Google My Business (formerly known as Google Business Profile) is by far one of the most powerful tools available to any company or organisation that wants to effectively promote itself online, increase visibility, and attract new customers. Despite this enormous growth potential, however, many businesses continue to make basic errors that prevent their profiles from ranking well in search results.
At a digital marketing agency, we frequently encounter these specific Google My Business profile issues, and the good news is that they are usually relatively easy to resolve.
In this article, we will take a look at some of the more common Google My Business mistakes and discuss how you can easily resolve them through simple yet clever strategies.
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1. Incomplete or Incorrect Business Information
Accurate profile information - address, hours of operation, contact number, & services offered - is essential to customer trust. If any of this information is incorrect, customers will lose trust in your business, & as a result, may choose not to do business with you. This can also result in a decrease in Google rankings as a penalty for providing incorrect profile information.
How to Avoid This- Always maintain up-to-date contact details (business name, street address, email address, & phone number) in your online business profile.
- Be diligent when updating your business's hours for holiday closures.
- Provide information about your company regarding your website, products/services, a written paragraph about your company, and photographs, along with what makes your business unique.
- Utilise all of the same contact details included on your website - these contact details help establish local SEO for your business.
2. Not Adding High-Quality Photos and Videos
If there are no images on your Google My Business profile, then it is seen as unprofessional and incomplete by consumers. A lot of companies choose to use blurry or no photos on their Google My Business profile, which can hurt the company's professionalism and credibility.
Visuals add credibility to a company's Google My Business mistakes, and they allow consumers to see an overview of the products and services that a company has to offer.
How to Avoid This- Upload high-resolution images of their office, employees, service areas, and products being sold (if applicable).
- Have an appointed logo and cover photo that is intended for a professional setting.
- Create and upload videos that are both appealing and informative, and that will engage the audience.
- Create a monthly habit of updating the visuals in a company's Google My Business account.
3. Ignoring Reviews or Responding Late
Local SEO and Trust from Customers have increased significantly due to reviews. Many local companies are ignoring these reviews or only responding to the positive reviews; this is sending a negative message to new customers.
How to Avoid This- Respond to all reviews - good/bad.
- Respond courteously and thankfully.
- Provide quick solutions to customer issues/concerns.
- Request happy customers to share their experiences with others.
When you are being active with your response to all your reviews, Google recognizes you as a trustworthy company and will give your website a higher ranking.
4. Not Posting Regularly
Even though numerous brands create a Google business profile, they don't use the posting function, which is another common error.
By posting regularly, it shows that your business is active and engaged, and it also sends a signal to Google that your business exists and interacts with its customers and clients.
How to Avoid This- Create one weekly post with information on what you can offer, keep it informative.)
- Remember to include high-quality images that are clear and descriptions that are easy to understand.
- Also, include a CTA button (Call Now, Learn More, Visit Website).
Consistent posting = better visibility.
5. Choosing the Wrong Business Categories
A Google My Business category identifies your business activity. Selecting unrelated or improper categories will result in not showing up in relevant search results.
How to Avoid This- Select a Main Category that best describes your primary Service
- Add Secondary Categories as appropriate to classify your remaining Services
- Regularly form your Category List by reviewing it at least every three months
Example: The Digihub Group could use:
- Main Category: Marketing Agency
- Secondary Categories: Advertising Agency and Internet Marketing Services.
6. Not Using Keywords in Description and Services
Describes blank or generic brand descriptions as a problem. There are fewer missing words, which means fewer visible brands.
How to Avoid This- Use a few relevant keywords you can look for online, e.g., Google My Business mistakes, Local SEO, Digital Marketing Service,s and Examples.
- Have a clear business description that identifies specifically what you provide to clients.
- Insert keywords into the description in a way that sounds like "natural English." Don't make it seem fake or forced.
7. Not Tracking Insights and Performance
Google provides important data about search terms, views, phone calls, requests for directions, and website visits. Many businesses don’t look at this information.
If you don’t check these insights, you will miss out on opportunities to make improvements to your business.
How to Avoid This- Review your Google Business Profile insights once a week.
- Pay attention to what keywords bring in the most visitors.
- Use performance data to update your Google Business Profile.
- Make improvements to areas where you have low levels of engagement.
At Digihub Group, we closely monitor Google Business Profile insights for our clients so that they can continue to grow.
8. Having Duplicate Listings
Businesses sometimes create duplicate listings for one location, which may confuse Google and negatively affect their ranking.
How to Avoid This- Be sure to search Google Maps for duplicate business profiles.
- Remove or combine any duplicate listings.
- Always list your business as verified only once per location.
Final Thoughts
Google My Business (GMB), now renamed Google My Business mistakes, is a great tool for local search engine optimization (SEO). However, there are certain ways that you can make sure that you use GMB correctly, avoiding the mistakes that can keep you from attracting new customers, increasing your visibility, building trust, and improving your ranking on Google Maps and Google Search Engine.
Digihub Group provides businesses with the best tools for managing and optimising their
GBP profiles through clever techniques and frequent updates. When your GBP profile is up-to-date, accurate, and active, you will have an advantage over your competition, as you will be able to attract more local customers to your business.
New Delhi
+918595718015
info@digihubgroup.com
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