Ranking in search for senior living can be a challenge; between niche keywords that have a very focused audience and a wealth of local competition, it can be tough to establish yourself within the ranks. However, in addition to optimizing your site for SEO, getting signed up and verified for a Business Profile on Google can help you stand out amongst the competition.
Google Business Profile is a free service that allows businesses to create a listing that shows their location, phone number, website, hours, reviews, photos, and more. With a Business Profile, you can manage how your business appears in Google products like Maps and Search.
Getting set up
The first step to getting a Google Business Profile (GBP) listing is to sign up and verify your business. Signing up is easy, but verification may involve a few more steps. Google offers several options for verification, including by mail, phone/text, email, or video. For new GBP listings, verification by phone/text, mail, or video verification are the most commonly available options.
Via phone: Google will call you with a verification PIN that you’ll enter in the GBP portal.
Via postcard: Google will send you a physical postcard via USPS to the business location you entered in your listing. Postcards typically arrive within five days or sooner, so watch your mail to make sure you don’t accidentally throw it out.
Via video verification: You take a video of your business on your phone and upload it to Google for Google to review and verify.
It’s important to note that, in most cases, Google will have already set up a business’s GBP with information it has compiled from other sources. In these instances, business owners/managers will just need to create a Google account, claim the listing, and proceed with the verification process.
Google has several “how to” articles for getting your listing set up. But the set up and verification process can be complicated. IlluminAge has a lot of experience helping clients verify their listings, so if you need help, give us a call at (800) 448-5213 or contact us online.
After you’ve signed up and verified your location, what should you do so families make you their first choice?
Your category
GBP lets you choose from thousands of categories that best suit your business. Your primary category tells Google what types of searches are most relevant to your business. Google says:
“Categories help your customers find accurate, specific results for services they’re interested in. To keep your business information accurate and live, make sure that you:
Use as few categories as possible to describe your overall core business from the provided list.
Choose categories that are as specific as possible, but representative of your main business.
Do not use categories solely as keywords or to describe attributes of your business.
Do not use categories that pertain to other businesses that are nearby or related, such as a business physically contained within your business or an entity that contains your business.”
Try and be as accurate as possible when selecting your primary category. If you choose one that isn’t truly descriptive, you may rank poorly in search results.
While the primary category is the most important, you’ll have the option to add up to nine additional categories. Per Google, a good rule of thumb is to choose categories that represent your business holistically and complete the statement “this business is a” instead of “this business has a.”
Pick good photos/images — at least three
Your listing on Google is sort of like the digital introduction to your business—it’s the first thing that potential customers see. And while things like having your business name and address spelled correctly are fundamental aspects of your listing, nothing quite draws attention to your knowledge panel (that panel on the right of a Google search results page) like good photos (and Google recommends having at least three).
Choose a mix of interior and exterior photos that accurately represent your business and reflect how customers would see your business if they visited in person. These photos convey the potential experience customers will have with your business, so don’t use stock photos in your GBP listing.
Don’t forget to add your business logo. The eye is naturally drawn to images over text, so having your logo present is a big must. It should be a high-res file. You’ll see that your logo is confined to a somewhat small square, so you may want to consider creating a new version of your existing logo that won’t get cropped when it comes up in search results. Social media icons, such as anything you may have used for Facebook or Instagram, come in handy for this.
Posting updates to Google
Many businesses frequently overlook the fact that they can post blog-style information/updates in their GBP listing using the “Add Update” tool. This is a great place for calls to action and another way to draw your audience to your website.
Posting to Google isn’t quite the same as posting to your blog, though. You want this extra space to still be about you—not necessarily the latest research on dementia or healthy eating. Think about touting local events, services, or other aspects of your facility or care on your facility’s blog. Then, link to that content in this space to gain more visibility.
Reviews make you shine
Online reviews will never cease to be an important, front-running topic in digital marketing. With access to local reviews from other customers, there’s very little reason for anyone to not google your business beforehand. Remember to ask for and nurture online reviews! They help make your listing stand out.
When you claim your business on GBP, you’ll receive notifications of new reviews. This makes it easier to respond quickly to them. And you should respond to all reviews because potential customers like to see how businesses handle both positive and negative feedback. It lets them know that you’re both accessible and receptive.
While it can be tempting to ignore negative reviews, resist that impulse. Instead, you’ll want to respond to bad reviews in a calm and measured way that makes it clear that your goal is to address their problems and/or concerns.
Some extra tips!
Fill out every section of your GBP as completely as possible. Include keywords as appropriate in your business description – but don’t keyword stuff by using your keywords (or phrases) excessively and repeatedly. Add any applicable attributes to your listing to provide customers with even more information about your business.
Make sure the business address on your GBP listing exactly matches what’s shown on your website. Inconsistency across platforms will hurt your SEO in the long run.
Keep an eye on the email address associated with your listing. This is where you’ll get notifications about things like user edits and holiday business hours. Users can suggest changes to your business listing; if this happens, you’ll receive an email. You can accept or reject these changes, but they will go through automatically if you don’t see or ignore the email. GBP will also frequently send emails asking for confirmation about business hours during holiday seasons.
Don’t create a separate account for every location if you have more than one – you can manage multiple listings from one account.
Customers like to communicate with businesses via text. If possible, turn on the messaging feature in your business profile to make it even easier for customers to reach out to you.
Google Business Profile stats
64% of consumers use GBP to find contact details for local businesses.
94% of calls to local businesses come from GBP.
An average business is discovered in over 1,000 searches per month.
56% of customer actions on GBP listings are website visits.
Businesses with complete business profiles are 94% more likely to be viewed as reputable.
86% of people look up a business’s location using Google Maps.
74% of customers trust businesses that have more GBP reviews.
Google Business Profile is an awesome opportunity for quality, free online exposure. If you need help getting started or managing your listing, give IlluminAge a call at (800) 448-5213 or contact us online.
