Blog

How to Optimise your Google My Business Listing for the UK

Reading Time: 5 mins

By now, a Google My Business listing has become an essential part of any business looking to get found in the search results. But still, some businesses tend to let the listing remain unoptimised when it may be the first thing potential customers see of your brand.

Google My Business has many details you can add in, and all of this can really help your online presence and visibility in the search results.

But what details and optimisations can you make in order to ensure more people discover your business? They all may seem like minor changes, but it can make a big difference in whether people interact with your brand or go to a competitor.

Categorisation

Ensure your categorisation is as close as possible.

Google is always trying to serve the best possible search results, so the category of your store and listing is critical in coming up for relevant search terms.

Being precise with your category can help your business turn up in the most important search queries. Broad categorisation won’t help, as you will appear for more vague search terms which lead to lower levels of clicks. Drill as deep as possible and this will surely get better results.

Reviews

Get as many reviews as possible (hopefully positive!). These help you gain clicks, as people will be full of confidence in your brand.

If you have no reviews, it can put people off. They don’t know if you’re new, and probably don’t want to be the first people to test your business out.

Encourage existing customers to leave a review on Google, whether through a quick email or within your premises. This can help you get more exposure.

While many business owners worry about the nature of reviews, and this is natural, the positives outweigh the risks.

If you do get negative feedback, ensure you respond in a calm and professional manner. This can help show your side, and other customers shouldn’t be put off.

Optimise your images

The image that comes up in your My Business listing is likely the first thing that will capture the attention of your audience.

If you have no image, add an image. If the image is poorly optimised, of poor quality or is simply not enticing – get a better one. Using a physical picture of your store or business works well, otherwise use a logo.

Standardise your address

Your listing has an up-to-date address, and that’s ok. But does it fit in with your standardisation across all of your platforms?

Your ranking could be impacted if your address is slightly different to how it appears on your website or other listings.

Double check the address on your website, Facebook, local listings and Google My Business. Google tends to mess around with some addresses, so it may have mixed up the lines of the address. Always worth double checking.

Geocodes

Your address helps Google to generate a geocode, which shows where your business is on Google Maps.

Many people now use Google Maps to find relevant businesses. But what good is it if Google Maps takes them to the wrong spot? Even if it’s close, they may give up if they can’t find your exact location, especially in high traffic areas or busy highstreets.

You need to make it as simple as possible for people to find your business. Google can accidentally put your business far, far away – so it’s worth ensuring it’s as close as possible.

Upload content

Put great quality content on your website and this helps your rankings. And now, Google Posts is similar.

Google Posts lets you publish promotions, updates or events direct to the search results, which is displayed in the Knowledge Panel and Google Maps.


Taking the time to make these changes could have a significant impact on your performance in the search results.

The best part is that making all these tweaks and optimisations takes no time at all! If you have 30 minutes to spare, you should be able to make a significant difference as to how your business appears in the search results.

Otherwise, be sure to check in regularly to see how your business is listing. Google will also keep you up-to-date via email on your clicks, and you can continue to optimise and see what works.