Optimizing your Google Business Profile (GBP) is just the first step towards getting found in more local search results — you have to get people to actually click on and engage with your profile to convert leads into customers!
Fortunately, GBP offers a range of useful features you can take advantage of to improve Google Business Profile engagement, resulting in more clicks, calls, messages, direction requests, bookings, and visits to your business.
Not only does improving engagement with your Google Business Profile lead to more conversions, it can also help improve your profile's ranking in local search results, since there is evidence that views, clicks, calls, and other GBP interactions contribute to higher rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs).
How To Improve Google Business Profile Engagement
- Respond to Reviews
- Post Regularly
- Upload High-Quality Photos and Videos
- Enable Messages
- Allow Online Food Ordering
- Add a Booking Link
- Answer Questions in the Q&A Section
- Look at Insights
Respond to Reviews
Google Reviews are an important local search ranking factor, so getting as many positive reviews on Google Business Profile as possible should be a key part of any local SEO strategy.
You should also monitor and respond to Google Business Profile reviews, both positive and negative, to demonstrate a commitment to customer service and engage with customers. This can in turn encourage future customers to interact with your GBP by reading your past review replies and leaving reviews themselves, all of which can reinforce your local SEO efforts.
Post Regularly
Google Business Profile Posts allow you to promote sales, discounts, special offers, events, and news, or even just show off certain aspects of your business, such as strong reviews or video tours, directly to customers via your Business Profile.
Promoting aspects of your business via GBP Posts increases the chance of potential customers clicking on and engaging with your profile, and can make it easier to convert leads into paying customers (make sure to include a clear CTA in your Posts).
Keep in mind that Posts only run for a limited time (7 days is the default), so you should aim to publish new Posts weekly to keep them fresh and continue boosting engagement with your Google Business Profile.
Upload High-Quality Photos and Videos
Adding high-quality photos and videos to your business listing is one of the top ways to improve Google Business Profile engagement — GBPs with photos receive 42% more requests for directions and 35% more clicks through to their websites than those without, according to Google.
For brick-and-mortar businesses, aim to upload photos of the business's interior, exterior, team, and products or services. For service-based businesses, add before and after photos of completed jobs and photos of team members in action or satisfied customers.
You can also throw in some videos, such as a 360-degree video tour of the business or short videos of team members talking about services, since videos tend to get even more engagement than photos these days.
Try to upload fresh photos and/or videos on a weekly basis to keep your Google Business Profile up to date and engaging.
Enable Messages
Google Business Profile Messages offer businesses another way to engage directly with their customers through their business listings.
Enabling GBP Messages allows customers to ask questions or request appointments, so make sure to respond to messages promptly to increase conversions.
Potential customers can also see your average response time, and faster response times encourage more engagement, since people are more likely to send a message if they think they'll get a fast response (Google will even disable your messages if you don't respond within 24 hours).
You can also set up automated answers to FAQs, cutting down on some of the manual work of responding to GBP messages and providing customers with great customer service in the form of instant answers to their questions.
Allow Online Food Ordering
Restaurants can improve Google Business Profile engagement by enabling food orders on their business listings.
This allows customers to order food for delivery or takeout from a third-party provider directly through a restaurant's Google Business Profile.
Add a Booking Link
For businesses that accept reservations and appointments, you can enable direct booking through Google Business Profile.
Doing this can improve GBP engagement and increase conversions for a variety of different business types, including hospitality businesses, restaurants, home services businesses, healthcare providers, and many others.
Answer Questions in the Q&A Section
Google Business Profile's Q&A section allows anyone to ask a question about a business, and anyone who knows the answer, including the business itself, can reply.
Engage potential customers and ensure they get accurate answers to their questions by monitoring the Q&A section and replying to as many questions as possible.
Look at Insights
Google Business Profile Insights provides valuable data about customer engagement and interactions with your profile. Leverage these insights to see what's working and adjust your profile to improve engagement even further.
For example, you could look at the search queries that people are using to find your GBP, then make Posts using keywords related to those queries, which could increase the number of clicks and other interactions with your profile.
Or, you might see that the number of messages you receive through your business listing is highest at a certain time of day, so you could take extra care to have someone free to respond to messages at that time of day, thus improving your average response time and increasing future engagement via GBP Messages.
Conclusion
By leveraging the numerous features offered by Google Business Profile, you can significantly boost GBP engagement and drive more traffic to your business.
The strategies above are not only proven to improve Google Business Profile engagement, but also foster better customer relationships and improve your local search rankings.
Make sure to stay proactive with your GBP management and regularly monitor Insights to continue adapting your strategies for continuous engagement and growth via local search!