Almost immediately, the map and search views started to increase even more. At this point the partner was not publishing GBP posts, nor adding photos to the client’s GBP listing.

Here’s the image showing the map and search views after the products were added.

What I would like to highlight today is that with the optimization the partner completed, the Google Business Profile listing has continued to receive an increase in search and map views. In fact, at a minimum, the business listing started getting over 100 combined views on most days.

Here’s the image showing the current map and search views.

On March 14, the agency partner launched a new business website for their client. Map and search views went even higher, getting up to right under 400 views on a single day. On March 24 they started publishing GBP posts for the business. The map and search views are now staying up, and getting a combined views count of over 200 on most days. This is the perfect example of how a business’ website and Google Business Profile listing work together to improve a business’ visibility in the local pack.

Look at the How Customers Search for Your Business data from GBP insights.

The screenshot captured in March demonstrated that this business’ GBP listing was getting visibility for 2,479 searches in a quarter (3-month timeframe).

The screenshot captured a few days ago shows that the business’ GBP listing received 2,912 searches in a month (30-day timeframe).

If you’re still wondering if GBP optimization is important, wonder no more. Simply look to the data I shared above.

Is Zero-Click and Google Business Profile a Thing?

At the end of March, Rand Fishkin released some new data about zero-click search. This data revealed that in the fourth quarter of 2020, zero-click searches made up 68.3% of searches in the United States.

A click to call a business from within a GBP listing is a click, while it is considered a zero-click. I actually discussed zero-click and the Google Business Profile listing earlier. I was glad to see that Rand added a clarification on what qualifies as a zero-click in his new data.

Sending the Right Signals With Google Business Profile

As a reminder, according to a study completed by Whitespark, Google Business Profile signals make up 33% of the Local Ranking Factor. Google Business Profile is the highest ranking signal.

And just last week a member of our team attended Local U. Darren Shaw revealed this data regarding Google Business Profile conversion factors. This was a study where 500 GBP listings were evaluated.

Top 10 GBP Conversion Factors

1. High Numerical Rankings
2. Positive Sentiment in Review Text
3. Quantity of Native Google Reviews
4. Proximity of Address to the Point of Search
5. GBP Message Feature is Enabled
6. Proper Hours Set on GBP Listing
7. Completeness of GBP Listing
8. GBP Booking Feature is Enabled
9. Frequency of Google Posts
10. Comprehensive Google Q&A Section with Owner-Seeded FAQS

Google Business Profile Post Blueprint

Joy Hawkins shared her blueprint for successful GBP posts based on a study she completed. Her study of publishing the same GBP posts across multiple listings revealed the posts that got the most visibility had these items integrated within them.

1. Use offer posts & COVID posts.
2. Include a title on the post and make sure it’s not in all caps.
3. Use emojis.
4. Include photos that have text on them and are not stock (customizing the photo makes it no longer stock).
5. Make sure to include specials, calls-to-action – and a sense of urgency in the post.

So for Google Business Profile, What Steps Do You Need to Take Next?

1. Make sure the business’ Google Business Profile listing is claimed. (We can help with that.)
2. Make sure the GBP listing is optimized. (This is where you come in as the agency.)
3. Make sure you are publishing Google Business Profile posts, adding questions and answers and responding to reviews. (Our Google Business Profile tool is the perfect solution.)

At Advice Local, we’re all about providing superior listing management solutions to our agency, brand and franchise partners. Request a demo to explore how we can help you today.