You may already be aware of how important your Google Business Profile is in helping local customers find you. However, this is not the only way that your profile can benefit you.
Aside from its local SEO power, your Google Business Profile provides you with insights that can allow you to optimize your approach and better serve your customers. When used alongside Google Analytics and Google Search Console, you have everything in your power to drive success.
In this post, we’ll take a look at the Google Business Profile data you have access to and how it can help you improve your listing.
The way people find you
One of the most interesting insights you can discover is the number of customers that found you and how exactly they found you.
The methods they use are broken down into three categories:
- Direct searches. Here they will have searched for your business name or website address specifically.
- Discovery searches. With this, you will have appeared because of the category, product or service you provide.
- Branded searches. If a customer searches for your brand, or one related to your business, it will show up here.
Generally speaking, businesses will find that around two thirds of their impressions will come from discovery searches, which highlights how important it is to keep on top of your local SEO strategy. For more information on what exactly they’re searching for, check out your Google Search Console, where you will see the search terms people are using to find you.
Where they come into contact with you
Think about when you make a local search. What do you click to find out more about a business? It could be through the normal search results or the 3-Pack, but then again it could be through Maps.
In Google Business Profile, you can see how many found you via Google Search by looking at “Search views” when creating bulk reports. Alternatively, you can do the same thing but with “Maps views” to see how many clicked on the map to engage with your business. Or, if you want, you can put them together and see the total views of both.
Why is this important?
Say, for example, that most people are finding you through Maps, that means that they are probably using mobile devices. If the majority of people are looking for you on mobile devices, you need to make sure that the experience on mobile is up to scratch. And bear in mind that this can be influenced by everything from design to speed.
And if you want extra confirmation that most of your visitors are coming through mobile, you can filter for that on Google Business insights too. You have options to filter by mobile or desktop and by specific days.
What they do afterwards
You’ve been found by searchers! Congratulations, that is the first step. But it’s certainly not the last. What behavior they exhibit after having found you can also give you lots of information.
Let’s assume you’re selling top quality pizza ovens as an example. Through your hard work in optimizing your Google Business Profile, you begin to get hits. But, unfortunately, you’re coming up in searches for “oven pizza”. What do you think people are actually looking for?
Once they realize you’re selling ovens and not pizzas, they’ll click off your website almost instantly. This is an example of optimizing for the wrong keyword and behavior is one of the ways to identify it.
Now let’s imagine that you are optimized for the correct keyword. The way people behave afterwards still gives you information. Are they:
- Visiting your website?
- Clicking for directions?
- Calling you?
How this information is useful
Seeing reports on the actions people take before coming to you provides valuable information.
Directions
If you’re thinking of taking out Google ads, you can look at the direction data and see where the majority of your conversations are coming from. That means you can target your efforts to a particular zip code, and maximize your return on ad spend.
Phone calls
The main way that phone calls can help you is not the calls themselves, but when they’re usually made. By sorting your data by day of the week and time, you can establish when exactly people are most interested in your service. This information can then be used to further hone your Google ad spending, allowing you to only let the ad be seen during a certain window.
Don’t forget about the photos
It’s important to have good-quality photos on your Google Business Profile as it can influence how people react to your listing. But beyond just posting photos, you can also keep an eye on how well they’re performing.
The photos section of the insights shows the number of photos you have associated with your listing and, more interestingly, how often they are viewed when compared to your competitors. As with all the insights, you can adjust it based on the time of the week, month, or quarter, etc.
Within the bulk insights report, you’ll be able to see different labels such as:
- Total owner photos
- Owner photo views
- Total customer photos
- Customer photo views
Who people think you are
You know who you are as a business. But does your idea tally with what customers think? The final section we’re going to talk about today does exactly this.
Essentially, when customers leave a review, the common terms they use, whether cozy, chic, great pizza or whatever else, will show up. Unless this information is proven to be false, Google won’t remove it. But often you can use what people think about you to better target your messaging.
If you own a furniture repair business and you get reviews saying “really fast turnaround!” then you can put that in your advertising. Then again, if they’re saying “professional staff,” you’ll talk about the pride you take in customer service. At the end of the day, whatever people think are your strengths, are indeed your strengths.
When it comes to local search, these insights are incredible tools to continue optimizing your Google Business Profile and outperforming the competition in your area.
If you’d like to find out more on this subject, feel free to reach out for more information.
