Stand out in local search results with your Google business panel, filled with information from your Google Business Profile, and drive more customers to your door.
Local businesses know that growth comes from a steady stream of new customers. In today’s digital environment, visibility in online search results is the key contributor to getting customers to visit your location. With Google’s knowledge panel, you have a powerful tool at your fingertips.
In this article, you’ll learn how to optimize your Google Business Profile (GBP) so you can stand out from your competitors. You’ll also be able to keep customers up-to-date on the information they need to make smart purchasing decisions.
As the leading online reputation management (ORM) agency, our team can help you unlock the power of Google’s business tools, including the Google knowledge panel and Knowledge Graph. In this guide, we will explore top tips for optimizing your business information on Google.
To speak with a Google Search expert today, give us a call at 844-461-3632 or fill out the contact form below.
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What Is the Google Knowledge Panel?
A Google knowledge panel is an information box that appears in search results when you look up an entity, meaning a person, place, organization or thing. An information panel will appear so long as the data is in the Google Knowledge Graph.
What Is the Google Knowledge Graph?
Google’s Knowledge Graph is a database that’s filled with “billions of facts about people, places, and things.” This gives Google the ability to answer factual questions with legitimate answers.
For example, if you Google, “How tall is the Empire State Building?” you’ll see a knowledge panel with the answer. By displaying the answer prominently at the top of search results, users don’t have to do any further digging.
Can a Knowledge Panel Include Business Info?
Yes, a knowledge panel can include information from your Business Profile. Google offers businesses these free profiles so they can control their presence in search and on Google Maps.
Your Business Profile will include a panel that you can fill out to create your own knowledge panel for your company. Details you can add to your knowledge panel include:
- Brief descriptions
- Contact information
- Customer ratings and reviews
- Hours of operation
- Images
- Location on Google Maps
In simple terms, your Google knowledge panel gives customers everything they need to plan a visit to your location. Each element contained within Google’s knowledge panel provides critical clues, helping potential customers understand who you are, where you are, and what you offer.
Take a look at the knowledge panel for NetReputation, which includes our business’ star rating, link to Google reviews, location, description, hours of operation and more:
Even more importantly, the information in your Google knowledge panel helps your business to appear in search results. SEO is especially important for local businesses. Consider these stats:
- 91% of consumers say their overall perception of big brands is impacted by reviews of local branches.
- 36% of consumers use two review sites when researching local businesses, and 41% use at least three sites.
- Google is the most-used website for reviews, followed by Facebook, Yelp and Tripadvisor.
You can take control of your online reputation, whether you’re working on your personal reputation or your professional digital presence. Call us at 844-461-3632 for more information.
Optimize Your Business Profile
Now that you have a basic understanding of the knowledge panel in Google, how can you optimize your business profile to display important information? The first step, of course, is to claim your business in Google. Get started here.
Once you’ve claimed your Google business listing, it’s time to create a Google Business Profile. Here’s some of the basic information you’ll want to include:
- General information about the business, like what you offer and who you serve
- Specific products or services your business offers
- Important links to your website, social profiles and other web pages
- Your business location or locations, as well as the areas you serve
- Hours of operation, plus other notable hours, like delivery hours and online service availability
When your visitors know what to expect, they are more likely to pay you a visit. Some of the information boxes in the GBP are optional, but for the best results, it is always a good practice to fill out as many of the structured data elements as you can. Sharing your business name and business information on Google is an important part of your overall local SEO strategy.
NAP: What It Is and How It Can Help Your Business in Search
Google’s knowledge panel is a great way to boost your brand’s visibility in search results. It gives users and the search engine itself the relevant information they need to find your business.
When you create a business profile and begin to populate the fields in the knowledge panel, one factor stands out: NAP.
NAP is an acronym for “name, address, phone number.” Essentially, these are the three key details customers look for in online search results for businesses in their area. Google shows this business information in search results along with your position on Google Maps.
NAP may be pretty obvious on its face, but there is more to optimizing this critical aspect than meets the eye.
Your NAP is structured data that the Google algorithm uses to categorize and index your business in desktop search results as well as on mobile devices. The best way to ensure success in Google Search is to ensure your NAP data matches the information on all of your web properties.
In other words, the information you add to your business profile — business name, physical address, telephone number — should be consistent on every website you use for business purposes.
