Read our analysis of 2 million business profiles on Google and check our 8 main discoveries on why they are higher than their competition!
Sebastian Żarnowski
Co-founder & CEO
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Business visibility – it defines how visible your business is to customers in the region. Check the visibility of any business, even your competitors.
Why do some businesses have better visibility in Google than others? What specific actions determine that their business appears on top positions in local Google Search results?
We studied more than 2 million of Google Business Profile listings to answer these questions. We recognized what distinguishes businesses in the top positions from their competitors, ranking further down the list.
We also identified 8 key areas where businesses in the top positions in local search results differentiate themselves from their competitors. For each area, we’ve created practical tips to help you improve the position of your business listing in Google and Google Maps.
Your Google Business Profile should first have a well-formed, precise description. It should clearly outline what your company can offer potential customers and contain relevant keywords appropriate to your industry.
Statistics and our long-time experience in positioning local businesses are clear – this is an essential element of Google Business Profile. However, as we found from ou data, not all profiles have it.
Position 1-3: About 75% of businesses from the top positions in Google have a completed company description in their profile.
Position 4-10: This segment falls a bit short – about 65% of businesses in this range have a completed company description.
Position 11-20: Here we see a more significant decrease. Less than 40% of businesses in this range have a completed company description.
source: Localo
One of the fundamental elements of your company’s Google Business Profile should be an up-to-date, well-complete description containing the right keywords. This element alone will give you an advantage over some of your competitors.
As we mentioned, you must remember that it’s one of the first things your customers encounter when checking your business profile. Here are some tips which you should take into consideration while writing a good business description:
Remember, your description is often the first impression potential customers will have of your business, so spend time refining it, making it attractive and accurate.
You can also try the Audit feature in Localo – it will assess the description on your company’s profile and suggest relevant keywords which will help increase its visibility in Google and Google Maps.
Another element we examined in our analysis was the presence of a business website address in the Google my business profile. Even a basic but well-constructed website of a local business can significantly increase the visibility of its Google Business Profile.
Most local businesses promoting themselves via Google understand this - their business listing includes a link directing the user to their website.
Position 1-3: More than 85% of businesses in positions 1 to 3 on Google have an URL added to their profile.
Position 4-10: Here, not much fewer companies have a URL included in their business profile.
Position 11-20: There is no drastic decrease from positions 4-10, but still there is noticeably a few percent less.
source: Localo
This is undoubtedly one of the key findings of our analysis - even a simple website is nowadays the standard for local businesses.
If you don’t have a website, check our guide on creating a free website using a dedicated Google tool. Another option is to include a link to your Facebook page.
The length of the description really does matter - it must clearly and comprehensibly describe the business activity and include industry-specific keywords. You have to write down the basic business information there in a manner that will be understandable to the local customer and give them a notion of what can be expected.
The average word count of the company description in the Google Business Profiles we examined is as follows:
Position 1-3: Businesses in these positions have almost 70 words in their descriptions.
Position 4-10: Businesses have slightly shorter descriptions in this range - their average length is about 60 words.
Position 11-20: These businesses differ little in the number of words in their descriptions from those in the 4-10 range.
source: Localo
Companies in the top positions usually create detailed and elaborate descriptions of their business activities. In short, this allows customers browsing a Google Business Profile to get a feel for what the company offers.
A full and comprehensive description of a business gives the customer a complete picture of the company it makes customers more likely to interact with the company’s profile, and the number of interactions, in turn, translates into a higher position in search results.
The business description can be a maximum of 750 characters. Use this space wisely and inform customers about what your business does and who its products or services are for.
The next analysis shows the number of words in the top online reviews of the business (the first 10 reviews in GBP, sorted by relevance).
Position 1-3: These businesses receive significantly longer and more descriptive reviews with a total length of nearly 350 words.
Position 4-10: These businesses receive reviews from their customers with just over 300 words.
Position 11-20: These businesses receive reviews from their customers with a total length of about 300 words.
source: Localo
Businesses in the top positions clearly receive much longer and more elaborate reviews from their customers. On average, the length of customer reviews to top-ranking firms is 35 words.
As mentioned, online reviews and their content are an essential ranking factor. The more information customers include in their review, the better for you and your business. It will boost Google Business Profile’s positioning and visibility, as well as help convince new customers to get in touch, breaking the trust barrier.
We analyzed opinions which Google marked as the most relevant. Judging by the difference in length of the most relevant opinions in top ranking GBPs, and those with lower position, it becomes clear that Google values the quality of the opinions in your profile. Therefore, it’s highly adviseable to make leaving extensive reviews as easy as it could be.
