GBP Business Info & Consistency

This KB Entry has been superseded by the SEO for Salons Course

The very first thing that will be done with any GBP is to verify that the basic business information is correct. What is also important is that it is consistent across the entire business brand. There’s an acronym, NAP which stands for Name, Address & Phone Number, but hours of operation are also important.

Business Name

It is tempting to use the name field of the GBP listings to sneak in additional keywords. For example, Simone Thomas: the business name registered with Companies House is “Simone Thomas Salon”, and the name on the signage of the building is simply “Simone Thomas”. However, the GBP name is currently listed as “Simone Thomas | Hairdressers & Trichologists in Bournemouth”
This name will undoubtedly help them rank for those keywords but it is against the Google guidelines for GBPs. Be aware that if these kinds of names are used, there is always a chance that Google will suspend the profile which could result in a catastrophic loss of traffic & business.

Business Address

Our clients all have bricks and mortar businesses with a physical street address which makes this very simple. There should be no confusion as to what the address is. The pin that appears in the Google Map will point directly to the exact location of the salon. If it does not, then check that the address has been entered correctly.

Phone Number 

Up to 3 phone numbers can be added to the GBP but only one will be shown on the listing. On mobile devices anyone who has found the profile through a local search will find that they can simply click a button to call directly so make sure that this phone number goes directly to the business location and not a head office etc.

Hours of Operation

The GBP allows you to list the hours that the premises is open for each day of the week during ‘normal’ business times. However, it also allows many hours special hours to be listed. First there is a section marked ‘special hours’ and clicking on it will reveal any up-coming national holidays:

Notice that you can add your own with the “Add a date” link at the bottom. In addition, there are some other preset hours that can be added but these are not likely to apply to our salon clients:

Consistency

The business Name, Address, Phone Number and standard Hours of operation should be consistent across all online assets. These are:

• Google Business Profile
• Website
• Social Media Profiles
• Review websites
• Citations (online business listings)

If you make any changes to these things on the GBP, make sure you update all other assets at the same time.