How to List on Google Business Profile in Malaysia 2023

If you’re running a local store, chances are you’re looking for businesses in your local area. Being able to show your business in front of your audience at the right time is crucial for your business.

I mean, why would you not show yourself whenever people are already ready to buy from you?

What is Local SEO

Local SEO is the practice of search engine optimization for local search results.

On Google, your business listing will rank higher in the local pack/map pack, meaning it will show up more often for more relevant searches.

Remember when you travelled the world looking for what you needed? It might have been [men’s shoes] or [childcare centre] or [co-working space].

It may also be supplemented with organic search results for businesses and services in your area.

Searches such as ‘Mamak that are currently open’ may show local results as the default view above all organic content. Google confirmed that you have an urgent local need.

The information available in local search results (company name, address, phone number, website, photos and videos, customer reviews and star ratings, etc.) needs more information than a simple blue link.

How can I be on Local SEO?

Follow these steps to create and set up your Google Business Profile:

Sign in to a Google Account
Log in to Google Business Profile
Enter the name of your business
Choose a primary business category
Add your business address
Specify service areas (Only for Service Area Businesses)
Add your phone number and website
Complete your listing
Verify your listing

1. Sign in to a Google account

You must be signed in to your Google account to manage or create a Google Business Profile. This is just an email.

If you don’t have one, create a Gmail account for free.

2. Login in to Google Business Profile

After signing in to your Google account, proceed to create a Google Business Profile.

Then click the Manage Now button in the upper right (see below).

This will initiate the next step in creating a new Google Business Profile.

3. Enter the name of your business

Then enter your company name.

Here’s (roughly) what you should see.

Tip

This field has an autocomplete feature that helps determine if an entry already exists. If the company name is pre-populated, it means you already have a listing (or a company with the same name). Instead of creating duplicates, you should request entries that already exist.

If you go ahead, all you have to do is verify the company name.

Now is a good time to consider NAP information (name, address, phone number) that influences local rankings.

Tip

To increase your chances of ranking in Google Business Profile listings, you need to make sure your NAP information is consistent. This can be accomplished by storing data in this spreadsheet so that it can be easily copied and pasted when creating local citations.

4. Choose a primary business category

One of the biggest ranking factors is the Google Business Profile category. This has a big impact on which searches trigger your business’ visibility on Google Search.

Select Yes if customers can visit your physical address. Dial # if there is no physical location for the customer to visit. Then enter your company address.

Tip

These categories are worth taking the time to define, as they affect the keywords for which your Google Business Profile appears. This includes researching categories of competitors and conducting audits of Google Business Profile.

These categories should accurately reflect your business and its services and may change at any time to reflect seasonal or other changes.

Note: You can change your primary and secondary categories at any time in your Google Business Profile Manager dashboard.

5. Add your business address

If you have a physical location that customers can visit, select the appropriate option

Select Yes if customers can visit your physical address.

Select No if there is no physical location for the customer to visit. Then enter your company address.

If you selected No for the above option, this is commonly referred to as a Service Area Business (also known as SAB), meaning a business that provides goods or services to customers.

Selecting this option hides the address from searches. Instead, the service areas are displayed in a list based on the location you selected as the service area.

All companies in the service sector have the right to designate a service sector.

6. Specify service areas (only for service area businesses)

Providing a service area increases relevance. Please provide as much detail as possible here to create a fully optimized Google Business Profile listing.

Adding service territories can affect where entries are displayed, and you can list up to 20. However, in areas more than 15-20 miles from the verified address, proximity works and offers little benefit as a ranking factor.

Tip

To get the most out of your service territory, align it with your business goals. Focus on the wider service area and list additional cities and postal codes within the target service area.

To get as much detail as possible. These fields are either counties, specific cities within counties, or specific zip codes.

7. Add your phone number and website

A phone number or website is required for Google to verify.

If your business does not have a website, we highly recommend creating a local SEO landing page as part of your search engine optimization strategy.

We at Hypercharge.co do provide the full service of helping your business list on Google and with a website!

Tip

Next, you'll be asked to verify your listing. However, to maximize your chances of your listing being verified, follow the steps in the next section to add your business information and complete your listing.

