In the ever-evolving landscape of online marketing, local SEO has become increasingly important for businesses looking to gain an edge in their immediate geographic area. One powerful yet often overlooked tool for enhancing local search rankings is Google Business Profile (GBP) services. Recent findings indicate that adding pre-defined services to your GBP listing can significantly improve your local SEO rankings, a valuable strategy many businesses are still unaware of.
In the past few years, Google has continued to integrate GBP services into its search rankings. Studies conducted by Sterling Sky and Whitespark in 2019 and 2022 revealed that adding pre-defined services to a GBP listing now has a measurable impact on local search rankings. This shift highlights the importance of maintaining an up-to-date GBP listing for businesses looking to improve their local search presence.
Despite the significant impact of adding pre-defined services to GBP listings, many small business owners remain unaware of this strategy. This can be attributed to Google’s limited announcement of new features – leaving many businesses in the dark regarding the potential benefits of incorporating GBP services into local SEO efforts.
Finding and adding services to your GBP listing is a straightforward process:
Log in to your GBP account, entering the new merchant experience (NMX) dashboard.
In the left-hand menu, locate and click on “Services.”
Browse through the available pre-defined services within your business category, adding those that are relevant.
If necessary, add custom services to better represent your specific offerings.
Save your changes, allowing Google to update your listing accordingly.
Though not all categories currently have pre-defined services, Google is continuously updating its GBP offerings. Regularly checking your GBP dashboard for new services relevant to your business is essential for maintaining an optimized local search presence. Additionally, multi-location businesses should ensure they check services for each individual location, as offerings and relevance may differ.
The studies conducted by Sterling Sky and Whitespark demonstrated a clear correlation between adding GBP services and improved local search rankings. Businesses that integrated pre-defined services into their GBP listings experienced a noticeable boost in visibility compared to those that did not. The results underscore the value of staying informed about GBP features, incorporating them into your local SEO strategy wherever possible.
In conclusion, the ever-growing importance of local SEO requires businesses to stay informed and strategically leverage available tools like Google Business Profile services. By adding pre-defined services to your GBP listings, you can significantly improve your local search rankings and boost visibility in your respective market. As Google continues to develop and refine its GBP offerings, businesses that stay ahead of the curve will be poised for even greater success in the competitive realm of local search.
Up until working with Casey, we had only had poor to mediocre experiences outsourcing work to agencies. Casey & the team at CJ&CO are the exception to the rule.
Communication was beyond great, his understanding of our vision was phenomenal, and instead of needing babysitting like the other agencies we worked with, he was not only completely dependable but also gave us sound suggestions on how to get better results, at the risk of us not needing him for the initial job we requested (absolute gem).
This has truly been the first time we worked with someone outside of our business that quickly grasped our vision, and that I could completely forget about and would still deliver above expectations.
I honestly can't wait to work in many more projects together!
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