Google recently rolled out a new Profile Strength label on Google Business Profiles (GBP). To understand what this means for your account and local digital marketing, I sat down with our Local SEO Team Lead James Cant to get the scoop.
For context, this is what it looks like:
Let’s talk about this new rollout. What exactly is the Profile Strength label on Google?
James: This new widget that appears on your Google Business Profile is essentially a reskinned version of the old profile completeness checker. The Profile Strength label tells you how complete your profile is by Google’s standards. The old version was filled with bugs and there was no way a profile could ever reach 100%. Since this rollout, we assume that the bugs are resolved, but it’s too new to test and know for certain.
So this isn’t anything brand new?
James: No, but as I said, the old version had a lot of bugs.
So since this is now rolled out worldwide, what can you tell me about the new Profile Strength label?
James: First, it’s important to understand what actually affects your rankings factors. Google doesn’t necessarily care about your rankings and overall presence on its platform. What they care about is data accuracy and whether or not you pay them for ads. With that being said, what we’ve seen is that the Profile Strength label tells you how complete your business profile is not only through the inclusion and accuracy of your business information but by the adoption of products and tools Google wants you to use. For example, we are seeing profiles marked as “incomplete” for things such as Google Ads and Google Messaging not being set up. And that’s where it gets tricky and you have to be realistic with how much emphasis you put on your business profile reaching 100% on the Profile Strength label. Some of those products and features on Google may not be relevant to a company’s digital marketing strategy.
So getting to 100% is impossible?
James: No, I don’t think it’s impossible. But if you blindly try to get 100% Profile Strength, it would require you to run ads as well as enable Google Messaging; both of which you might not want. It’s also important to note that reaching 100% on the Profile Strength widget is not a ranking factor. Both the previous version of the profile completeness checker and the new Profile Strength widget are not ranking factors. If it was, that would require PPC and PPC is not a ranking factor for your organic rankings.
It’s also important to note that reaching 100% on the Profile Strength widget is not a ranking factor.
Great point. As companies are working on their GBP (which some of us may always refer to as its old namesake, Google My Business), is there anything they should look out for?
James: Following the Profile Strength checklist might have you fill out stuff that is notoriously buggy and has no impact on ranks. An example of this is filling out the Opening Date section. This has been known to randomly suspend listings and isn’t something that feeds into user engagement enough to risk suspensions. Also, if you mark your listing as temporarily closed with an opening date, you risk your profile and reviews becoming invisible. This is another bug. The opening date isn’t a ranking factor so following the Profile Strength list is only taking on unnecessary risk.
Seems like there is still a lot going on behind the scenes. Anything else that businesses need to know about this new Profile Strength label and their Google Business Profile?
James: The details in your Google Business Profile matter, so you shouldn’t ignore it, and the Profile Strength label helps make sure you’re not missing key information in your profile. One last thing to be aware of is that there still seems to be glitches with the new rollout. For example, what we’ve seen at Hennessey Digital is that some accounts are being told to complete their profiles by adding a description when the description has already been completed. So just be aware of the rollout of this new widget, but don’t be too concerned with it. Understand what actually factors into your rankings and don’t worry too much about the Profile Strength label.
Need help with your SEO or Local Search? Our team at Hennessey Digital works hard to stay on top of Google’s ever-changing algorithms and updates and teach our clients how to be successful along the way!