We can’t overstress the importance of being visible on Google Search and Maps. Without a visible presence, you are most certainly missing out on potential customers, which of course, could impact your pet spa’s bottom line.
Google is secretive about how ranking works, though they do give some helpful guidelines if you know where to look. And you’re in the right place to get more visibility on Google for pet spas. Read on for Surefire Local’s top tips for making sure your potential customers can find you on the world’s biggest search engine.
How your pet spa can appear on Google
Before we dig into our tips, let’s start with a quick overview of how your pet spa might be found on Google:
1) Google Search Results
We have all used Google’s traditional search results to find information on local businesses. Ideally, your pet spa should appear in the top five results on page one.
If you think about what happens when you do a search for a local company, it’s likely that you don’t look any further than page one of the search results. If you think of your potential customers doing the same search, it’s easy to see why page one of the search results is where you want to be.
2) Google Maps
Your pet spa should be visible in Google Maps when people search. If you search for pet spa + your local area, check if you are listed.
What you should see is a Google Map at the top of the listing with red tags showing each local pet spa business. Underneath this, you’ll get several listings that stand out at the top of the page, including a link on the side to their website and directions. These websites are in the Local Pack, which is what you should be aiming for – more details on that below.
Under the Local Pack results, you will then see standard search listings for pet spas in the area.
3) Image Search
It’s a good idea to optimize your images with relevant keywords as you’re providing help to people with sight difficulties. They can then have the image described to them by their screen reader.
The bonus for you is that your images will stand out more in Google Image Search.
4) Video Search (Google + YouTube videos)
Not only does Google have a video search tab, but they also own YouTube. If you produce quality videos that have an enticing heading and good keywords, you should gain visibility in Google Video Search. Post your videos on YouTube too, and you get an extra place to be found when people are searching for videos on your subject.
How is your visibility on Google determined?
One final thing before we get to our tips on how you can get more visibility on Google for pet spas. Google keeps its cards close to the vest on how it ranks websites in the search results. However, we do know of some areas that Google weighs more heavily than others. Bear in mind that Google will use a combination of the following ranking signals when looking at where to rank your website.
Focus on the below local search ranking signals and you should find you gain more visibility:
1) Recency
If you’re posting regular, fresh, high-quality content, then you’re doing the right thing as far as Google is concerned.
Set up a consistent posting schedule and stick to it and this will make a difference to your visibility.
It’s also important to keep encouraging your clients to leave reviews on Google, as Google does pay attention to the most recent user-generated content.
2) Relevance
Google is looking to constantly provide the best, most relevant answers it can for searchers. Quality, relevant content with the right keywords will get you attention.
3) Distance
When Google is showing results for local businesses, it does take into account where the searcher is. Google will show the nearest, most relevant business to the searcher.
While you can’t change where you are, you can add as much information on your services as you can to your website and Google Business Profile. Sometimes Google will show your pet spa over the closest competitor if you provide the specific service and have a higher star rating that the searcher is looking for.
4) Prominence
If you are part of a large chain of well-known pet spas, then your individual pet spa will have more chance of coming up first in the search results. Google does look at how prominent businesses are as part of its ranking.
However, don’t be disheartened if you only have one location. Try to get more involved in your local community. The more sites and platforms that link back to your website, the higher your prominence score will be. Google’s review score and review count also play a part in how prominent your business is to Google. Google will also take into account your current ranking, and all the information it can find on you in the search results. It really does make a difference if you have listed your business in directories and you consistently create quality content.
5) Availability
Voice search is another possibility for customers, with the use of Siri, Amazon Alexa, and other smart speakers. Your customers can ask Siri for “pet spa open now near me” or “pet spa open now in Montgomery County”. If you have your business hours listed on your Google Business Profile and you’re open when they search, this is another way that you can appear in the search results.
How to Improve Visibility on Google Search and Google Maps
Okay, we’ve set the foundation for understanding how your pet spa can be found across Google Search and Maps. Now let’s dig into those tips we promised you and get your pet spa some serious Google attention.
Improving Visibility on Google Maps
The biggest thing you can do to get more visibility on Google Maps is to sign up for Google Business Profile (GBP). It’s free to sign up and you can use your profile to provide information to the search engines and to your customers. You can encourage reviews, add your opening hours, provide offers and discounts, add images and videos, and more.
Better than that, you can get the chance to appear in the Local Pack on the search results, as we mentioned above. The only way to appear in the more prominent listings just under Google Maps is to claim and completely fill in your GBP.
A further benefit of fully completing and optimizing your profile is that you’ll be more visible in the main Google search results, too. Why? Because every part of your GBP is designed to ensure you provide all the information Google and your customers need.
Fill in your business information and your services section. Answer questions for your customers. Upload eye-catching images and videos. And pick your business categories carefully to make sure they’re relevant. Think about what your customers would want to see and what would be helpful for them.
Think about your keywords and phrases when you add your content, just like you would when writing a blog post. Put your main keyword in the first paragraph and then other relevant keywords throughout your text.
Finally, encourage your customers to leave you a review on your Google Business Profile. You can even invite them to review from your profile. Try to make this part of your routine, as Google pays more attention to newer reviews.
Keep updating your profile with posts, new images, and videos on a regular basis, and you should start to see a difference in your search results.
