How To Perform a Google Business Profile Audit (2024)

Introduction

As a local business owner, your Google Business Profile is your digital storefront. It's the first impression potential customers have of your business when they search for it online. With 46% of all Google searches being local, you must pay attention to your GBP listing.

A Google Business Profile audit is one way to ensure that your profile is up-to-date and optimized. In this article, we'll review how to conduct a comprehensive audit to attract more views.

Why Should Complete a Google Business Audit?

A Google Business Profile audit examines your online presence on Google. It's a way to ensure that your listing is accurately represented and your business is optimized for local search. A properly optimized listing can improve your local rankings and attract more calls, messages and traffic. By conducting a Google Business Profile audit, you can identify and fix any issues that may hurt your local search rankings.

Most importantly, Google My Business ranking factors

In our Google My Business audit, we have included the most important ranking factors (that matter in 2023) without all the geeky search engine terminology.

Listing Title

The listing name is one of the most important ranking factors in local listings. And many companies still take advantage of it to generate more sales and revenue to this day. Here's an example typing in Birmingham roofers in Google:

Although the third-place listing has the most significant reviews, spots 1 and 2 are given to companies closer and with sentences close to my original search query: Roofers Birmingham

Based on Google guidelines for representing your business on Google, companies can only include the listing name as it appears to customers in the business's real-world branding, such as signage, stationery, or other material.

💡 Tip: If your competitor listings have keyword stuffing in their GMB listing title that is against Google's guidelines, you can report them in the Redressal Complaint Form

Review audit

The more reviews, the better; you may have the most optimized Google My Business profile; however, if there aren't reviews to back your company, your local rankings in your service area will not change as much as you hope.

Evaluate your competition: how many reviews they have, and create a review-gathering plan to gain a competitive edge over them. Do remember to reply to your thoughts!

💡 Tip: To receive more Google reviews, leverage your previous client base, ask them for examinations and also create manual, automated emails/SMS campaigns asking for reviews days or weeks after your service is completed.

Negative reviews

Regarding online reputation management, bad Google reviews can damage local ranking, and negative thoughts can discourage prospective customers from engaging with your brand, resulting in lost business opportunities and less foot traffic. 

There are two essential steps to address a negative or fake Google review:

Firstly, it's crucial to respond to reviews promptly. This can be done by enabling notifications on Google. My business profile manager is located in the settings. It's essential to respond to all reviews, regardless of whether they are negative or fake.

Secondly, when responding to the reviews, keeping the response brief and to the point is essential. Acknowledge and take responsibility for the complaint, even if it wasn't your fault. It's also important to apologize for the inconvenience caused and offer a solution to fix the problem. For example:

✏️ Remember: When you respond to a negative review, you're not just calming the reviewer but also demonstrating to potential customers how you handle customer discontent.

Fake Reviews

If you suspect a review is false, misleading, defamatory, or violates Google's policies, request its removal. There are two methods:

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📌 1. You can flag the fake review by clicking on the three dots in the top right corner of the study and selecting "Report review."

📌 2. Google Support: contact Google support to request its removal. Be sure to provide evidence to support your claim.

‍💡 Disclaimer: It's important to note that removing Google reviews can take time and effort, with no guarantee of success. Therefore, it's always advised to respond to the reviews.

Business Information

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Ensure that your information is accurate and up-to-date. Note that all your listings across different registered directories, such as Yelp, Bing, and Scoot, should include the same information, such as the same address, name, and services. Check if the following information is correct:

✏️ Business name

✏️ Business location(s)

✏️ Business hours

✏️ Service area

It seems straightforward, but you'll be surprised how many fail to update information on their new business hours and locations, delete duplicate listings and keep the consistent business listing names across multiple directories, which causes them to lose foot traffic.

Optimise GMB Categories

When you create a Google Business Profile, you can select a primary category that best describes your services and up to 9 additional secondary categories. ( there is always the ability to change them)

As of 2024, there are more than 4000 Google My business categories. Adequately optimizing Google Business Categories can help you receive more visibility from your GMB listing. To do so, follow the following steps:

Find Primary Category

For some industries, selecting the main category may be easy; however, for other industries, it's a bit more complicated. Here is an example:

Both of the companies do plumbing and heating. However, one business profile selected "Plumber," and another used "Repair service." The question is, is one of the local businesses using the correct category?

💡 There is no correct answer; however, we always recommend looking at your niche market search results, seeing what most top listings use, and copying them.

Secondary business categories

In your Google My Business profile service pages, you may include up to 9 additional categories. However, the best practice is to include at most 3. Include specific types that correlate with your offerings.

Website Link

A business website helps with Google My Business results, especially prominence. Prominence refers to how well-known a business is in the online world. Reputation is influenced by various factors, including the information Google sources about a business online, such as links, articles, domain ratings, quality, authority, and directories.

Other benefits to having a website URL in your Google My Business listing include the ability to send customers to your appointment page and menu page.

