If you own a local business, one of the most important tools to connect with local audiences is a Google Business Profile, formerly known as Google My Business. Among the many elements to optimize for this profile is your list of services, which can significantly impact SEO while clearly indicating to your customers what they’ll get when they turn to your business.
In this blog post, Tyler Phillips, Marketing Manager, will go into how to list your Google Business Profile services and the importance of doing so for optimization and conversions.
My Expert Opinion on Listing Google Business Profile Services
Having a Google Business Profile is essential for any local business online, whether you own a brick-and-mortar store trying to bring more people to your location or a service-based business with certain service areas.
There are many elements to consider when developing and optimizing your GBP, including high-quality images that represent your business and offerings, a consistent name, phone number, address (NAP), and accurate business hours.
However, one element that many overlook and which could significantly boost your profile’s visibility is your services list. Including as many services and service categories as possible could enhance your profile, not just for search engines, but for users as well.
The latest stats reveal just how important category searches are over brand searches, with one study finding that 86% of all GBP views are from category-based searches.
Knowing how to edit your Google business listing with your company’s services or products could help you get the most from your GBP.
Why Listing Services Matters
Listing your business’s services is essential in helping people and search engines understand your business and offerings.
These can appear as a text list of services within the profile, but some profiles even include them as products, complete with images and more in-depth descriptions.
For example, this car wash business lists the different types of car wash options as products, including their prices.
You can then click on each to see more details.
Meanwhile, this real estate agent lists properties as products under various categories.
Listing your Google Business Profile services could ultimately help you rank higher in your industry and make your profile more robust as people browse search results.
It will help with local SEO as you target geo-optimized keywords for individual services and categories, which can boost discoverability. Giving potential customers more details about your offerings, including links to each, can also increase conversions.
Understanding User and Searcher Intent
Throughout the customer lifecycle, each individual will go through a unique buyer’s journey via the social ecosystem, going from the awareness at the beginning to the decision stage toward the end. Throughout this journey, search intent will change as the user seeks different types of information at each stage.
During the awareness stage, search queries will be informational in nature, as users want more details about a particular topic, such as a service or product that may resolve a certain pain point.
When people are looking for more surface-level information, having a Google Business Profile services list is helpful. People entering “[your service] near me” or targeting your location could have a better chance of landing on your GBP, potentially supplementing local landing pages and other local SEO efforts.
In the end, you’ll have an easier time aligning your GBP with search intent to maximize discovery among people in the awareness stage who are just starting their journey.
Preparing Your Profile
Before you add services to your online business listing, there are a few critical steps to take to get your profile all set to go, including:
Verify Your GBP
The first step is to create and verify your Google Business Profile. You will need to verify your profile before you can make any changes to your services and other info, and you can do so in several ways:
- Having a postcard sent to your business address in the mail
- Recording a video detailing your business information
- Requesting a verification code via phone or text
- Email verification
- A live video call with Google staff
Choose the Correct Categories
Before you can include base and add-on services in your GBP, you must also select the right categories for your business. If you’re not entirely sure which categories to select, take a look at competitors’ profiles and see what kinds of categories they include. You may also find that you cover certain categories that competitors don’t.
Consider Attributes
You may also select certain factual attributes that you can manage for your business, while subjective attributes will come from Google based on people’s opinions about your business. For example, people may say that your business is “casual,” “family friendly,” or “popular.” These could further influence your services and categories.
Step-by-Step Guide to Add Services
Now you might ask, “How do I add services to Google listings?”
The following is a brief guide on how to edit your Google business listing:
- Log into your Google Business Profile.
- Click on “Edit Services” within the dashboard.
- Add services to the list, or choose “Add more services” to include add-on services for the list of existing services.
- Select services from the list that correspond with the category, or add a custom service.
- Confirm your selected services by clicking “Accept” to finalize the changes.
If you would like to add products, you can also do so to highlight specific services or product offerings. These actually have the chance of boosting visibility even further, with images detailing your offerings.
Simply take the following steps to add and edit products:
- Log into Google Business Profile.
- Click “Edit products.”
- Click “Add product.”
- Complete the required fields and include a photo that’s ideally around 1200 px X 900 px.
- Add a price (Ranged or Fixed), product description (up to 1,000 characters), and button to “order online,” “buy,” “learn more,” or “get offer.”
- Include a link to your website.
- Confirm changes and save.
Crafting SEO-Rich Service Descriptions
When optimizing your Google My Business services, be sure to include well-optimized and detailed descriptions of your services.
