Not many people realize how important the Google Profile Manager is to ranking better in the search results. But talk is cheap, let me prove to you how the Google Business Profile can get you on the first page of the search results. SEO is one of the services offered by our full service advertising agency.
In this image you can see that I have not signed in to Google. I don’t want Google to know it’s me and show me any websites I’ve visited before. I searched for “hollywood auto repair” and the first one to come up in the search results is my client. There are two reasons my client is the first one to appear in the search results. The first reason is that I built the website properly and did all of the on site SEO work. The second reason is that I use Google Business Profile to get them to rank well in the results.
If you think that maybe I just got lucky with that one, let’s try another.
Google Search Results
Once again I’m not signed in to Google and this time I’ve searched for “miami jewelry store” and my client is in the number 3 position in the search results. Miami Florida is a very large and densely populated city. Consequently, there are plenty of jewelry stores. Many of the Miami jewelry stores are advertising on TV. However, my client doesn’t need to because they show up on the first page of results.
Still not convinced? Ok let’s try one more!
In this example, my client does “mold remediation” and that’s what I’ve searched for. As you can see, they are in the number 2 position in Google for their most important search phrase.
Now let me prove that these are actually my clients.
Here you can see that I’m logged in as my client Jumbo. You can also see my most recent post about UBER & Lyft.
In this example you can see that I’m logged in to the Google Profile Manager as my client Richards Gems & Jewelry. You can see that I posted something about engagement rings. You could try searching for “miami engagement rings” and once again you’ll find them at the top of the first page of the search results.
In this photo you can see I’m logged in to the mold remediation company’s Google Profile Manager account. This is the new location we added for them in Hollywood and just began posting here. For that reason, in the top right you’ll see “New views this week” doesn’t show anything. However, in the other two above you’ll see Richard’s had 849 views in the past week and Jumbo had 443 views in the past week.
How to Get First Page Results With Google Profile Manager
To get first page results in Google here are the steps I’ve followed. In the case of Richard’s and Jumbo I made both of their websites and did all of the on site SEO that was required. The mold remediation company already had a website and contacted me because they were showing up on page 4 of the search results. I fixed the problems they had with their website by adding all of the missing on site SEO. The next step was to use Google My Business daily Monday through Friday and do one post per day. Anyone can do this step on their own but most people are too busy running their own business that they don’t have time.
Be Specific to be Terrific
Each time I post something, I’m only writing a couple of sentences but I include important search phrases. For example, for the jewelry store I almost always include “miami jewelry store” in whatever I write. I may write something about emeralds or engagement rings and I’ll end it with, “visit our downtown Miami jewelry store today”.
First Page Results
For Jumbo Automotive, I may be posting something about brake repairs and I’ll end with, “Visit our Hollywood auto repair shop today” because “Hollywood auto repair” is the important key phrase.
For the mold remediation company I may end with “Contact our South Florida mold remediation company today” because “mold remediation” is the important key phrase.
A common mistake people make is to end with “call us today!” and the problem is that they’ve left out the important key phrase that they are trying to rank for. If I ended with “visit us today” for Richard’s Gems & Jewelry, how would google know this is about a Miami jewelry store?
The other thing I do is that I always use the “Learn More” button in Google My Business to make a link to the client’s website. Additionally, I don’t just link to the home page of their website. For instance, when I’m posting about engagement rings, I’ll link to the page about engagement rings. If I’m posting about double halo engagement rings, I’ll link to the page about double halo engagement rings. Obviously, the photo would be the right photo for that post.
Geotag Your Photos
An important step that is often overlooked is that photos should have a geotag. When you take a picture with your smartphone and then go to look at photos on your phone, you’ll see they are grouped by location. You didn’t sort your photos by location, your phone did that for you. With GPS built into your phone, your phone automatically geotags your photos. This is important because Google loves to give local results. Naturally, local results are more important to us than most other things. For example, if I live in Hollywood Florida and did a search for “auto repair” Google won’t show me an auto repair shop in Atlanta Georgia just because that shop has the most 5-star reviews. Google knows that I want an auto repair shop located near me.
It helps my client to rank better in Google if the engagement ring photos were taken in Miami Florida. Naturally, when the auto repair photos were taken at my client’s Hollywood auto repair shop, that helps them to rank better in Google. Of course, by taking the water damage and mold remediation photos at South Florida locations where my client did work, that helps them in Google.
We even geotag the photos we use to build our client’s websites. In fact, we geotag stock photos that we use on their websites. Obviously, stock photos that we purchase online won’t have geotags. However, as part of building the website properly, we add our own geotags.
Solving an Unfortunate Problem for Tradespeople
Think about the last time you needed a roofer, plumber, electrician or mold remediation company. You didn’t drive to their warehouse, they came to you. Since Google loves giving local results, this is a problem for all tradespeople. If the tradesperson’s warehouse is located in Medley Florida and their clients are located all over South Florida how can they show up in Miami or Hollywood search results?
We’ve solved that problem for our mold remediation client by adding more locations. Naturally, adding real locations would be costly with rent, staffing and electricity. Plus, these new locations would just be in other out of the way, warehouse districts. As a result, that won’t help us. Consequently, we used the owner’s home address which is in a nice residential location.
In this photo you can see the Dania Beach location which is located in a warehouse, surrounded by other warehouses. However, in the other two locations, we don’t show the addresses in Google because the owner’s live there. However, Google allows us to use those locations as if they were new store locations. Don’t try this with a PO Box or a UPS Store box. Obviously, Google knows that’s not your location.
Since we’ve added these two locations in Davie and Hollywood, our client gets better search results.
Enhance Your Google Business Profile
You can make your Google Business Profile page look better by adding your logo and some photos. For example, you could add the inside of your building as a virtual tour. When the Google Street View car drove by your location it may have been a cloudy day so the outside of your building may not look its best. We have been certified as a Google Street View Trusted Photographer. That means that we can take our own Street View photos and add them to Street View and your Google Business Profile page. Unlike the Google Street View driver, we wait until we have a beautiful blue sky, sunny day to take our Street View photos.
360 Degree Photos
Plus we can take a 360 degree panoramic photo inside or outside of your building. The drone can take this photo near the ground or in the air. For a waterfront restaurant, we’d use a drone to show off the beautiful waterfront views. Wouldn’t it be awesome, if we could add your logo at the bottom of a 360 degree panoramic photo? Yes, Google allows us to do that too.
First Page Results Summary
I hope you find these tips to get first page results, that you can do yourself to be very helpful. Naturally, it takes having the right equipment, skills and time. If you don’t have the time but do want help with Google Business Profile, Search Engine Optimization, a new website or any other advertising services, please contact our full service ad agency today.
Our full service advertising agency can help with trade show displays, brochure design, LED video walls, TV commercial production, drone video production and logo design.
Rick Goldman
President – Advertising Excellence, Inc.