Google Business Profile 101 for your Martial Arts School
Before any clients go to your website or sign up for martial arts classes, the first thing they’ll probably see is your Google Business Profile. This is likely their first and most important impression of your business. It’s crucial – no, not crucial – necessary to build out your GBP the best you can for your martial arts school’s success. Take a look at how it affects your business and how to optimize it.
How your Google Business Profile Helps your School
Improves your Local SEO
Did you know that the contents of your Google Business Profile can impact your Local SEO? This includes where your website ranks on Google Search as well as how high your school is listed on Google Maps. There are a number of profile details beyond basic business information that can help your school appear higher (or at the top!) of these search results.
When someone in your area looks up “martial arts school near me”, “(Insert City) martial arts”, etc., Google is trying to find the most useful information and set of businesses to pull up. This is ultimately determined by a combination of distance, relevance, and prominence. Having accurate location information, including relevant keywords, and maintaining a great reviews rating can help shoot your Google Business Profile to the top of the ranks! This Local SEO impact is the greatest way your Google Business Profile can uplift your martial arts school.
Builds Credibility and Show Reliability
Along with Local SEO benefits, you can build valuable credibility from having a thorough Google Business Profile. If a customer sees just one photo, no description, and inaccurate information, what will they think of your school? Probably not much! They will move on to find a martial arts school that appears more buttoned up and forget all about your business.
That’s why building a strong and enticing Google Business Profile is so important. It’s an easy way to build customer trust and show your reliability. From your photos to customer engagement, each detail can tip the scale between a client diving deeper into your school or moving on in their search.
Provides Customer Engagement
Another great benefit of creating your Google Business Profile is the opportunity to build customer engagement. You should regularly encourage students to leave reviews, and reply to them on your Google Business Profile as well. This not only sends positive signals to people who are researching schools, but it can also help your ranking on search. Plus, you’ll receive feedback and insights that ultimately help your business thrive, grow and improve.
Additionally, you can engage with current customers and potential leads through your Google Business Profile Q&A section. This is a great way to preemptively answer questions prospects might have, but also allows them to contact you with anything else they are wondering. They can leave a question or call your school directly from your Google Business Profile to let you know how they are feeling about your business or get that last push they need to visit.
It’s also important to note: the more you engage with customers, the greater your credibility as a hands-on and community-based business grows in the eyes of potential customers.
Displays Your Business on Google Maps
A common way for someone to verify a business’s location is by checking Google Maps. By creating a Google Business Profile and providing your accurate address, you’ll appear on Google Maps for customers to see. If you’re a newer school, the photos on Satellite or Street View may not be up-to-date (but you can report outdated imagery here!), but your proper location will still appear on the aerial view. This is also a prime reason why it’s crucial to upload your own photo of the exterior of your business on your Google Business Profile.
How to Optimize your Google Business Profile
Submitting High-Quality Photos and Videos
As mentioned above, you can greatly improve your Google Business Profile with photos and videos. For starters, you should absolutely submit a photo of the outside of your business to show customers your location. From there on out, let your creativity run wild.
You can add a variety of photos and videos to show customers what your business is all about. Consider including photos/videos of both your empty facility and ‘action shots’ of classes taking place. Hosted a unique seminar event? Post a photo from it. One of your students dominated at an event? Post a podium photo or video on the mat. Held a summer camp? You get the rest. By adding these photos and videos, customers will see what your martial arts school has to offer and if it is a fit for them.
A few tips:
- By “high quality” we don’t mean you need an expensive camera and to hire someone to take photos. You can, but your phone can get the job done just as well!
- An easy way to show the inside of your business is to take a quick walkthrough video and post it on your Google Business Profile. It’ll make your business feel extra personable and gain trust with potential customers.
- If you intend to post photos that include students’ faces, it’s always a good idea to have them/their parents sign a photo release giving you permission. Luckily, Kicksite makes it super easy to create and share a digital Photo Release Form through our Agreements tool!
