There are lots of reasons why having a Google Business Profile (GBP) is important for your school. So many, in fact, that we wrote an entire article on why you need one!
But just having a profile isn’t enough to reap the benefits of this great marketing tool for schools. You need to take time to maximise GBP’s great features – in other words, to optimise your profile – if you’re going to get the best results from it.
A fully optimised profile will make you more visible online and help you stand out to candidates searching for teaching roles in your area.
But first, what exactly is a Google Business Profile?
What’s a Google Business Profile?
A Google Business Profile (formerly ‘Google My Business’) is a free business listing that appears in Google searches. It’s where you view important information about a business, like their address and operating hours, but also customer reviews, website links and directions on how to get there.
If you use Google as your search engine, you’ll see GBPs appearing in your search results any time you search for a business. Here’s what they look like:
Most schools will already have a GBP because Google generates them automatically based on the information it can find online. This means they have no control over the information that’s displayed to the public, resulting in a very basic, negative and/or incorrect representation of the school.
To take control of the information displayed on your profile and take advantage of all the benefits that come with it, you need to own and optimise your profile.
How to optimise your school Google Business profile
Optimising your GBP involves updating your profile to provide as much useful information and marketing material as possible about your school. This gives candidates a clear picture of who you are as an organisation and will help attract more teachers to your job vacancies.
Cover all the points below and you’ll have a Google Business Profile that improves your school’s visibility, online reputation and generates more online.
1. Claim your school profile
Your first step towards optimising your profile is to claim it (if that hasn’t been done already). To check if your school already has a Google Business Profile, go to https://www.google.com/business/ and type your school’s name into the search box. If your school already has a profile, it will appear as a clickable option in the dropdown menu.
Select your school and you’ll be taken to a page that either allows you to claim the listing, or if someone already owns the listing, you can ask to ‘request access’.
To manage any Google Business Profile, you need a Gmail email address. Your first step is to find out if your school already has one and if it’s already being used to manage your GBP (in which case, this will be the email your ‘requesting access’ from). Otherwise, your next step will be to create a new Gmail address for your school. Something simple like yourschoolname@gmail.com would be ideal.
2. Verify your school profile
Before you can manage a Google profile, you also need to verify ownership of your school’s page. You can do this by going to the GBP listing and clicking the ‘Own this business?’ button:
Then, follow the instructions from Google on how to verify your account. This involves getting a verification code through to your school’s official phone number or email.
If your profile hasn’t been verified yet, this can take around one week to go through. Once you have verified your ownership, you can start managing and optimising your profile. And that all begins with the next step…
3. Complete your profile
An incomplete Google Business Profile is a wasted opportunity to promote your school to candidates as an excellent place to work. The more information you add, the more likely Google will boost your visibility in search results as it sees your profile as more valuable to users (compared to schools with an incomplete profile).
Once your page is verified, you can go to this page and click the ‘manage now’ button. This will then present you with the following options:
Select one of the above profile options and fill out all your school’s most important details. You can also add some branded images, including your school’s logo and a link to your website and school career site. This will visually help your profile stand out and tells candidates you’re a school that cares about its online reputation.
4. Make sure your school information is correct
One problem we often see is that schools have outdated or incorrect information on their GBP because no one is proactively managing the page.
For example, if your school name has changed because you’ve achieved academy status, joined a trust or merged with another school, it’s crucial your GBP reflects this. Otherwise, the name on your profile won’t match up with your job board listings on Google for Jobs and this will have an impact on your job advert SEO.
Sometimes, an incorrect address will appear on your GBP because the Google Maps pin is in the wrong place. It’s important to correct this not just so candidates can find your school easily, but also so it matches up with online job listings and proves you’re a real, verified organisation.
Here’s a quick step-by-step guide on how to do this:
Step 1: Log in to the account used to manage your school’s Business Profile.
Step 2: Go to your Business Profile. If you’re not sure where to find this, Google explains here.
Step 3: Select Edit profile > Business information (Tip: on your desktop, using Google Search, select Edit profile).
Step 4: Near the top, select Location.
Step 5: Check that your school’s address is listed accurately, and the pin is pointing to the correct location on the map. If it’s not, follow the final step below:
Step 5: Next to “Business location”, select the pencil icon to edit.
- To enter or edit the address: Enter or edit your address information. Then, select Save. Make sure to follow the guidelines.
- To adjust your pin location: Select Adjust. Move the map so the pin points to your school’s location. Then, select Done > Save.
If Google can’t find your address, you'll get a warning message. Re-enter parts of the address that are highlighted red. If they still can’t find your address, set the pin location of your school, and save your changes (Note: edits pending review usually take up to 10 minutes).
5. Use the right keywords
As well as being a rich information source for candidates to find out more about your organisation, your GBP is also a great SEO tool.
This is why using the most relevant keywords on your profile (in your description or update posts, for example) can be so beneficial. The more relevant keywords you include, the more likely relevant candidates will come across your profile when searching for teaching opportunities in their area.
For example, if you’re struggling to recruit chemistry teachers, you could post an update on your GBP that shines a light on your chemistry department, including some photographs and information about the department’s recent achievements.
That way, when a candidate is searching for ‘chemistry teacher jobs near me’ this will increase the chances of your school’s profile appearing in their search. It also sends a clear message to these candidates that you really value the sciences.
6. Encourage reviews
Having reviews on your Google Business Profile is extremely effective at attracting candidates to your organisation. Google reviews are an unfiltered source of social proof that tell candidates exactly what your school is like to work in, and what students and parents think of it. They provide a level of trust and credibility that you can’t achieve on any other platform.
An unmonitored Google Business profile can easily result in negative reviews that can ruin a school’s reputation. Would you want to work for a school that has a whole load of 1-star reviews? It’s crucial you reply to any negative reviews to demonstrate you take complaints seriously.
By proactively encouraging staff to leave positive reviews about what it’s like to work at your school, you’ll be doing great things for your online reputation. Candidates will trust current employees’ reviews more than any marketing material you provide. In this sense, Google Business Profile reviews are employer branding gold!
7. Post updates to your page
Posting updates is an excellent way to keep your Google Business Profile active and shows candidates that you’re a school that cares about their online presence. It’s also just a great opportunity to showcase any achievements or interesting activities your organisation has been involved in.
There are 4 types of updates you can post to your profile: offers, products, updates and events. Of course, offers and products aren’t going to be relevant to schools, but updates and events certainly are.
For example, maybe some of your pupils won a school football tournament, or you have some great photos to share from a recent open day. Anything you can post to your profile that shows some recent activity will make a great impression on candidates.
You can post updates with up to 300 words of text, include images and a call-to-action link that takes people back to your website.
Your optimised Google Business Profile will play a crucial role in how you advertise your school and your teaching job vacancies online, along with your online job board of course! With 70,000 vacancies listed annually, Eteach is the largest online job board in education. Request a call to find out how Eteach can help you source the best teacher talent.
About the author
Katie Paterson
Katie Paterson is a writer and digital marketer specialising in recruitment, marketing, HR technology, and business growth. She lives in Glasgow, Scotland.