💡 Tip: Make sure your website has an SSL certificate. Check here ( An SSL certificate is a digital certificate that encrypts and secures the communication between a website and its users, ensuring that sensitive information remains private and protected) Having an SSL certificate is an important ranking signal that helps with your GMB listing.

Website Backlinks

What are backlinks? Website backlinks are links from one website to another. Think of them like referrals - if a popular website links to your website, they recommend your site to their readers. Backlinks are essential because search engines like Google use them to determine the relevance and authority of your website.

The more high-quality backlinks you have, the higher your website will likely rank in search engine results. However, it's important to note that not all backlinks are created equal, and it's better to have a few high-quality backlinks from reputable websites than many low-quality ones.

Do website backlinks help with Google My Business rankings? Of course! It shows that your business has authority online and is one of the strongest prominent influences.

Getting backlinks is a complex process. However, the recommended optimization strategies for backlinks are:

✔️ Join Local business directories such as Yell, Yelp, Scoot, and Bing.

✔️ Create high-quality local content on your website.

✔️ Consider sponsoring events or charities in your community and ask them to include you in their promotional website content.

✔️ Use social media to promote your content and build relationships with other businesses or influencers willing to link to your website.

✔️ Hire a P.R. company.

⚽ The ultimate goal with backlinks for boosting a GBP listing is to receive as many local links as possible; it will benefit your Google My Business listing and generate free traffic from other search results.

Post audit

Did you know that you can post on Google? Google My Business Posting option allows businesses to share updates, news, events, and links to product pages and increase their social signals, making it easier for customers to find out more about your business on Google search. It also lets Google know that your business is active and up-to-date.

Recommended optimization strategies for GBP posts

✏️ Develop engaging posts that revolve around your product or service offerings.

✏️ Share timely updates to keep your audience informed and intrigued.

✏️ Craft content that highlights the unique features and benefits of your offerings

💡  Tip: Reuse content you have already posted on your social media platforms. Saving you time and effort.

Additional Optimization checklist ✅

Here is an additional actionable checklist to complete to ensure you're fully optimized!

Business Description

Companies business description should include the following:

✏️ Clear and concise description

Your Google Business Profile description should accurately reflect your business and its offerings. It should be clear and concise, making it easy for potential customers to understand what you do and what sets you apart from your competitors.

✏️ Use Keywords Strategically

Identify the keywords that potential customers will likely use when searching for your products or services and include them in your description.

Avoid keyword stuffing, which involves overusing keywords to manipulate search rankings. Instead, use keywords strategically, ensuring they fit naturally into your description and provide value to the reader.

Photography

Google uses Google Vision A.I. to determine the relevance and quality of business photos. The algorithm labels elements of the image, and you can test it out before uploading your GMB listing photos to see how it marks the photography.

Usually, Google will select your profile photo as the main one, but that's only sometimes the case; it can often be a game of chance. Photography optimization checklist:

✔️ Choose High-Quality Images

✔️ Use Relevant Images

✔️ Do not use stock images

✔️ Add new photos regularly

✔️Try to aim to upload 51+ Images

Here is a graph by BrightLocal that showcases the GMB listing average monthly views based on the number of images.

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Landing Page Experience

A landing page is the link page where people click on your Google My Business profile. To have a remarkable landing page experience, it's essential to:

✏️ Make sure your website is mobile-friendly

✏️ Accessibility best practices

✏️ A fast loading speed

Analyzing can be done for free at PageSpeed Insights by typing in your website URL. A score from 1-100 in all of the above aspects will be generated.

Adding Services to Google My Business Profile

Add all of the services you provide to your Google My Business profile, as it enables your listing to be highlighted with a featured snippet. Here is an example:

Q&A section on your Google business profile

In your Google business profile, add frequent questions your business receives daily and also answer them yourself. Utilizing the questions and answers feature can significantly enhance your Local SEO efforts. It can increase engagement with your business profile, enable you to curate the questions that users view and provide valuable information to potential customers regarding your products and services.

Google Business Messaging

In recent years, Google has released a new feature for Google My Business users - Google Business Messages, enabling customers to message you directly from the Google listing. However, this features some requirements, such as replying in 24 hours; failure to do so may lead to the deactivation of the service. Google Business Messaging Policy

Audit Software

Numerous audit software options exist for Google My Business; here are our favourite ones:

Gridmybusiness: Grid My Business is a user-friendly tool that helps you see how well your business shows up on Google compared to your top 20 local competitors. It tracks your business's position on Google search results when people look for something related to your products or services.

Buffer - is a simple-to-use tool designed for small and medium-sized businesses to manage their social media presence. It helps you share content on various social media platforms, interact with your customers, and evaluate the performance of your posts. The great news is that it also works with Google My Business, allowing you to manage your business's posts and listings easily, all in one place!

🏁 Thats all!

That's all! With the Google My Business audit completed, you now clearly understand the most influential ranking factors to boost your business or client's ranking and generate more revenue. With this knowledge, you can confidently optimize your profile and achieve more significant lead generation and sales success. Here's how to maximize your local SEO and grow your business through a comprehensive and effective Google Business Profile audit. Happy optimizing!