Boost Your Local SEO and SEM with an Optimized Google Business Profile

On January 23rd, Substance hosted a training session as part of its annual LAB Substance, which focused on the role of local SEO for local SEO and SEM success. Led by Marie-Jade Fillion, Campaign Manager, and Marc-André Dufresne, Director of Content and Influencer Marketing, the session provided valuable insights for businesses seeking to enhance their online presence. Here's a recap of the key takeaways:

The Power of an Optimized Profile

Your Google Business Profile is often a potential customer's first impression of your business online. It's a critical touchpoint that can influence their decision to visit your store or choose your services. By ensuring your profile is complete, accurate, and optimized, you can:

• Improve your local SEO: A well-structured profile with relevant keywords, accurate business information, and engaging content helps search engines better understand your business, ranking you higher in local search results.

• Improve your SEM campaigns: A well-optimized Google Business Profile strengthens the overall consistency and relevance of your online presence. This can lead to a higher Quality Score for your Google Ads campaigns, resulting in lower costs-per-click and better ad placements.

Key Elements of an Optimized Google Business Profile

Maximize your local SEO and SEM success by focusing on these key elements:

• Accurate information: Ensure your business name, address, phone number, and website remain consistent across all platforms, including your Google Business Profile.

• Relevant keywords: Research and incorporate relevant keywords into your business description and posts.

• Engaging content: Post high-quality photos, videos, and updates regularly to keep your profile fresh and engaging.

• Customer reviews: Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews. Positive reviews can improve your local ranking and build trust.

• Category and attributes: Choose the most accurate category for your business and select relevant attributes to help customers find you easily.

Key Elements of an Optimized SEM Campaign

Google's algorithm ranks SEM ads based on their relevance to the keywords searched their click-through rate, the quality of the landing page, the advertiser's performance history, and the relevance of the ad itself. By combining these factors, Google assigns a Quality Score to each ad. The ad with the highest score generally ranks first. Bidding also plays a role but is not the only determining factor. Because the algorithm is constantly evolving, advertisers looking to maintain a favourable ranking need to adhere to best practices and optimize their campaigns as needed.

The Synergy Between Local SEO and SEM

Optimizing your Google Business Profile lays a solid foundation for organic and paid strategies. A higher local ranking drives more organic traffic, while an improved Quality Score enhances the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of your SEM campaigns.

Want to unlock the full potential of your Google Business Profile and strengthen your local online presence? Contact Substance today to learn more about our local SEO and SEM services.