Replying to Reviews
When someone leaves a review, good or bad, it’s important to acknowledge it. When someone leaves a positive review for your school, thank them and let them know you appreciate them training with you. If there is a negative review, make sure to figure out the context, reach out, and work to find a solution. It’s best practice to acknowledge and apologize for their frustration, and suggest connecting in-person or over the phone to resolve their issues.
Very rarely, you’ll receive a spam review or a competitor trying to lower your ranking. If this unfortunately happens to you, flag the review and submit it to Google. Google will review and remove it if it meets the right removal criteria.
Creating an engaging, keyword-driven description
As is the case with just about anything related to Google search results, SEO is an important piece of your Google Business Profile, and keywords play a significant role in that search engine optimization. Your Google Business Profile’s description is an ideal spot for strategically placing keywords, specifically in the first two sentences. Make sure to tell customers what type of martial arts school you are, where your school is located, and what classes you offer.
For example, if you are a Kansas City martial arts school offering MMA and Jiu-Jitsu you could use this as a baseline for your first two sentences: “(Insert School Name) is a Kansas City, MO martial arts school. We offer MMA and Jiu-Jitsu classes to students of all ages.”
Now, you’ll of course want to put your unique spin on it with your own highlights and differentiators, but take advantage of this easy way to boost SEO with keyword usage.
Keeping Everything Current
You should be scheduling out regular, frequent reviews of your Google Business Profile to identify pieces of information that need to be updated or changed for accuracy. If you have a change in business hours (see our note about holidays below!), location, name, etc., you’ll want to be sure it’s correct to stay honest with your customers. How unfortunate would it be if someone decided to visit for a walk-in and you were closed, despite your Google Business Profile saying you were open?
It is important to note, if you change certain key business information like your name and address, Google may require you to reverify your account. Be ready to do so in order to have full access to your account as soon as possible.
Review your Categories and Attributes
Categories and Attributes are a vital and often overlooked part of a Google Business Profile’s information. Categories are just what they sound like – you are able to choose from a massive list of business categories to classify what kind of business you run. BUT, too many businesses only select one! ‘Martial arts school’ is a no brainer for Kicksite customers, but there are so many more that could apply to you and your school:
- Martial arts club
- Self defense school
- Sports school
- Boxing ring
- Weightlifting area
…and many others! Be sure to fully scour the available Categories and select all that apply. Here’s a great resource to browse and search the current list of available Categories.
Meanwhile, Attributes allow you to select unique characteristics that apply to your business. This includes:
- Accessibility attributes like wheelchair parking
- Crowd attributes like being family-friendly and kid-friendly
- Ownership attributes like being minority-owned or woman-owned
…and a whole lot more. Like Categories, be sure to take time to peruse the full list of available Attributes and select the ones that are relevant to your school. These small details may be what seals the deal for future students!
Other Tips for your Google Business Profile
Always Update Hours for Holidays
Have you ever looked at a business to see if it was open for the holidays and saw “Depends on Holiday Hours” or “_____ might affect these hours“, providing no clear answer? Annoying, right? Make sure you don’t do that to your clients. Update your holiday hours (Google will send you a reminder email) so customers or potential visitors know for a matter of fact if you are open and what your hours are on those special days.
Show How you Stand Out
Every part of your Google Business Profile should show what makes your martial arts school special! If you are a top competition team, include it in your description. Have a state-of-the-art facility with tons of special features? Post photos and videos of every part of your gym space.
People want to know what makes your school different from everyone else’s. Don’t make them have to dive deep to find out what it is. Show it off proudly on the front screen so you can catch the eyes of all those looking to roll onto the mat!
Consistently Post
One of the features many businesses do not take advantage of is posting on your Google Business Profile. If you go to the “Add Update” section, you can post updates, offers, or events. Not only does it provide another way for clients to become intrigued, it is also another avenue to boost your SEO. So, if you have anything fun, exciting, or different happening at your martial arts school, post about it and show off who you are!