Naturally incorporate relevant keywords and include a descriptive service name when appropriate.
Here is an example of some rich descriptions:
Service Categorization and Structure
Also, you will want to group related services together in a single category for your directory listings. Doing so could help organize your GBP and make it even easier for both users and search engines to understand your offerings.
In addition, avoid overlap of services and ensure each service is distinct enough in your listing. If different locations offer different services, you must make sure each location’s corresponding profile reflects these differences.
Common Mistakes and Pitfalls
There are multiple mistakes that businesses can make when adding Google Business Profile services, such as:
- Auto-generated Duplicates: Always make sure your services are uniquely written and avoid incorporating duplicates across locations, as this could hurt rather than help your SEO.
- Keyword Stuffing: While it’s important to include relevant keywords in service names, categories, and descriptions, don’t stuff them within descriptions or make service names too cumbersome. Again, doing so could do more harm than good for your SEO.
- Over-listing: Only include a Google Business Profile for each of your business locations. Developing too many listings can confuse customers looking for businesses in their area, and it could negatively impact your rankings by hurting the authority of other listings nearby. This might lead you to ask: How does service area work in Google Business Profile? Generally, a single location could appear for people based on the user’s location and listed service areas for each business, making it unnecessary in many cases to include a GBP for every city within your service area.
Maintaining and Updating Services
To keep your Google Business Profile in good shape, regularly maintain it and make any necessary updates as your business changes.
For example, you should encourage customers to review your business on Google, as these stars and written reviews can impact both your aggregate star rating and subjective attributes.
Also, regularly make Google Posts that can provide updates on events, changes to your business, new offerings, and more, with links to your site for more details.
You may also want to make changes to your services and services lists based on industry trends as you adapt to meet the needs of your customer base.
Measuring Impact
To determine whether your optimization efforts are successful, it’s important to consistently measure GBP performance with the right marketing metrics, such as:
- Views: See how many people view your Google Business Profile to measure its visibility.
- Actions: Track how many people click on certain links within your GBP, including links to your main website and individual service or product pages.
- Ranking Changes: Determine if there are any shifts in rankings for your GBP and other local SEO results in search engines. A drop in views could indicate that you are not showing up for certain terms.
Based on these metrics and how they measure against your goals, you can optimize your profile accordingly.
SEO and Content Gaps
When optimizing your GBP, also conduct research to see how you can make your profile stand out from competitors.
For instance, you can use certain keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner and Semrush to see what terms (including branded keywords) people might be entering into Google, and for which your profile could rank.
Additionally, take a look at your competitors’ profiles and see if there are any services or products that you offer and that they don’t list within their profile. Through a content gap analysis, you might discover that you have certain categories or individual offerings that could help people find you over competitors.
FAQs
1. Can I list more than 5 Google Business Profile services?
Yes, you are able to list as many services as you want on your profile. At the same time, you should try to avoid overlap with services and cluster similar services together in groups to keep them organized. Also, only add the specific services you offer.
2. Should I include prices?
Including prices with service listings is a good idea if you have a fixed price or a specific price range. You can include prices for both products and services within your profile, giving target audiences a good idea of what they can expect to spend. Doing so can also attract more high-intent leads who are ready to buy.
3. How often should I update services?
Any time you make any changes to your services, you should ensure your listings reflect these changes. Also, you may want to add or change keywords, titles, and descriptions to boost SEO performance for your profiles.
4. Do descriptions affect rankings for Google Business Profiles?
Yes, descriptions and their keyword inclusions can impact SEO rankings. This is why it’s crucial to include relevant keywords in a rich description, but avoid stuffing keywords for the sole purpose of ranking. Instead, write descriptions that are helpful for users while incorporating natural keyword instances throughout.
Develop a Winning Google Business Profile with Ignite Visibility
Knowing how to edit your Google business listing can help you add all of the information you need to boost your rankings, including services. At Ignite Visibility, we can help you get the best results from your Google Business Profile and other local SEO efforts, with the ability to service many national to local businesses.
When you work with us, you get:
- Help with developing Google Business Profiles for each of your locations
- Keyword and market research to inform listing optimization and other local SEO elements
- Regular updates to keep your GBPs high up in rankings and driving conversions
- Consistent measurements of relevant metrics to inform continual optimization
- And more!
Reach out to us today to find out what we can do for you as seasoned local SEO experts.
Tyler is the Creative Marketing Manager.
