Top 5 Ways to Improve Your Google Business Profile so Tourists Can Find You.

If you’re running a tourist business here in Orkney, you’ll know how important it is to have a Google Business profile. It’s what puts you on the digital map when people Google places to eat, accommodation, or interesting things to do.

In this blog, we’ll share the five main things to focus on to make your business profile stand out and why this is important for your business.

Why Optimising Your Google Business Profile is Important (and What That Actually Means!)

First, you’ll see the word ‘optimisation’ thrown around a lot. Before you mentally switch off at the sight of this, let’s just break down what this means.

Optimisation is just making something better. In this context, we’re talking about how you can make your Google Business profile as good as it can be so that it can get you the best possible results.

There are two sides to this:

• It keeps Google happy – Think of Google like a school teacher. It’s there in the background with a checklist making sure you’re doing everything you’re supposed to. The better you optimise your profile, the happier Google will be to make it show up in search results.

• It gives visitors the information they need – Imagine not having people message you with the same questions all the time… Spending a little bit of time on optimising your profile means people can see everything they want to know up front, which makes the experience easier for them when deciding which business to visit or book with.

Now let’s talk about how exactly you can achieve this. Spoiler alert, these five steps are all simple, straightforward things that you can do in an afternoon (preferably with a good cup of tea!)

1 - Choose relevant categories

In your Google Business Profile you’ll have both primary and secondary categories. You can only pick one primary category, so if your business is a restaurant for example, you’ll want to choose this as your main category.

You can also choose up to 9 secondary categories. This is really important because it lets you be found in a variety of different ways.

For example, say you’re a dog walker but you also offer additional services like dog sitting, puppy visits or grooming. You’d have ‘dog walker’ as your primary category, and all the others as your secondary categories. Then if different people search for all these things, your business will show up.

Within the interface, you have the option of adding more categories

2 - Make sure your description is spot on

Your description is super important to get right. It needs to clearly communicate what your business is and what people can expect, while also ‘telling’ Google that too so it can understand how to place you in the search results (unlike a teacher, it’s not grading you, it’s just trying to categorise you).

Focus on:

• Making sure the basic information is correct

• Including the right keywords (these are the relevant terms people would use to search for a business like yours on Google)

• Being concise and clear – you want people to be able to understand what you’re about in a sentence or two

A description from a local coffee shop

3 - Add regular posts and updates

Just like how you post content and updates on social media, you can do the same thing with your business profile on Google. Think of it like an extension of your social media presence – share news, updates, photos, whatever you have going on.

Google likes to see profiles with regular updates. It shows that your business is active, and makes the search engine more likely to show it to people. It’s also great for attracting the attention of visitors, because they can get a flavour of what to expect.

A Google Business Profile update

4 -  Add fantastic photos to feature your busines

We are blessed with fantastic scenery and scenes here.

And first impressions count - photos are a great way to improve the look and feel of your Google Business Profile and really highlight what you do.

If you’re a tour guide, include pictures of happy guests at the Ring of Brodgar and the vehicles you use. If you run a cafe, show off your fantastic feasts.

Don’t just go snap happy though - Google has some specific guidelines around what to post.

5 - Get people to review you (and respond back)

Reviews are a valuable way of establishing trust. It shows people that you’re legitimate, and validates that you’re someone they want to spend their money with.

If you have happy customers, ask them to leave a review. You could do this via email with a link to your profile to make it easy for them.

Don’t be put off by the idea of a negative review. If this happens, the best thing to do is to respond back (politely!). Take a breather, and then address the points they’ve brought up. This will show you in a positive light because you’ve taken the time to respond in a meaningful way.

Depending on the number of reviews you have/get, this is a useful way to look at how other people are talking about your business. It’s a way to learn if there’s something you could improve on, and what’s working too.

And there you have it! You're an optimisation expert already. If you want more support with your Google Business profile, or are unsure where to start, feel free to get in touch.