For most small business owners, getting noticed on Google isn’t just a luxury – it’s a necessity. With so many buying journeys beginning with a search, ensuring your business shows up prominently in prospective customers’ search results can make or break your business. Whether you’re a Michigan-based small business or located elsewhere, these strategies will help you gain visibility and attract more customers.

Claim & Optimize Your Google Business Profile (GBP)

Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) is one of the most effective tools for increasing visibility on Google. Here’s how to get found on Google Maps and in local packs:

1. Claim your profile – Claim your existing business listing or head over to the Google Business Profile homepage and start creating a new listing.
2. Add your business information – Make sure to complete all the fields applicable to your business under business information in your new Google Business Profile – such as name, address, phone number, website, hours etc. Writing a compelling description with relevant keywords and including as much detail as possible (e.g. under more) will improve your chances of showing up.
3. Add Photos & Videos – High-quality pictures and videos are import to showcasing your business and optimizing your profile. Listings with great visuals often attract more clicks.
4. Get Reviews – Honest, positive reviews are critical to improving your visibility and building trust. Asking satisfied customers to leave feedback will help you attract new customers. But it’s also important to respond to negative reviews and report irrelevant ones to maintain a good rating.
5. Post Updates – Posting updates about your business, offers and events is great way to further optimize your profile.

Create Quality Content

Effective content marketing can establish your brand as a thought leader and boost your search rankings. In the same way a good website if foundational to your digital presence – quality content is the cornerstone to successful SEO strategy. Try starting a blog to share tips, insights and stores that may resonate with your target audience. Including visuals like photos, infographics and videos will make your content more useful and boost performance.

Optimize your Website & Content for Search Engines

Creating great content is a great start to getting your website noticed on Google, but further optimizing your website and content is needed to get noticed in search results. First, ensure that you’re not blocking Google from crawling your website (e.g. with a robots.txt disallow or meta noindex tag). Make sure to include a keyword rich title tag and meta description on all your webpages and image alternative text for every image. Link your web pages to each other using relevant text to make it easier to navigate for both people and bots. Consistently following best practices like some of the ones mentioned above are sure to help your business get noticed on Google and other search engines.

Monitor Performance

If you haven’t already, make sure to setup Google Analytics 4 (GA4) or another tracking software to monitor your performance. It’s also important to setup Google Search Console (GSC) and Bing Webmaster Tools to track your performance in their respective search engines. Monitoring your website performance will help you understand what content your visitors are most/least interested in, which optimization efforts are paying off, and pain points that need to be addressed.

Conclusion

Getting your small business noticed on the world’s largest search engine isn’t a one and done task – it’s an ongoing process. By implementing these strategies and staying consistent, you’ll build a strong online presence that drives traffic, increases conversions, and helps your business thrive.

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