Let’s face it: digital marketing agencies have to carry out time-consuming tasks. These tasks can range from data-related topics to audits on social media channels and other marketing channels you use for your campaigns.
Local SEO continues to gain relevance across the digital marketing world. One of the most well-loved local business platforms is Google Business Profiles or Google My Business. However, these listings require maintenance to keep delivering results, and that’s where Google Business profile audits join the strategy.
Join us as we tour through the crucial task of auditing GBP, provide checklists, and tell you the importance of this task for business listings.
An Introduction to GBP
Launched in 2014, Google Business Profile is an online directory that provides essential business information to people seeking out specific businesses. This tool is free and one of the most popular ones among local SEO experts.
Furthermore, the platform works alongside Google Maps and has more than 4,000 categories, such as
- Acupuncturists
- Advertising agencies.
- Bakeries.
- Bed&breakfasts.
- Health offices.
- Preschools.
- Wellness centers.
Having an optimized Google Business listing ensures that your client’s business profile ranks as high as possible, and for that, you must conduct audits to keep those profiles up-to-date. Furthermore, Google is constantly updating its algorithm and platform, which means you must keep your client’s listings as optimized as possible to ensure the search engine won’t hide it upon its SERPs.
GMB Audit Checklist
Ensuring your client’s local ranking peaks goes hand in hand with running audits. However, knowing what to look for and what to check out is crucial to guarantee the audit is successful.
A Google Business audit can go from checking out business hours to the photos and videos the profile has. Each audit report looks different based on your client’s needs and business goals. However, consider perfecting these actionable checklists for your audit templates.
Business Information
When beginning the information audit, you must verify that your client’s GBP is claimed and the data is as accurate as possible. Don’t underestimate the power of having the correct business name, address, and phone number, as this continues to be a best practice when running a Google Business profile.
An optimized Google My Business checklist for business information audits can include some of these items:
- Business name. Make sure to add the official name and that the information is consistent across all your client’s listings.
- Primary and secondary business categories.
- State, zip code, city.
- Street Address.
- Phone number(s).
- Website URL.
- Business email address.
- Business description.
- Logo.
- Business hours.
Address Information
As you noticed, the previous checklist includes items regarding addresses. However, having an address list ensures your Google My Business optimization efforts cover aspects of GBP, guaranteeing you run a successful audit.
- What’s the exact business location?
- Does the address look trustworthy, meaning it has a P.O. box or a virtual office?
- Is the business in the city’s center?
- If not, how far is it from it?
- Does it have the same zip code as the local 3-pack?
Business Hours
Doing an audit helps you verify if your client’s Google Business Profile has the correct business hours, but most importantly, it allows you to identify if the information is complete.
- Are the company hours updated constantly?
- Does it include the popular visit time and day?
- Does it have information regarding the holidays and weekends?
Reviews
Reviews are essential for all businesses. Potential customers will search for a business, and instead of making a blind decision, they search for the reviews the product or service has. a Google Business Profile needs the best feedback possible, but these comments require you to keep them in check.
- Are the GMB reviews unanswered?
- Are you (or the business owners) using keywords when answering the feedback?
- Does the listing have third-party reviews from Facebook, Yelp, or others?
- What is the ratio between 5-star reviews with no comments and with content? (it is recommended that a GMB listing has more written reviews than 5-star but empty ratings).
Posts
Google My Business audits must consider every aspect of the profiles, including the posts. These posts can help the company come up on local search results, so don’t miss the opportunity to keep them as optimized as possible.
- Are the posts published constantly? If yes, how often?
- Do they have pictures, links, and optimized content?
- Ensure some of the post’s links guide the potential customer to the business’ website.
- If possible, include geo mentions.
FAQ and Photos
Photos and questions can be a deal breaker for potential customers. Google has guidelines for the pictures businesses can have on their Google My Business listing.
Furthermore, the platform allows people to ask questions to the local businesses.
- Does the profile have questions in it? Are they answered?
- Do the questions have local keywords?
- Are the photos in the GMB profiles optimized?
- Have the clients posted pictures? What’s the quality of them?
- Are the photographs accurate regarding the spaces the business has?
