Imagine you’ve just moved to a new city. You’ve been unpacking boxes all day, dinnertime is fast approaching, and you’re craving Thai food. Chances are you’re going to pull out your phone and search for “Thai food near me.” Your search doesn’t disappoint. Google serves up a list of Thai restaurants and you click on one to explore their business profile on Google, including location, menu, hours of operation, customer reviews, photos, and more.
A business profile on Google isn’t just for restaurants and retailers. It’s also an amazing (and free!) tool that health and wellness practices and solopreneurs can leverage to be more findable in their local markets.
Anyone with a Google account can create a Google Business Profile. But the real power comes from optimizing your profile to give potential clients as much information as possible about your practice and make it easy for them to explore, reach out, or book an appointment.
Keep reading to understand the advantages of having your own business profile on Google, and get pro tips on how to create, optimize, and improve the local search ranking of your Google Business Profile.
Your Google Business Profile isn’t just a free business listing – it can be a powerful local search optimization tool if you set it up right. In other words, it can make you more competitive with similar practices in your area by helping you rank higher than competitors in local search results.
Here are some additional benefits associated with mastering how to create a Google Business Profile:
{{guide-to-attracting-clients-in-your-private-practice-simple-text}}
If you’re wondering how to create a Google Business Profile, there are a few steps you need to be aware of.
If you already have a Gmail address or Google Workspace account for your business you can skip this step and go straight to Step 2. Keep in mind that while you can create a Google Business Profile using a personal Gmail account, it’s best to have a distinct Google account for your business to keep your personal email and business listing separate.
Here’s how to create a Google Account for your practice:
This will take you to a new form where you can fill in the required fields and follow the prompts to complete this step.
If you already have a business profile on Google that you’ve also claimed, you can skip ahead to get tips for profile optimization in Step 3.
While we’re on the topic of how to create a Google Business Profile, you might want to familiarize yourself with the rules around representing your business, to ensure your business profile won’t get suspended in the future. Check out the Google Business Profile guidelines or bookmark them to read later.
Once you have a Google Account, you can either claim your existing business profile or create a new one. You might be wondering how you could possibly have a business profile on Google if you didn’t create it yourself. If your business has been around for a while, it’s likely that Google automatically generated a basic profile for you based on publicly available information from things like directories, review sites, and social media platforms. Google does this because it helps improve the accuracy and completeness of Google Maps and other Google services. If this is your situation, you still need to claim your profile or you won’t have control over the information listed.
Google will guide you through providing your business name and picking a category. You’ll also be asked whether you want to add a physical office location or simply add an area where your business provides services. It’s easy to follow the prompts before finally agreeing to the terms and conditions. That’s when you move on to the next step in our article: verification.
Once you’ve created your business listing, you’ll need to verify it to prove that your Google Business Profile is authentic. Google provides several verification options, including phone, text, and email. The method you choose will depend on your business and the verification options available to you.
After your business listing is verified, it’s time to start optimizing! In the past, this required having a Google My Business account, but this functionality was discontinued at the end of 2021. Now you manage and optimize your profile using Google Search or the Google Maps app.
What does it mean to "optimize" your Google Business Profile for local search? In simple terms, it means taking steps to make it as detailed as possible. This not only helps Google rank you higher in local search results, it provides clients with the information they need to get a snapshot of your business – including the services you offer, hours of operation, and location. Your profile shouldn’t stop at the basics, though, if you want to rank higher in search.
Here are some things you can add to your Google Business Profile to help with local search engine optimization:
Here are two Google Business Profiles for wellness providers. The one on the left is not well optimized, whereas the one on the right provides lots of rich details for visitors.
If you’re looking for advice on how to do local SEO, why not go straight to the source? According to Google, local ranking is based on three factors: relevance, distance, and prominence.
This is about how well your Google Business Profile matches what someone is searching for. The more complete and accurate your profile, the easier it is for Google to serve it up to the right people. In addition to the tips offered in the last section of this article, here are a few other considerations you can add to your local SEO checklist:
Google evaluates how far a business is from the location a person specifies in their search. If no location is specified, then Google uses what they know about the user’s location before offering up search results.
