Optimising Google Business Profiles for attractions and sightseeing

A strong online presence is imperative for all businesses. Google Business Profiles – formerly known as Google My Business – are a powerful tool to achieve this, enabling businesses to manage their online presence and connect with potential customers. Optimising Google Business Profiles is crucial for attractions and sightseeing ventures operating in diverse global locations – but optimisation comes with its own set of challenges. In this guide, we provide practical tips to overcome these challenges and provide maximum benefits.

Why are Google Business Profiles important?

Optimising GBP listings offers key advantages for attractions and sightseeing businesses:

• Enhanced visibility: Fine-tuned listings significantly increase your visibility on Google Search. This enhancement makes it easier for potential visitors to discover and engage with your business.
• Improved local search rankings: Google relies on GBP data to determine local search rankings. An optimised listing with accurate and relevant information can significantly improve your business’s position in local search results, driving more traffic.
• Mobile and map searches: Tourists often conduct on-the-go searches for nearby attractions or activities on their mobiles. An optimised GBP listing ensures that your business appears on Google Maps, making it easily accessible and discoverable for tourists and locals using smartphones.
• Trust and credibility: A well-optimised GBP displays essential information about your business, such as operating hours, reviews, and photos. This instils trust and credibility in potential visitors.
• Customer engagement: Engaging with customers through GBP allows you to respond to reviews, answer queries, and provide updates. This creates a sense of community and responsiveness, attracting more customers and improving overall customer satisfaction.
• Insights and analytics: GBP provides valuable insights and analytics that help you understand customer behaviour and preferences. This data can be used to refine your marketing strategies and enhance the visitor experience.
• Promotion and special offers: GBP enables businesses to promote special offers, events, promotions, and updates, attracting more visitors and encouraging repeat visits. Timely updates about events or discounts can drive traffic during specific periods or seasons.

Google Business Profiles: Optimisation challenges for global attractions

Managing multiple Google Business Profile listings for various locations around the world can present challenges. These include account access issues, bureaucratic hurdles, retrieving accounts, and the inherent complexity of managing multiple locations and keeping information up to date.

Account access and ownership:

• Loss of account access: Managing multiple GBP listings can lead to issues with account access. If access credentials are lost, forgotten, or the person responsible leaves the company without transferring ownership, it can be challenging to regain control over the account.

Bureaucratic hurdles with Google:

• Verification process: Google requires each location to be verified to ensure legitimacy of the business. The verification process can sometimes be cumbersome, especially when dealing with multiple locations. Delays in verification can hinder your ability to manage and update listings effectively.
• Adherence to Google policies: Ensuring compliance with Google’s policies for each listing across different regions and languages can be a complex task. The policies may vary based on geographical locations, and navigating these nuances requires effort and understanding. Local In-Market Experts can help.

Account retrieval and ownership transfer:

• Ownership transfer challenges: Transferring ownership of a GBP listing from one person to another can be challenging, especially if the original owner is unavailable or unresponsive. This is crucial for continuity in managing the listing and ensuring accurate information.

Difficulty in maintaining consistency:

• Consistency in information: Keeping all GBP listings consistent in terms of information (such as business hours, services, contact details, etc) across multiple locations can be difficult. Changes in operating hours, services offered, or contact information need to be promptly updated across all listings to avoid confusion and potential customer dissatisfaction.
• Seasonal and temporary changes: Adapting GBP profiles to seasonal changes, holidays, or temporary closures for each location requires vigilant monitoring and timely updates.

Localised relevance and optimisation:

• Localised SEO and optimisation: Optimising GBP listings for local search is essential, and it’s challenging to tailor each listing specifically for its specific local market. This includes using local keywords, responding to localised reviews, and ensuring relevant business information for the locale. Each location may have specific offerings, promotions, or events tailored to the local market, as well as their own linguistic and cultural nuances.

Review management and engagement:

• Handling multilingual reviews: Managing and responding to reviews in various languages can be a significant challenge. Maintaining a prompt and appropriate response to reviews in different languages is important for maintaining a positive online reputation.