Google Reviews Boost Visibility and Sales
Over the past decade, online reviews have come to influence customer behavior. With most consumers looking for reviews in search results and using them to determine whether or not to visit a business location, reviews have become all-important for standing out from your competitors.
Still not convinced that Google reviews are important? Consider these statistics:
- 93% of consumers indicate that online reviews influence purchasing decisions.
- 91% of customers aged 18 to 34 say that Google reviews are trusted as much or more than personal recommendations.
- Businesses that display reviews as part of their Google knowledge panel tend to rank higher than businesses that don’t. In fact, reviews lead to a nearly 7% increase in visibility in organic local searches.
- Businesses with reviews tend to attract more customers to their location, particularly if reviews are positive.
When you set up your GBP for your local business, it is vital that you enable reviews to display within the Google knowledge panel. This not only helps you stand out in searches but also helps build trust between you and your customers.
Review Management: The Key to High Rankings
We touched on the power of reviews in the previous section, but let’s get into the topic of review management a bit more.
Positive reviews help build your business because they represent favorable experiences your customers want to share. Consumer feedback features prominently in Google searches and includes reviews posted on Google as well as on third-party business-rating sites.
Unfortunately, no matter how great your business is in delivering outstanding products and services, eventually, you will be faced with negative reviews. Perhaps a disgruntled customer left less-than-glowing feedback. Maybe one of your competitors posted fake or defamatory reviews to hurt your business.
Whatever the situation, when negative ratings and reviews are posted, there are ways to handle them so they don’t cause damage to your online reputation.
Review management is the practice of monitoring your online reviews to spot problems before they can cause harm to your online reputation. Once fake, defamatory, or negative consumer sentiments are discovered online, you can flag them for removal or respond to the customer to solve their profile.
The final piece of the puzzle in managing reviews is to respond to every review. By doing so, you can share insights and feedback with consumers about your business, provide contact information to those leaving negative comments, and restore the trust lost from negative ratings. When responding, own up to your mistakes and be transparent about your willingness to resolve any issues.
NetReputation’s team of review management professionals can help you maintain a positive rating profile and maintain high rankings in Google search results. Contact us today at 844-461-3632 to learn more.
Images of Your Business Bring Customers to Your Door
In the digital environment, images can convey information in a way that text and other structured data cannot. For your business’ knowledge panel, images are extremely helpful for increasing visitors and revenue.
To unlock the potential of images in your Google profile, the first step is to set a featured image for your local business. This is the primary image that is displayed along with your NAP and location on Google Maps in the search results box.
Ideally, your featured photo should be an image of your storefront, helping people to identify your business when driving to your location. For businesses that do not operate storefronts or who may have multiple locations, your featured photo may be an image that represents your company at its best.
Avoid the temptation to use stock photos. Real photos of your business are necessary to build brand awareness and trust.
Getting Citations for Your Google My Business Profile
Business citations are online mentions of your business’ NAP information. The more citations your business has, the easier it will be for others to find your business, and the more your company will show up in search results.
Like the structured data you added to your GBP when setting it up, citations are shared across the web, helping improve rankings in Google searches. When your business appears in online directories, including local directories, industry directories, and marketplace-specific information sources, your business will stand out in search.
For every listing link, make sure your NAP data matches the information in your knowledge panel. Then, reach out to every directory you can to help spread the word about your business. By getting these citations, you can boost traffic to your company website, which ultimately translates into more consumers paying your business a visit.
Call NetReputation Today for Google Business Services
Since 2014, NetReputation has been the leader in providing online reputation management (ORM) services to individuals and business owners around the globe. Our experienced team of professionals can help you get the most from your Google business profile, including setting up your knowledge panels, optimizing your listings for visibility on Maps, and managing your profile against emerging risks.
With our customized GBP service, it is easier than ever before to stand out in search results and gain relevance in your industry. Call NetReputation today at 844-461-3632 to learn more about our service or to receive a free business profile consultation.
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by Net Reputation
NetReputation was founded in 2014 by Adam Petrilli, a results-driven leader dedicated to empowering individual and business success on the web. Our award-winning process and team of online reputation management specialists allow us to remove, suppress, repair, and monitor your online presence. Within our first two years, we were recognized by some of the world’s leading business publications for our company growth. Today, NetReputation operates offices in Sarasota, Florida; and Kansas City.