Choosing a Google My Business optimization company can be difficult. Over the past 5 years we have been providing this service to our clients, and with this article, we hope to answer all your questions with regards to our Google My Business (GMB) service, also sometimes referred to as our maps optimization service.
Do I even need to optimize my GMB listing?
If you want to be more visible on Google, so that potential clients will find your business, then yes, you should be optimizing your listing. If your potential clients do not use Google to search for your product/service, this service might not work for you.
I filled in all the fields on my GMB listing. Why should I pay you on a monthly basis?
Any form of SEO is like training for a road race. The more you train, the fitter you become, and the more competitors you can surpass.
The biggest factor in the success of any SEO campaign is the level of competition, and if you can match what they are doing.
If you want to win the Comrades, you need to train just as hard (if not harder) as the competitors. You need a better coach, a better training program, and a better diet.
Similarly, if you show up to your SEO campaign with old running shoes and your neighbour’s cousin’s mechanic is your coach, can you really expect to win a spot on the podium?
Some of the items we see most businesses fall short in:
- No citations are being built
- Incorrect/Inconsistent Name, Address, Phone number information (NAP)
- No strategy implemented for generating reviews
- Slow, or no, response to reviews (this is a massive factor in 2021 and beyond)
- Slow, or no, response to Q&A
- Not enough images added to profile
- Irregular, or no, images being added to profile
- Wrong primary/secondary category
- No posts (or too few, not often enough)
This is just to mention the most obvious mistakes we come across. It is vital to understand that these mistakes will hurt your visibility on Google. Make these mistakes, and Google will send your potential customers to your competitors.
What is the difference between Website SEO and Google My Business SEO?
Website SEO is a full-blown campaign that includes both website SEO and GMB SEO. This means we take cate of all your SEO related needs. Each month we will use our expertise, knowledge and experience to focus on those areas that will bring the best results. In this sense, SEO is a bit like potjiekos (you know the basic ingredients for a proper potjie, but there is always some “seasoning to taste”).
Google has never, and will never, reveal its exact recipe for ranking websites on its search engine (this is their secret herbs and spices). Depending on who you speak to, SEO’s around the world have reverse engineered the algorithm and all agree that there are anything between 200 and 600 ranking factors to consider when tackling a SEO campaign.
A full SEO campaign will cover things like:
- Site load time optimization
- Conversion tracking and optimization
- Error monitoring
- Content creation and publishing
- Permalink structures
- Optimization of Title Tags
- Optimization of Meta Descriptions
- Use of LSI (long tail keywords)
- Correct use of H2-H6
- Content length
- Schema
- and roughly about 190 other factors.
With a GMB SEO campaign, we focus only on your GMB listing. See next Q&A for more details on what is included.
What do you actually do on a monthly basis for the fee I pay you?
Without giving away our special formula that we have created over the past 5 years, we focus on the flowing tasks:
- Building of Citations
- Monitoring consistency when it comes to Name, Address, Phone number information (NAP)
- Implementing strategy for generating reviews
- Responding promptly to reviews (this is a massive factor in 2021 and beyond)
- Generating and responding to Q&A
- Regularly adding images to your profile (with our secret formula)
- Managing and maintaining your primary/secondary category (and comparing to competitors)
- Keeping an eye on your competitors to see what they are doing (so that we never get caught unaware)
- Create regular posts on your behalf (using our secret hack to improve your visibility)
What results have our clients seen from this service?
Over the past three months:
- A Centurion chiropractor has received 120 phone calls and 255 website visits
- A Pretoria moving company has received 189 phone calls and 454 website visits
- A medical facility in Pretoria has received 148 phone calls and 411 website visits
DISCLAIMER: Every business and industry is different. Please do not expect your results to be exactly the same as the examples above.
What is the fee for this service?
Setup Fee: R1 499 (excl VAT)
Monthly: R2 999 (excl VAT) per month for this service.
Why do I pay a setup fee?
We want to get you quick results, and this means we have a bit more to do in the first month.
This revolves around the following tasks:
- Completing a citation audit
- Fixing inconsistent NAP information across existing citations
- Building out new citations
- Doing competitor research
- Doing keyword research
- Ensuring your profile is completed
How long should I do GMB SEO for?
As long as you are getting good enquiries from Google, there is no reason to ever stop your GMB SEO service. See it as getting fit, and staying fit.
What happens when I stop doing GMB SEO?
Remember SEO is a race where you have to beat your competitors. If you are in front, but you stop exercising, your competitors will catch up to you, and will overtake you. Some of our clients receive dozens of phone calls from potential clients every week, making it a terrific investment for them.
How will I know if it is working for me?
There are a few checkpoints over the first 3-6 months. Initially, you want to see growth in Impressions, and subsequently Clicks. You also want to see improvements in what is called Discovery searches.
Over the longer term, you want to see the following numbers increase:
- Number of phone calls from GMB
- Number of website visits from GMB
- Driving Direction Requests (if applicable to your business)
But the most important question, over the long term, will be: “Am I getting enquiries from the right kind of clients?” There is very little benefit in doing GMB SEO if your business is not seeing the right kind of enquiries that will lead to more sales.
What is the difference between Discovery Searches and Branded/Direct Searches?
The easiest way to explain is:
- Branded/direct searches: people who know about you already
- e.g. user types “John Smith Plumbing Company” into Google
- Discovery Searches: people with a problem that do NOT know about you
- e.g. user types “emergency plumber garsfontein”, or “unblock drains pretoria east” into Google
While you definitely want to be visible for your brand name (Brand/Direct searches), it is Discovery Searches that will help you grow your business.
Why?
Because these are potential customers looking for a company like yours to solve their problem.
How does Google My Business fit into a normal SEO campaign?
Depending on your business type and industry, your GMB listing can play a larger or smaller role in your overall SEO strategy.
Will GMB SEO work for my business?
Whenever a business serves a local market, GMB will be a part of the campaign.
Examples of businesses that do really well with GMB SEO:
- Home services/trades
- Garage door companies
- Plumbers
- Electricians
- Gate motor companies
- Waterproofing companies
- Swimming pool installations/repairs
- Appliance Repairs
- Medical professionals
- Chiropractors
- Dentists
- Dieticians
- Speech Therapists
- Occupational Therapists
- Biokineticists
- Physiotherapists
- Acupuncturist
- Rehab centre
- Veterinarian
- Beauty
- Spa
- Beautician
- Hair salon
- Nail Salon/Technician
- Professional
- Accountant
- Lawyer
- Accommodation
- Guest houses
- Hotels
- Bed and Breakfasts
If you don’t see your industry on this list, drop us a message below and we can do some digging to see if GMB will work for you.
FAQ – GMB Optimization service
Are you ready to get started?
Simply fill in the form below to be more visible on Google, to get more phone calls and to grow your business.