Co-ordination and communication:

• Effective communication: Co-ordinating updates, changes, and strategies across different teams or individuals responsible for each GBP listing can be difficult. Effective communication channels and processes need to be in place to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Adherence to regional regulations and laws:

• Compliance with local regulations: Different regions may have specific laws or regulations related to online business listings, privacy, or advertising. Adhering to these regulations while managing GBP listings for multiple locations requires a good understanding of local legal requirements. Again, Local In-Market Experts can help.

How to optimise Google Business Profiles for attractions and sightseeing businesses

To overcome these challenges and make the most of your Google Business Profile, follow these steps:

• Strategic category selection: Selecting the right category from the outset is essential for optimising your Google Business Profile. This choice significantly impacts your profile’s visibility in discovery searches. Category-specific features become available, allowing businesses to highlight unique offerings, such as menus for restaurants or star ratings for hotels. This empowers consumers to make informed choices and distinguishes your business from competitors.
• Accurate and consistent information: Consistency in providing details like business name, address, phone number, website, and operating hours across all platforms are crucial. Maintaining this consistency promotes trust and positively influences search rankings.
• Localised keywords and localised SEO: Integrate location-specific keywords into your business description, services, and posts to enhance local search visibility. However, it’s important to strike a balance between keyword usage and maintaining coherent, well-constructed content. Develop specific SEO strategies for each location to optimise GBP listings for local search. This includes creating region-specific content and using localised SEO techniques.
• Document access and ownership procedures: Implement clear and well-documented procedures for account access and ownership transfer. Make sure multiple authorised individuals have access and that ownership transfer processes are documented and easily executable.
• Standardised data collection and update procedures: Implement standardised data collection and update procedures to ensure consistency in the information provided for each GBP listing. Regularly review and update these procedures to adapt to changes and improvements.
• Regular audits and quality checks: Conduct regular audits of GBP listings to check for accuracy, consistency, and compliance with Google’s policies. Address any discrepancies promptly and make necessary updates.
• Enhanced multimedia visibility: Display high-quality images and videos that effectively portray your attractions or sightseeing experiences. Employ descriptive file names and captions to improve visibility and engagement with potential customers.
• Leveraging customer reviews: Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews and promptly and professionally respond to all reviews. Reviews serve as social proof, influence customer choices, and contribute to SEO, especially in local search results. Responsiveness to reviews reflects a commitment to customer satisfaction and willingness to improve.
• Active participation in Q&A: Actively engage in the Q&A section, providing helpful and accurate information to potential visitors and addressing queries promptly. This demonstrates commitment to customer service and enhances business credibility.
• Monitoring and strategy adjustment: Regularly review GBP insights to understand user behaviour and adjust optimisation strategies accordingly. Staying informed about performance helps refine strategies for maximum effectiveness.

For setting up a multi-location Google Business Profile:

• Create a business location group: Establish a business group to manage multiple locations efficiently, using Google’s bulk-upload option for streamlining the input of business information.
• Comprehensive information for each location: Provide comprehensive and accurate information for each location, optimising relevance to potential customers and enhancing your position in search engine results.
• Efficient multilocation access management: Navigate the business location groups effectively by using a shared email address for streamlined access management, ensuring multiple stakeholders can make necessary updates and changes.
• Consistent posting strategy: Maintain a consistent posting schedule to keep customers informed and engaged, using various post types to showcase offers, updates, events, and products. Regular and relevant posts contribute to higher visibility on Google.

(Note: For troubleshooting tips related to Google Business Profiles, Search Engine Journal has produced this handy guide.)

In conclusion

Optimising Google Business Profile listings is critical for attractions and sightseeing businesses with multiple global locations. It significantly improves online visibility, builds trust, engages potential visitors, and helps to drive more footfall to destinations worldwide.

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To find out how Oban can help your business achieve international growth using our unique LIME network, please get in touch.

Oban International is the digital marketing agency specialising in international expansion.
Our LIME (Local In-Market Expert) Network provides up to date cultural input and insights from over 80 markets around the world, helping clients realise the best marketing opportunities and avoid the costliest mistakes.