the business description nobody reads, except Google

Customers scroll past the description on your Google listing in a second, and Google reads every word of it.

Hi,

Open your Google Business Profile and find the description. It is the block of text tucked away in the "About" section, under the photos and the reviews. Most customers never read it. They look at the stars, the photos and the hours, and they tap call or they leave.

So a lot of owners leave it empty, or paste in the paragraph from the home page that says "family owned and operated, committed to excellence and customer satisfaction". It says nothing about what you do or where you do it, and it was written for a reader who is not there.

The reader who is there is Google. The description is one of the places Google reads to decide which searches your listing is relevant for. It reads your category first, then your services, then this paragraph, then your website. If the paragraph names the service and the place, it agrees with the rest of the listing and Google's confidence goes up. If it is empty, or it is all adjectives, Google learns nothing from it and you gave away a field for free.

Here is what I mean. Picture two med spas on the same street in Brookline, same category, similar reviews. One description says "a luxury experience where beauty meets wellness". The other says "Med spa in Brookline offering Botox, fillers, laser hair removal and microneedling, by appointment, near Coolidge Corner". A person searching "laser hair removal Brookline" matches the second one on category, on services and on the description. The first one matches on category alone. Guess which one Google shows.

Writing it takes ten minutes. Say what you are, in the words a customer types, not the words on your logo. Say where you are, the town and the neighborhood if it helps. List the main services by their plain names. Say who it is for, if that is not obvious. Then stop. No slogans, no "passionate about excellence", no pressure to fill the space. Google gives you room for a few short paragraphs and you do not have to use all of it.

Two things not to do. Do not stuff it with every town in the county. Google reads that as noise, and so does anyone who happens to look. And do not put a link or a promotion in it. Google's rules for the description do not allow them, and the whole thing can get rejected.

One more thing. Make it match your website. If the home page says you are a med spa in Brookline and the listing says the same, the two agree and both rank better for it. There is more on that side of it on the website optimization page.

Write the paragraph for the one reader who actually reads it.

Talk soon,
Brandon

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