The internet has become an integral part of our daily lives. Every day, millions of users search for information online. According to recent data, 46%* of all Google search queries include a local component: “Nearest toy store,” “ATM nearby,” “Pharmacy near me,” and so on.
If you manage a business with a physical location (one that is present at a specific address), it’s important for as many people around as possible to learn about it. And to evaluate how effectively the business is represented online, it is necessary to conduct an audit of local presence.
So in this article, we will discuss the following:
– What is local business presence?
– Google Business Profile – the foundation of local business presence.
– Audit of local presence and its components.
– What results Getpin clients achieve after conducting an audit of local presence.
What is local business presence?
Local business presence is the representation of information about a company on maps, directories, data aggregators, search engines, and social media platforms in a specific geographic area. It includes visible information to users about the business, such as the name, description, address, phone number, business hours, customer reviews, and photos, allowing potential customers to find and learn about services or products specifically in that region.
There are also elements that remain behind the scenes: keywords and search queries.
Google Business Profile – the foundation of local online business presence.
In 2023, 92% of search queries were made on Google**. Therefore, it is logical that Google Business Profile is one of the most popular platforms for displaying business information.
Google uses information from Google Business Profile to display results in local search. If you have an active business profile, your business becomes easier to find for users looking for goods or services in your region. Clients also have the opportunity to receive up-to-date information about the business, communicate with its representatives, or leave a review.
Audit of local presence and its components.
The audit of local presence involves conducting a comprehensive analysis and evaluation of the online presence of a business and providing recommendations based on the results.
The main goal of the audit is to determine how users find the company’s locations on maps, identify factors that influence rankings in search engines like Google, and discover potential areas for traffic growth for business locations and website.
Let’s consider the main components of the audit in more detail.
One of the key components of the audit is verifying the basic information about the company in the Google Business Profile: company name, address, website, phone number, and business hours. It is important that this data is accurate and matches the actual information, as well as other company resources – website, social networks, etc.
Getpin solves the problem of its clients by providing a convenient tool for managing multiple locations. This allows minimal resource expenditure for regularly and promptly updating business information.
When the number of locations grows, it becomes more challenging to track changes and input accurate data. Therefore, to optimize time and resource expenditure, Getpin has implemented its solution for businesses to make mass changes simultaneously across all locations while protecting data from alterations proposed by other users. Protection against changes involves the ability to automatically overwrite data after any external user modifies information about your location.
Another key component of your online business profile is the company description.
The purpose of location descriptions is to provide useful and up-to-date information about your business. To increase the visibility of locations on Google Maps, it is important to add a description to each of them.
The description should be both unified and unique for each location.
The function of a unified description is to inform the user about the basic details of the location. Information may include company details and its activities, categories of activities, website links, available options (such as in-store purchases / buy online / delivery). Unification simplifies the search and increases trust in the company.
On the other hand, a unique description, tailored to each individual location (for example, Pharmacy “Name” in Kyiv), enriched with local keywords for more traffic.
Therefore, after conducting an audit, we compile a list of locations that should have a description added, and we provide recommendations regarding its content. And in the Getpin dashboard, there is the possibility to add and modify descriptions en masse and simultaneously for all or selected locations.
Another important element of the audit is checking images and photos of locations.
Current location photos help customers identify the company on site and also give an idea about the business. Therefore, we recommend adding current images to the company information.
As a result of the audit, the business receives a comprehensive list of locations where photos are missing or insufficient. Additionally, recommendations are provided regarding the content of photos and the schedule for adding them. The functionality of the Getpin platform assists in both individual and bulk uploading of photos to selected locations.
An integral part of the audit is the analysis of search queries related to the business activities.
The analysis of search demand by locations includes:
In addition to the main component, we analyse search terms that lead to local pages of the business website. We will check the positions and search queries for which local pages of the website are ranked, determine whether there is sufficient local search traffic, and provide recommendations for their optimization. Finally, we conduct a cross-analysis with those search terms by which your locations are ranked.
Based on the analysis results, we provide detailed recommendations for optimizing the locations and local pages of your website.
Additionally, it is essential to analyze customer reviews as they have the most significant impact on the business’s reputation.
The analysis will include:
Based on the results, we will identify which locations or groups of locations have the most influence on the rating change and provide customised recommendations.
It is important to remember that company representatives should respond not only to positive but also to negative reviews. According to recent data, 75%*** of businesses do not respond to negative reviews, although users pay attention to such messages.
To reduce the time spent managing reviews, you can use the Getpin platform. Here, in a single account, you can view reviews about the company from various sources and set up auto-responses based on the customer’s rating. For encouraging reviews and handling negative feedback discreetly, we recommend considering the RateMe service.
It is important to consider that user ratings and reviews affect the location rating. Therefore, the higher the rating, the more frequently the company appears in search results and receives more organic traffic.
At the final stage of the local presence audit, it is necessary to carefully check mentions and reviews about the business on various platforms, including those that are not actively used. This allows us to get a comprehensive understanding of public opinion and ensure effective control over the company’s reputation. Analysing reviews from different sources helps identify trends and determine the strengths and weaknesses of the business.
What results will the business achieve after conducting a local presence audit?
Local presence audit is a comprehensive analysis of various factors that reflect the company in the online environment.
After conducting the audit, we provide detailed conclusions based on the analysis results, as well as recommendations for further actions. When implementing all the recommendations provided, the traffic to the company’s locations gradually increases on average by 30%****.
If you want to increase the number of visitors to your company, contact us. We will analyze the quality of your business’s online representation and provide personalized recommendations to improve its visibility to existing and potential clients.
However, it’s important to remember that to achieve top positions in local search, it’s necessary not only to have a fully filled out company business profile but also to ensure the relevance of the information provided in it, update it timely, and actively communicate with customers.
* Safaridigital
** Statcounter
*** Explodingtopics
**** Getpin
***** Forbes
