This comprehensive guide helps Asheville businesses select the optimal primary and secondary categories for their Google Business Profile to improve local visibility and drive more customers.
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Optimizing Google Business Profile Categories for Asheville Businesses
Why Google Business Profile Categories Matter for Your Asheville Business
When setting up your Google Business Profile (GBP), choosing the right categories might seem like a small detail, but it’s actually one of the most powerful levers you can pull for local search visibility. For Asheville businesses competing in a tourist-driven market, your category selections directly influence when and where your business appears in local searches. We’ve seen clients experience up to 40% increases in visibility just from optimizing their GBP categories. This guide will walk you through how to select the perfect primary and secondary categories to make your Asheville business more discoverable to both locals and visitors.
Understanding Primary vs. Secondary Categories
Your primary category carries the most weight with Google and defines your business’s core offering. Think of it as your main business identity. Google uses this category to determine your relevance for specific searches. For example, an Asheville brewery might select “Brewery” as their primary category rather than the broader “Restaurant.”
Secondary categories complement your primary category by showcasing additional services. They help you appear in a wider range of relevant searches without diluting your main business focus. That same brewery might add “Bar,” “Restaurant,” and “Beer Garden” as secondary categories to capture different customer intents. We’ve found businesses that thoughtfully select 3-5 relevant secondary categories typically see better visibility than those using just one or two.
Finding the Perfect Primary Category for Your Asheville Business
Start by being as specific as possible. Google offers over 4,000 business categories, and the more precise your primary selection, the better your chances of ranking for targeted searches. For instance, “Women’s Clothing Store” will perform better for relevant searches than simply “Clothing Store.”
Consider how customers think about your business. A client who runs a combination coffee shop and bakery in downtown Asheville initially selected “Bakery” as their primary category. After analyzing their customer behavior, we discovered most people were searching for coffee first, so we switched their primary category to “Coffee Shop” and added “Bakery” as a secondary category. This simple change increased their foot traffic by nearly 30% within two months.
Asheville-Specific Category Considerations
Asheville’s unique business landscape requires strategic category selection. For tourism-related businesses, consider seasonal search patterns. One of our Asheville tour companies uses “Tour Agency” as their primary category year-round, but we adjust their secondary categories seasonally to emphasize “Hiking Tour Agency” in summer and “Brewery Tour Agency” in fall and winter.
Local service businesses should emphasize their Asheville connection through categories. We’ve found that plumbers, electricians, and contractors who use location-specific secondary categories like “Emergency Service” alongside their primary trade category perform better in “near me” searches, which are increasingly common among both residents and visitors needing immediate assistance.
Avoiding Common Category Mistakes
Don’t select categories based solely on keywords you want to rank for. Categories should accurately reflect services you actually provide. We’ve seen businesses penalized for category spam when they select unrelated categories just to appear in more searches.
Avoid being too general. We worked with an Asheville art gallery that initially selected “Art Gallery” as their primary category. By changing to “Contemporary Art Gallery” and adding secondary categories like “Art Museum” and “Gift Shop,” they saw a 45% increase in website clicks from their GBP listing.
Remember that category selections are visible to customers on mobile devices. Choose categories that won’t confuse your audience about what you actually offer.
Monitoring and Adjusting Your Categories
Your business evolves, and so should your GBP categories. We recommend reviewing category performance quarterly using Google Business Profile insights. Look for patterns in how customers find you and which search terms trigger your listing to appear.
If you’ve expanded services or shifted focus, update your categories accordingly. One Asheville restaurant client initially focused on fine dining, but after adding a popular brunch service, we added “Breakfast Restaurant” as a secondary category, which generated a whole new customer segment and increased weekend bookings by 35%.
Ready to Optimize Your Asheville Business Categories?
The right Google Business Profile categories can dramatically improve your local visibility and bring more customers through your door. If you’re unsure which categories best represent your Asheville business, our team can help analyze your offerings, competitors, and local search patterns to develop the optimal category strategy.
Contact PushLeads today for a free Google Business Profile audit. We’ll review your current setup and provide specific recommendations to improve your local search performance through better category selection and overall GBP optimization.