One way to do that might be using Review Poster generated in Localo. It makes easier for customers to leave a review – all it takes is to scan a QR code. You can also put there a chosen set of keywords that you want your clients to use, making it even more effortless.
As part of our study, we decided to see if there is a correlation between the number of words in a business profile name and position in local search results. The chart below shows the average number of words in a business name field on Google.
Position 1-3 : Businesses in these positions have an average of more than 5 words in their title.
Position 4-10 : Businesses in these positions have an average of 5 words in the title.
Position 11-20 : Businesses in these positions have an average of slightly less than 5 words in the title.
source: Localo
Companies in the top positions have an average of just over 5 words in the title. Given that business names (in the real world) are generally shorter and have an average of 1 to 3 words, it can be assumed that the rest of the title consists of added keywords intended to help companies climb the rankings.
Stuffing keywords in a business name can positively impact a company’s rank, but it’s worth mentioning that Google bans it. Nevertheless, we can see that Google has not yet been able to properly deal with this issue, and because of it, businesses still use this way to increase their position.
Another thing we have analyzed is the average number of words in responses to reviews left by users in Google Business Profile.
Responding to online reviews is also an important ranking factor. It shows potential customers that a business cares about their satisfaction with the quality of its products and/or services. It also sends a clear signal to Google’s algorithm, positively impacting a business’s visibility in Google Maps.
The average total number of words in responses to Google reviews present in Google business profiles is as follows(first 10 reviews in GBP, sorted by relevance):
Position 1-3 : Responses from businesses in these positions have an average of more than 140 words.
Position 4-10 : Responses to reviews from these positions have an average of 100 - 120 words
Position 11-20 : Responses to business reviews from these positions are not much shorter - they have an average of more than 100 words.
source: Localo
Your Google Business Profile can benefit a lot if you regularly respond to reviews that customers write in your profile.
When it comes to negative reviews, this will show visitors of your business profile that you care about the quality of the customer experience, while in the case of positive ones, it will show your commitment to connecting with customers.
This will inform potential customers that you are indifferent to feedback(so, if anything happens, you are to be reasoned with) and also give a very clear positive signal to Google’s algorithm, which will help your Business Profile rank higher. Reviews are also visible in Google Maps.
Responding to reviews doesn’t have to take a lot of time. If you connect your Google Business Profile with Localo, the built-in Review Manager will generate appropriate responses using AI. You can customize them depending on the situation.
The images a business posts are one of the most critical elements of a Google Business Profile account. Therefore, we investigated how many images, on average, the top-ranked businesses have in their profile.
For each position, the data is as follows:
Position 1-3 : Businesses ranking in these positions have, on average, more than 250 images in their profile.
Position 4-10 : The difference between TOP3 businesses and less visible competitors is significant – companies that rank slightly lower have less than 200 images on average.
Position 11-20 : The number of images in the business profiles of companies in these positions is even lower - it remains at about 170 images.
source: Localo
Images in a Business Profile directly impact its visibility and position in Google. We recommend that you regularly add images to your business profile – they can show, for example, completed projects, elements of your offer, the interior of your premises or a view of the building from the outside to confirm your business address.
In Localo you will find an AI-based image manager that will assess the topical relevance of the photos you upload on your profile, compared to images added by other companies from your business category. It will also help you schedule their regular addition.
The last element we analyzed is the number of reviews left by customers. As we’ve already mentioned, this is one of the most important ranking factors that also attracts the attention of potential customers using Google Maps - the average customer review is displayed in the primary view of search results, alongside things like the name or address of the business.
For businesses in each range, the data regarding the number of reviews is as follows:
Position 1-3: Businesses ranking in these positions usually have more than 200 reviews in their profile.
Position 4-10: Here the difference is more significant - less visible businesses have less than 200 reviews on average.
Position 11-20: The number of reviews in the business profiles of companies in these positions is even lower - on average it’s about 150 reviews.
source: Localo
Once established and properly completed, a Google Business Profile should contain as many reviews from satisfied customers as possible. It’s even more important while running a business like restaurants, where people basically make their buying decision based on trust in the quality of experience of others – basically, that’s why the institution of culinary critic exist.
If you want to set up one for yourself, but have only encountered the topic for the first time, or are looking for a proper tutorial, read our blog post which will guide you step by step on how to easily add your business to Google.
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Sebastian Żarnowski
Co-founder & CEO
Sebastian Żarnowski
Co-founder & CEO
Sebastian Żarnowski
Co-founder & CEO
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