Expert Tips For Google My Business Pages

Google My Business is a free Google listing  – with no paid upgrades – that Google encourages all businesses to use to its fullest to help them rank locally on Google. The goal of this free listing is to provide Google searchers with the best, most relevant local information when they are searching for businesses in a specific area, especially when they’re on mobile devices and using search terms such as “gas station near me.”

One of the most important aspects of having a Google My Business (GMB) page, aside from helping you rank locally on Google, is to make it easy for Google users to find you. This means that in order to show up in search results, you need to make sure your business address is entered accurately so customers can find you, and you can enhance your local SEO. And of course, this means you must understand address use for GMB.

But what address works for GMB? Continue reading to learn tips from Google itself on how to make sure web searchers can find you and so that you rank locally on Google.

Address Use for GMB When You Have a Physical Storefront

If you serve customers at a physical location, that’s great! You need to make sure that you accurately enter in all the details of your postal address, including your:

• Street number
• Street name
• Street type (like Avenue, Drive, Road, etc.)
• City name
• State name
• Zip Code
• Suite, unit, or floor number

Entering all this information accurately on your Google My Business page both helps with local optimization and also allows Google to place a map marker on Google Maps at your exact location. This makes it easier for Google searchers, especially those who are on the go and searching on a mobile device, to find you and go to your business.

Examples of What Address Works for GMB

If your address is:
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway, Mountain View, CA, 94043

You want to enter that exactly on your Google My Business page. Even doing something that may seem harmless like abbreviating “Parkway” to “Pkwy” may make it harder for Google to accurately pinpoint your physical location and mark it on Google Maps. And you definitely don’t want to do that!

Address Use for GMB if You Are in a New Development or Rural Location

Sometimes, certain addresses are hard for Google Maps to find.  In these instances, Google Maps won’t accurately pinpoint your location, which could affect your ability for you to rank locally on Google or for customers to use Google Maps on their mobile devices to get directions to your storefront. This is especially true if your business is part of a brand new development that hasn’t yet been added to Google Maps, or if you are in a rural area.

If entering in your address as per the instructions listed above doesn’t accurately pinpoint your location on Google Maps, then you should include directional information like cross streets or nearby landmarks that Google Maps is able to accurately pinpoint. Doing so will help your location appear more clearly on Google Maps.

Address Use for GMB if You Have Multiple Locations

If your business has multiple locations, you should have Google My Business pages for each location to improve local SEO, enhance local optimization, and rank locally on Google for each of your business locations. You can manage your multiple locations by simply signing into your Google My Business Account.

Address Use for GMB if You Don’t Physically Serve Customers at a Location

Some businesses don’t serve customers at physical locations. Examples of these types of businesses include eCommerce sites, grocery delivery service providers, tutors who meet with students at community locations like local libraries, mobile notary publics, and more. This list really goes on and on.

Even if you don’t serve customers at a physical location, Google My Business still wants to list your business so that you can enhance local SEO and rank locally on Google. After all, Google is all about helping web searchers find the relevant information they want.

If you don’t serve customers at a physical location, then when you create your Google My Business page make sure to leave your business address blank and fill out the “Service Areas” field instead. Be thorough, and list all cities, towns, suburbs, etc. that you realistically service in order to best rank locally on Google and improve your local SEO and local optimization.

What Else Should You Include on Your Google My Business Page to Make it Easier for Customers to Find You?

Google My Business pages allow all businesses to add photos to their free profiles. You should definitely take advantage of this feature to, at the very minimum, add photos of the front of your business so that those who are searching for you on the go can easily spot your location from the street.

Make sure to keep these storefront photos current. If you paint your building, add window awnings or other architectural elements that change the appearance of your storefront, you want to update your business location photos so that customers don’t get confused by outdated images.

Get Help Ranking Locally on Google by Optimizing Your Google My Business Page

Because Google My Business pages are free profiles, they’re ubiquitous. Virtually all your competitors have one, and they’re using their best efforts to enhance local SEO and local optimization so they rank locally on Google. This means that having an updated, optimized Google My Business page is extremely important so that your GMB ranks higher than your competitors’ profiles.

As a digital marketing agency that specializes in local SEO, we help several customers every year optimize their Google My Business pages. If you’ve tried everything for local optimization but find you still don’t rank locally on Google, we can help. By using our SEO expertise and specialized SEO tools, we can find the best search terms to include on your Google My Business page to help you rank locally on Google.

For help with GMB, contact us today. You can reach us by calling (877) 682-2012 or filling out our online contact form.

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