The exact algorithm and weighting of distance in local search rankings may vary over time. Google is continually tweaking its search algorithms to provide the most relevant results to users.
This essentially means that the better known your business is, the more likely it is to appear in search results. While this might feel like a chicken-and-egg dynamic for a health and wellness solopreneur who is trying to build their profile, there are activities that can help to build prominence.
Responding to reviews is also a solid local search optimization tactic. Google rewards businesses that do it, and your response itself is an opportunity to inject keywords that are important to your business. For example, a practitioner who offers nutritional counseling could work the phrase “nutrition counseling” or “natural nutrition solutions” + their location into their response to a review (i.e., Thanks for your kind words! I love being able to offer natural nutrition solutions in Toronto that help people get back to feeling like their healthiest selves).
Did you know you can automate Practice Better to ask for Google reviews on your behalf? Set up the automation in your platform today.
Not sure if you can ask for a Google review legally? Find out with this handy flow chart (and who doesn't love a good flow chart?)
You can’t directly add social media accounts to your business profile on Google. However, by putting the right pieces in place, you can get Google to add them for you.
Adding your business profile on Google to your website helps visitors easily access essential business information without having to navigate away from your site or perform additional searches. It also offers local search optimization as Google values consistency and cross-references information across different platforms. Luckily, adding your profile to your website is also fairly straightforward.
Conducting outbound marketing to attract new clients to your health and wellness practice takes a lot of time, effort, and money. A well-optimized Google Business Profile is your secret weapon for ranking high in local search and making it easy for people to find you.
If you weren’t sure where to start with how to create a Google business profile, we hope reading this article has you excited to jump in and get started. If you follow our tips and keep actively optimizing your Google Business Profile you can continue attracting new clients to your practice for the long term.
You can turn your Google Business Profile into a booking-generating machine by adding Google reviews. Head on over to the Practice Better platform to set up your automated Google review request—no cringe required. Not a Practice Better customer yet? Try it for free for 14 days.
[Editor's note: this blog was originally published on June 7, 2023. It has been edited for comprehensiveness and accuracy]
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Imagine you’ve just moved to a new city. You’ve been unpacking boxes all day, dinnertime is fast approaching, and you’re craving Thai food. Chances are you’re going to pull out your phone and search for “Thai food near me.” Your search doesn’t disappoint. Google serves up a list of Thai restaurants and you click on one to explore their business profile on Google, including location, menu, hours of operation, customer reviews, photos, and more.
A business profile on Google isn’t just for restaurants and retailers. It’s also an amazing (and free!) tool that health and wellness practices and solopreneurs can leverage to be more findable in their local markets.
Anyone with a Google account can create a Google Business Profile. But the real power comes from optimizing your profile to give potential clients as much information as possible about your practice and make it easy for them to explore, reach out, or book an appointment.
Keep reading to understand the advantages of having your own business profile on Google, and get pro tips on how to create, optimize, and improve the local search ranking of your Google Business Profile.
Your Google Business Profile isn’t just a free business listing – it can be a powerful local search optimization tool if you set it up right. In other words, it can make you more competitive with similar practices in your area by helping you rank higher than competitors in local search results.
Here are some additional benefits associated with mastering how to create a Google Business Profile:
{{guide-to-attracting-clients-in-your-private-practice-simple-text}}
If you’re wondering how to create a Google Business Profile, there are a few steps you need to be aware of.
If you already have a Gmail address or Google Workspace account for your business you can skip this step and go straight to Step 2. Keep in mind that while you can create a Google Business Profile using a personal Gmail account, it’s best to have a distinct Google account for your business to keep your personal email and business listing separate.
Here’s how to create a Google Account for your practice:
This will take you to a new form where you can fill in the required fields and follow the prompts to complete this step.
If you already have a business profile on Google that you’ve also claimed, you can skip ahead to get tips for profile optimization in Step 3.
While we’re on the topic of how to create a Google Business Profile, you might want to familiarize yourself with the rules around representing your business, to ensure your business profile won’t get suspended in the future. Check out the Google Business Profile guidelines or bookmark them to read later.