If you have a professional marketing platform, such as Surefire Local’s all-in-one marketing intelligence platform, you can manage your Google Business Profile right from your dashboard. You can add posts, talk to customers, encourage reviews, and reply to them without needing to log in anywhere else.
Improving Visibility on Google Search
Don’t worry that it’s going to be too technical to give your pet spa a boost in Google Search. Most of the things that make a difference are quite straightforward.
1) Start with your website
When was the last time you took a look at your own website? Does it still look up to date and modern, or could it use a refresh? While looks alone won’t do a great deal for your search engine rankings, they will impress your potential customers. While you’re doing a revamp for greater visibility, ensure you’re ready for all your new visitors with a great website that’s easy to navigate.
Your site structure and navigation also matter for indexing your website pages. Googlebot can crawl your site more fully if your navigation is easy to follow. In addition, add internal linking to guide the search bots through your site. Your bonus for taking the time to do this is that your customers will also follow your internal links and stay on your site longer.
Go through your target keywords and phrases and make sure they’re still what you should be targeting now. Then refresh and optimize your older content with internal links, and your current keywords and phrases.
One factor that Google takes into consideration is site speed. Your site needs to load quickly. Hop on over to https://developers.google.com/speed and test your site speed. You’ll also find suggestions from Google on what you can do to speed up the loading of your website.
Finally, optimize your site for mobile phones. Your website must be mobile-friendly, firstly because it’s another ranking factor, but also because more people than ever are using their phones to search for local businesses.
2) Directory listings
The more places you pop up on Google the better. Add your pet spa to all relevant business directories, including sites like Yelp, Angi, and Nextdoor.
Again, this is an opportunity to add quality, keyworded information about your business for both customers and the search engines.
Just like you would with your Google Business Profile, keep your directory listings up-to-date with correct information about your business, new reviews, new photos, and relevant content. You can also add special offers and promotions.
Take care when adding your business information to these directories. You must be consistent everywhere you list your business or even a small mistake can affect your visibility. If, for example, you type ‘St’ on one address and ‘Street’ on another, it will cause confusion when Google crawls your online presence.
However, there is a better way to do this. Instead of filling in each listing by hand, you can use Surefire Local’s all-in-one marketing platform to do that for you. Our software will update over 80 directories for you, while you only need to type in your information once. Not only does that save you time, but it also reduces the possibility of errors.
3) Optimize your social media profiles
It’s worth taking the time to complete every part of your social media profiles. Again, your social profiles can be picked up by Google and you want all your important information available to potential customers. These platforms have high domain authority which means that your social media pages will get significant visibility in search results.
Remember your keywords and complete your business description, address, phone number, and website URL.
Don’t neglect your social media presence. Keep posting relevant, well-keyworded content for greater visibility on your social platforms, and on Google.
4) Run Google Ads
You can run targeted ad campaigns and still see improvements in visibility and leads without investing a significant chunk of money. Take the time to learn what you’re doing and experiment with keywords, headlines, and copy. Then keep testing and comparing ads to see which ones convert better.
This is a great way to get better visibility quickly on Google. You might even find yourself at the top of page one.
Mastering Google Ads is a full-time job, trust us, but if you’re curious to go at it alone, we have a Google Ads Masterclass to guide you as you craft your strategy.
5) Create fresh, relevant, quality content
We know we’ve emphasized this a lot, but it’s so important that we don’t think we can over-emphasize it.
Content really is king. Ideally, set up a content schedule that allows you to post at least once a week. Do your best to keep to it. You’ll get better results if you plan your content in advance – no more staring at a blank page wondering what to write next.
Think about the best content to create to suit your audience and where they are in your sales funnel.
Use engaging, attention-getting headlines for your blog posts, and ensure you put your main keyword or phrase in your H1 heading. Put your main keyword in your first paragraph, add relevant keywords throughout your copy, and add your main keyword in your meta description. Add internal linking to your blog posts.
Obviously, the more pages and blog posts you create, the more chances you have to appear in the search results.
As we’ve mentioned before, your main focus should be quality rather than quantity. Ensure you answer your customers’ questions and provide the content you know they’ll be interested in. You don’t have to stick to just writing content. You could create videos too, and break up your written content with optimized images, infographics, and other forms of content.
It’s also a good idea to re-optimize your old content over time. Make sure your posts are still current and add new keywords and internal links.
6) Optimize your visual content
It’s just as important to optimize your videos and images. Add catchy titles with your keyword included. Add alt text, title text, and captions.
Check your file sizes too. Smaller file sizes will load quicker.
Attend a Surefire Local Marketing Platform demo
With the right marketing platform, it doesn’t have to be hard to increase your visibility on Google. In fact, you can manage every part of your marketing in one place on our all-in-one platform.
Update over 80 business directories quickly and easily, manage your social media and your content, and request reviews and reply to them right from your dashboard. You can also manage your email marketing and your Google Business Profile.
You can run your marketing yourself or you can work with one of our experienced Digital Marketing Strategists, who will become a part of your team.
However you want to manage your marketing, with Surefire Local, it’s all about keeping you in control.
Why not book a demo today and see how our platform can save you time, make your marketing more efficient, and give you that vital boost in Google’s search results?
