When it comes to maximizing the effectiveness of your Google Business Profile, one of the most crucial settings to get right is your primary category. This selection directly impacts how Google understands your business and determines where and when your profile appears in search results.
Understanding Google Business Profile Categories
Google Business Profile allows businesses to set a primary category along with several secondary categories. These categories help define what your business does, making it easier for potential customers to find you. However, the primary category holds the most weight in Google’s ranking algorithm, meaning it’s critical to select the most accurate category for your business.
Why Your Primary Category Matters
Your primary category acts as the core identifier of your business. If it’s not set correctly, you may miss out on visibility for the most relevant searches. For example, let’s consider a real-life scenario:
A client of mine offers tick control services, which falls under the broader category of pest control. However, they also provide lawn care services. Initially, they had their primary category set as landscaping, with pest control as a secondary category. This setup was problematic because 80% of their work focused on tick control, while only 20% involved landscaping. By choosing landscaping as their primary category, they were essentially signaling to Google that their main focus was landscaping rather than pest control. This likely hurt their visibility for customers searching specifically for pest control services.
Once they adjusted their primary category to pest control and kept landscaping as a secondary category, their visibility in local search results improved significantly. This simple change allowed Google to better understand their business focus, leading to better rankings and more relevant customer inquiries.
How to Choose the Right Primary Category
When selecting your primary category, consider the following:
- What is your main service? – Identify the service that generates the majority of your revenue and represents your core business.
- How do customers search for your service? – Think about the keywords and phrases potential clients might use when looking for your business.
- Check competitor profiles – Look at successful competitors in your industry and see what categories they use.
- Use secondary categories wisely – If your business offers multiple services, use secondary categories to provide a broader picture.
Updating Your Google Business Profile Category
Making changes to your business category is a simple process:
- Log in to your Google Business Profile.
- Click on “Edit Profile”.
- Under “Business Category”, update your primary category to the one that best represents your core service.
- Add secondary categories if needed.
- Save the changes and monitor your search visibility over the following weeks.
The Impact of Getting It Right
Selecting the right primary category can lead to:
- Higher search rankings in local searches.
- More qualified leads finding your business.
- Improved relevance in Google’s algorithm.
- Better customer engagement from users who are specifically looking for your service.
By taking the time to optimize your Google Business Profile category settings, you ensure that your business is being represented accurately, leading to better local SEO and more potential customers finding you.
