Google is offering multiple tools that businesses can use to boost their sales and SEO, one of which is Google Posts. Launched back in 2017, Google Posts is a built-in tool inside a Google My Business account. Using this feature, businesses can post brief text and images. It’s useful for short-term marketing, special offers, and top product promotion.

If utilized well, Google Posts can boost engagement, traffic, and sales of a business. Besides, it’s a free tool that every business enjoys at their disposal.

Still, not all businesses realize the potential of Google Posts. Here are some of its benefits for starters:

It benefits your SEO

Above all benefits, Google Posts brings a positive impact on SEO. It can be used for backlinking and driving traffic to the company’s website. By creating a call to action, internet users will be encouraged to enter your sales funnel.

Aside from that, Google Posts offer a free ranking factor. Some say that traffic coming from Google Posts have more ranking weight than those from organic search.

It enhances engagement

When it comes to promoting your business, you need to get as much visibility as possible. Google Posts can be used to share time-sensitive offers, short content, and other eye-catching pitches. Many businesses actually use it for seasonal sales, discounted offers, and more.

This activity will increase audience engagement. Shortly, your social media pages and website will benefit from the boosted traffic.

It’s in line with voice search

Recently, voice-originated search has been dominating the search engine. Also, about 46% of all voice searchers are looking for a business listing. With this, it just makes perfect sense why you have to utilize Google Posts on your GMB.

For example, a person driving will look for a place to eat. Using voice search, that person will pick a restaurant from the listings that will come up. This is why optimizing your GMB and Google Posts is a must.

It’s totally free!

Google Posts is a free tool, as much as a Google My Business account is. There’s no excuse not to utilize this tool, especially if you have a limited budget for marketing and SEO.

Instead of additional finances, the only capital you need for this tool is effort and time. Just post fresh content every time and you’ll surely see a difference.

It boosts your marketing  

Google Posts is a great avenue to market your top products, special offers, and more. Aside from reaping the SEO benefits, you can also use it for marketing purposes.

Make sure that you focus on important information and content that your audience can easily digest. Also, pair your post with eye-catching graphics or images.

Final words

Google Posts is a useful tool that you can access right through your Google My Business account. It’s a free tool, so there’s nothing to lose if you implement in your marketing and SEO efforts.

And just like in SEO, content is king in Google Posts. Make sure that you utilize each post with informative content and links that will drive traffic to your website.

A local business website is a powerful tool to increase your presence in the community as well as your sales. Still, many businesses don’t realize the impact their sites can bring to their revenue. With this, they tend to neglect the design and content departments. Due to this, they miss a more significant share of traffic, conversion, and rankings.

So if you’re planning to revamp your website, make sure that you include these 7 points on your redesign plan. These are small details that will make a big difference:

It should be functional

Every button and link that you put on your website must be working properly. Each one should have the right page link as well as the call to action that suits the niche.

We recommend that you check your website manually to simulate a visitor going through your pages. Check each button and see if it will work as expected.

It should be mobile-friendly

Above all, a business website should be mobile-friendly. This means that your site will load across devices, including mobile phones and tablets. With 50% of the entire web traffic coming from mobile devices, this aspect is a no-brainer.

Nowadays, you can find ready-to-use themes that have been optimized for mobile search.

The design should fit your niche

This should be a default since every business will vary in industry and niche. For example, if you have a Mexican restaurant, your design should be different from a beauty website.

Although generic designs will work, it doesn’t give you the functionalities on which your business will largely benefit from.

No clutter, please

When revamping your website, you should focus on removing the clutter. This way, each page looks fresher and easier to the eyes of the website visitors.

Sometimes putting everything in one spot isn’t ideal. This could overwhelm your visitors, especially if they are browsing your website through a mobile device.

It should appeal visually

Of course, your website should look good. It’s best to choose a design that will look good across platforms. In fact, an appealing design will directly reduce bounce rates, plus it will set the mood for your website visitors.

It should have a sense of authenticity

A website shouldn’t only look good; it should look authentic. By authentic, we mean that you should include your business address, phone number, and other pertinent business information.

There should be a way for your customers to contact you to confirm the authenticity of the website. Also, audit your content and make sure that it reflects the image of your brand.

It should have call to actions

Lastly, don’t forget to use call to actions. These are crucial to bring website visitors into your sales funnel. Without CTAs, you won’t get the most benefit from increased traffic.

For each page, try to put up a call to action that will encourage your visitors to patronize what you are offering. Still, avoid being too salesy as internet users tend to shy away from this approach.

Aside from Google Maps, Apple Maps is another massive platform where you can list your business. With more than 35 million iPhone users looking for business listings, it’s essential that your business can be found on this platform. As much as Google Maps is the second largest search platform, Apple has its own emerging version.

Getting listed on Apple Maps is a very easy process. You just have to deal with the timeframe of getting your business published on the database. And in some cases, your business may not be available on its map database right away. Whatever the situation is, the following steps will make the process clearer:

Step 1. Look for your business

Start by checking if your business is already in the Apple Maps database. If you can see your business already, then you have only one step left to do. However, if you can’t find it, you have to perform an extra step before you can create a listing.

How come my business isn’t on Apple Maps? There are two possible scenarios here. First, Apple Maps could be attributing your business to the wrong location. The second one is that your business may not be on their database yet.

Step 2. Add your business on Apple Maps

For those who can’t find their business, there are three ways to add it on the Apple Maps database:

*Report a problem. You will notify Apple Maps that there’s something wrong with your business location or information. Just choose the location of your business, then click Report a Problem. You’ll be asked to provide some information to support the concern you’ll send.