Once you have a Google Account, you can either claim your existing business profile or create a new one. You might be wondering how you could possibly have a business profile on Google if you didn’t create it yourself. If your business has been around for a while, it’s likely that Google automatically generated a basic profile for you based on publicly available information from things like directories, review sites, and social media platforms. Google does this because it helps improve the accuracy and completeness of Google Maps and other Google services. If this is your situation, you still need to claim your profile or you won’t have control over the information listed.
Google will guide you through providing your business name and picking a category. You’ll also be asked whether you want to add a physical office location or simply add an area where your business provides services. It’s easy to follow the prompts before finally agreeing to the terms and conditions. That’s when you move on to the next step in our article: verification.
Once you’ve created your business listing, you’ll need to verify it to prove that your Google Business Profile is authentic. Google provides several verification options, including phone, text, and email. The method you choose will depend on your business and the verification options available to you.
After your business listing is verified, it’s time to start optimizing! In the past, this required having a Google My Business account, but this functionality was discontinued at the end of 2021. Now you manage and optimize your profile using Google Search or the Google Maps app.
What does it mean to "optimize" your Google Business Profile for local search? In simple terms, it means taking steps to make it as detailed as possible. This not only helps Google rank you higher in local search results, it provides clients with the information they need to get a snapshot of your business – including the services you offer, hours of operation, and location. Your profile shouldn’t stop at the basics, though, if you want to rank higher in search.
Here are some things you can add to your Google Business Profile to help with local search engine optimization:
Here are two Google Business Profiles for wellness providers. The one on the left is not well optimized, whereas the one on the right provides lots of rich details for visitors.
If you’re looking for advice on how to do local SEO, why not go straight to the source? According to Google, local ranking is based on three factors: relevance, distance, and prominence.
This is about how well your Google Business Profile matches what someone is searching for. The more complete and accurate your profile, the easier it is for Google to serve it up to the right people. In addition to the tips offered in the last section of this article, here are a few other considerations you can add to your local SEO checklist:
Google evaluates how far a business is from the location a person specifies in their search. If no location is specified, then Google uses what they know about the user’s location before offering up search results.
The exact algorithm and weighting of distance in local search rankings may vary over time. Google is continually tweaking its search algorithms to provide the most relevant results to users.
This essentially means that the better known your business is, the more likely it is to appear in search results. While this might feel like a chicken-and-egg dynamic for a health and wellness solopreneur who is trying to build their profile, there are activities that can help to build prominence.
Responding to reviews is also a solid local search optimization tactic. Google rewards businesses that do it, and your response itself is an opportunity to inject keywords that are important to your business. For example, a practitioner who offers nutritional counseling could work the phrase “nutrition counseling” or “natural nutrition solutions” + their location into their response to a review (i.e., Thanks for your kind words! I love being able to offer natural nutrition solutions in Toronto that help people get back to feeling like their healthiest selves).
Did you know you can automate Practice Better to ask for Google reviews on your behalf? Set up the automation in your platform today.
Not sure if you can ask for a Google review legally? Find out with this handy flow chart (and who doesn't love a good flow chart?)
You can’t directly add social media accounts to your business profile on Google. However, by putting the right pieces in place, you can get Google to add them for you.
Adding your business profile on Google to your website helps visitors easily access essential business information without having to navigate away from your site or perform additional searches. It also offers local search optimization as Google values consistency and cross-references information across different platforms. Luckily, adding your profile to your website is also fairly straightforward.
Conducting outbound marketing to attract new clients to your health and wellness practice takes a lot of time, effort, and money. A well-optimized Google Business Profile is your secret weapon for ranking high in local search and making it easy for people to find you.
If you weren’t sure where to start with how to create a Google business profile, we hope reading this article has you excited to jump in and get started. If you follow our tips and keep actively optimizing your Google Business Profile you can continue attracting new clients to your practice for the long term.
You can turn your Google Business Profile into a booking-generating machine by adding Google reviews. Head on over to the Practice Better platform to set up your automated Google review request—no cringe required. Not a Practice Better customer yet? Try it for free for 14 days.
[Editor's note: this blog was originally published on June 7, 2023. It has been edited for comprehensiveness and accuracy]
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