Sitelinks
Making the most of your clients’ Google Business profile includes adding links to the local listing. These are beneficial for your client’s business as it helps them get more visibility by providing more information about the company, booking options, and more.
- Does the GMB listing have a booking option?
- Does the business have other accounts, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter? Are they linked in the profile?
- Does the listing have information about the services or products the business offers? Do they have the prices?
- If it is a restaurant, do potential guests have access to the menu, with pictures and costs included?
Local Optimization Audit
Local SEO tracking is crucial to know how your client’s business is doing. Doing SEO audits and optimizing their Google My Business profile based on the results you get from the audits is just as essential.
Your clients want to be on top of the search engine result pages (SERPs), and these efforts will help boost their rank in local results. Here are some things you must look into when doing a local audit:
- Relevance: One essential ranking factor for Google is the relevance of the listing concerning search queries. Ensure your client’s profile has detailed, accurate information such as business title, address, and phone number to boost the search engine’s understanding of the profile, making it show up on local searches.
- Distance: This item is slightly out of your hands, but there are some things you can do. When someone searches for a business without a specific location, the search engine will give them results calculating the searcher’s distance. That’s where having specific addresses and location keywords comes in, as they help Google include you in such search queries.
- Prominence: A business’ prominence is based on how well-known it is. Furthermore, Google also focuses on the information they get across links, directories, and more. Reviews and ratings will also boost your client’s prominence, so ensure the company gets feedback and star ratings and that the comments don’t stay unanswered.
The Importance of a Google Business Profile Audit
GMB audits are essential to ensure your local SEO efforts are paying off. Google’s local searches are effective, and people rely on them to find businesses, services, and more, which is why company owners are focusing on working with local SEO experts to take their businesses to the next level.
In this regard, doing these audits will help you find any room for improvement, see if strategies you implemented need to be changed, see if reviews and ratings are a problem area for the listing and more.
Accelerate Marketing knows this, and our complete SEO services focus on GBP optimization and other features like Google Screened and Google Guaranteed, assuring your company reaches the right audience.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Having a Google Business Profile Help With SEO?
Yes, it does. Google My Business is one of the most powerful tools for local SEO. Furthermore, not only does it help with SEO, but also boosts a company’s online popularity (although that is an expected part of search engine optimization), which is one of the most crucial parts of business success. If your client isn’t on GMB, let them know this is the place to be if they want to gain visibility.
How Do I Rank Higher on Google Business Profile?
Running audits is a crucial part of helping a GMB profile rank higher, but there are specific things you can do to take your efforts to the next level:
- Start by ensuring the business has claimed its listing. If not, don’t hesitate to do it.
- Don’t leave out any information (Audits can help you verify you don’t leave blank spaces!).
- Google My Business categories are essential for these listings. Ensure your client’s business is in the correct category.
- Add high-quality photos. Don’t add filters, and keep the editing to a minimum.
- Don’t be afraid to post! You don’t want to spam the people following the profile, but you don’t want them to forget about the listing. Figure out a posting schedule for the business and stay consistent with it.
Do Google Business Profile Posts Expire?
Yes, they do. Although it is not the common expiration practice in which the expired item disappears completely, posts that are six months old get archived by the platform. This means you must post constantly to stay relevant for customers. Some things you can post on your client’s listing are offers, updates, and events. Be mindful that Google can reject a post if it includes a phone number.
Why Do Google Business Profiles Get Suspended?
Some reasons why a GMP profile gets suspended are:
- Business names with stuffed keywords. Avoid adding keywords to the company’s name.
- If the business address is duplicated, Google will suspend one of the profiles.
- Changing core information can alert Google and find it suspicious, leading to a suspension.
- Content that goes against the platform’s guidelines, such as violent content.
- If the business is not depicted clearly, Google could suspend the profile.
How Many Times Can a Client Leave a Google Review for a Business?
A client can only leave one review per GMB profile. If the client wishes to change the information they added to the original comment, they can edit the feedback. Furthermore, they can also delete it. Business owners cannot delete or edit Google reviews.
Wrapping Up
Google Business Profile audits will change how you do local SEO and the results you deliver for your client. Consider working with a team of experts who can take your Google Business Profile Audits to the next level, contact us now!