Google Maps Ranking (or Local SEO) and Online Reputation is an integral part of business strategy for every brick-and-mortar business. Local SEO will help your audience find you when they search online if you have a storefront or business area. We hope you found this article helpful in your quest to gain recognition and credibility for your brand online.

If your business is serving local and you don’t have the skillset and expertise to optimise for this, we’re more than happy to help you out!

8. Complete your listing

This is the home stretch (almost done). On average, businesses that have completed Google Business Profile receive more visibility and customer engagement.

This includes adding some additional business information.

Add your services

If you skipped verification, you’ll be prompted to add your services.

Depending on the business category you selected earlier, you’ll see a list of relevant services.

This is a great opportunity to add keywords and showcase your services on your Google Business Profile, which will allow customers to view this information in Google Search.

Note: Services can be added or updated in the Services section of the Google Business Profile Manager Dashboard.

Add your business hours

Add Hours to let customers know when your store is open.

Tip

Business hours can be added or updated in the Info section within the Google Business Profile Manager dashboard.

Enable messaging

Next, you’ll be able to enable messaging.

This allows customers to send messages and manage their inboxes directly from their Google Business Profile Manager dashboard.

Tip

The messaging feature can be enabled or disabled in the Messaging section of the Google Business Profile Manager dashboard.

Add a business description

Your business description is unlikely to contribute to rankings, but it can help complete your profile.

Adding keywords here won’t significantly boost your rankings. Instead, focus on writing a quality Google Business Profile description. This section should be used to make your business unique and provide additional context as to why they should choose you.

Tip

You can add or update your business description in the notification area of your Google Business Profile Manager dashboard.

Add a business logo

Adding your logo to Google Business Profile also helps complete your profile.

You can add a logo from the Photos tab.

Tip

The size of the Google Business Profile logo must be 720x720 pixels and be uploaded as a JPG or PNG image. Also, don't include excessive editing.

The logo appears in Google search listings. Just like that.

It’s important to upload a high-quality photo that represents your brand.

Tip

Uploading photos can improve your local ranking. There are also some guidelines for uploading photos to Google Business Profile for search engine optimization.

Add a cover photo

A cover photo is another type of photo upload that helps complete your profile and can also be added from the Photos tab.

Tip

The recommended size for your Google Business Profile cover photo is 1024 x 575 pixels with an aspect ratio of 16:9. Once you've done this, you're just one step away from verifying your listing.

Add an opening date

Google has a field specifically for an opening date.

This setting helps create uniqueness, make your business unique in multiple locations, and help your company appear in Google’s Knowledge Graph.

Filling in this field will allow the “Years in Business” snippet to be displayed in local search (see below). This allows you to build trust with your prospective customers.

Add attributes

Although they don’t contribute to your final score, adding business attributes to your profile is important.

This gives users more information about the business and is very beneficial for restaurants and other businesses (like hotels). Adding business attributes can also add Search Engine Results Page (SERP) functionality to your business.

Once your Google Business Profile is 100% complete, Google will start verifying your business.

9. Verify your listing

Verified Google Business Profile appear in Google Search.

The most common Google Business Profile verification method is a postcard.

Simply enter your company address. With this method, you’ll receive a postcard from Google at your designated address within approximately five business days.

You can also verify Google Business Profile by phone or email, but it’s generally not available for new listings to prevent spam and fake profiles.

Tip

How to track rankings

Verified Google Business Profile appear in Google Search.

Now that you’ve set up your Google Business Profile and it’s appearing in Google Search, it’s time to track its performance.

This means tracking keyword rankings within the local pack.

One of the best tools for doing this is Local Viking’s GeoGrid Tracker. This visualizes the ranking for a given service area.

Taking the next steps…

Once you’ve collected your data, start optimizing your Google Business Profile listing.

This includes:

Regular addition of photos and videos. (This can actually let you see 35% more clicks than your competitors!)
Use the Google Business Profile Q&A feature
Add products and services for local legitimacy
Create a Google Business Profile post to share updates
Generate a Google Business Profile URL to reach out to customers and get reviews

Phew.. That’s a lot of work!

However, creating and setting up a Google Business Profile is just the beginning of a local SEO strategy, but this step-by-step guide to Google Business Profile is designed to help you make sure you’re on the right track. increase.

If you think that’s too much of work for a solo business owner like you to handle, always consider outsourcing this to us!