*Get listed on Yelp. Yelp syndicates its listing on Apple Maps. So by creating an accurate listing on Yelp, you’re also being published on the Apple Maps database.

*Get listed on Localeze. This platform provides business listings for Apple Maps, so making a listing here is a guaranteed way to enter your business on the map’s database.

Step 3. Create your business listing

Once your business becomes available on Apple Maps, you can now create your listing. Take note that it may take weeks for your business to be available if you underwent any of the three suggestions above.

To create a list, look for your business location and drop the map pin on it. Make sure that the location is specific and accurate. Adjust it accordingly before going to the next step.

You’ll be prompted to provide business information for the listing. Once you’re confident that you have filled everything out properly, click Send. You’ll have to wait for a few weeks to get your listing published on Apple Maps. Usually, it will take between 3 and 6 weeks.

Wrapping Up

Getting listed on Apple Maps is added visibility for your business. Also, it gives you a share of iPhone users that could potentially patronize your business.

Overall, getting listed on Apple Maps is an easy process. Just make sure that you will enter the correct information all the time.

If you own a business, you have probably heard about the Map Pack already. It’s the coveted spot after the sponsored links where listings of the top three businesses are displayed. Businesses that succeed in being included in the Map Pack will gain visibility and better traffic. Of course, it all boils down to conversion and sales.

However, being part of the Map Pack isn’t a walk in the park. You have a lot of work to do, especially if your website is virtually invisible on the internet. So to get you started, make sure that you have thought of the following factors:

Mobile-friendliness of your website

If your business website is mobile-optimized, then you have one less thing to do. Google has released its mobile-first indexing algorithm, which prompts search crawlers to index mobile versions first.

Needless to say, mobile-friendliness is a key ranking factor for new websites. With this, it’s best to start on a good footing. Do a design revamp if need be, so your customers won’t have a bad experience loading your pages on their mobile devices. If you don’t know it yet, customers with bad mobile experiences will be 62% less likely to buy something from a business.

Your organic rankings

If you’re planning to grace the Map Pack, you have to get excellent organic rankings. Yes, even if you own a local business. Start with the broader level then you zoom into your locality to ensure that you have the edge over your competitors.

Google crawlers use organic signals in displaying the listings on the Map Pack. So if you’re performing poorly organically, you have a low chance of ever being on this 3 Pack league.

Your local rankings

While you are ranking organically, you should also boost the local ranking signals of your business website. This is possible by creating separate landing pages for the areas you’re servicing. This way, your website will enjoy organic rankings while you also stay visible in your locality.

For this part, you have to ensure that you’re using local keywords, so search engines will know that your landing page is associated with a specific location. It will also prevent confusion on your audience’s end.

The small details

Even if we’re thinking big by ranking organically, you should never neglect the little details. Make sure that your content is updated, your event calendar is up-to-date, your location is supported with landmarks, and so on.

These little details will make a big difference later on.

The local filter

The local filter is often the make or break part of being on the Map Pack. This is when two similar businesses are located in close proximity. Since Google wants to give its users a wide array of options, one of the businesses will be dropped from the Map Pack.

So which one gets in? Basically, the business with the highest organic ranking is more likely to get into the Map Pack. Take note that this is still affected by other factors concerning your SEO.

If you have been optimizing your local business for search engines, you probably heard of the Google Knowledge Graph. It’s a tool released back in 2012 which aims to boost a business’ visibility online. In turn, it will also help internet users gain information about a business without the need to visit internal pages.

Remember that Google will not roll out a tool if it doesn’t have an important use. With this, you must know what the Knowledge Graph is and how it benefits your business.

Introduction to the Knowledge Graph

The Knowledge Graph is a tool that shows up either on the sidebar or the top of the search engine. The goal of this tool is to increase the availability of business on the search results.

Instead of the internet user clicking to internal webpages, the Knowledge Graph displays essential information about a business.

Still, not all businesses will qualify to have a Knowledge Graph. The search engine has to consider some factors first before generating the graph.

Benefits of the Knowledge Graph

Since it boosts the visibility of your business, the Knowledge Graph brings advantages for a business, be it big or local. Here are some of the benefits of having a Knowledge Graph.

*Enhanced website traffic

The Knowledge Graph becomes a jump-off point of internet users toward your website. Through this, you will experience increased traffic and potential conversion.

*Boosting the sense of credibility

Internet users perceive businesses with Knowledge Graph to be more trustworthy. Since they quickly access the phone number and address of an establishment, they can easily inquire about the service or product.

*Better user experience

The Knowledge Graph provides internet users with immediate information. Since it’s more convenient than visiting numerous webpages, your business will experience better conversions. It’s also a great way to promote brand awareness

How Google generates the Knowledge Graph

The Knowledge Graph isn’t generated by default for all businesses. Google will have to consider three factors before qualifying a specific entity for the graph. These are the following:

*User Behavior

The search engine will look into internet users’ search behavior, including their queries, location, duration of visit, and so on.

*Entity Indexing

This is the process of cataloging business information to come up with an accurate and factual graph. It prevents ambiguity and it also establishes the authenticity of a business.

*Semantic Search

This is when Google analyzes the context of every user’s search query. This is an in-depth process of looking into the location of the user and the synonyms of the queries they enter on the search engine.

Should you optimize for it?

Definitely! The Knowledge Graph offers added presence online, plus it serves immediate information to internet users. Aside from listings and the Map pack, this tool is indispensable in boosting your sales.

Still, there’s work to do for your business to have a Knowledge Graph. Ranking organically and locally is just the start. Also, make sure that your NAP and GMB account are all accurate and up-to-date.