Google My Business is a free community tool that businesses can use to manage their online presence across Google
Optimizing your Google My Business listing helps business owners stay ahead of the competition and get good potential customers.
As a consumer, what’s the first thing you do when you want to know about a business? Most people search the internet for information on everything from restaurants and coffee shops, to clothing stores, beauty salons, and banks, and ATMs too. This means that as a business owner, it’s more critical than ever to prioritize your online presence so that it’s easier for potential customers to find you.
Google My Business is a free tool that helps business owners manage how their establishment appears across Google, including Search and Google Maps. The platform gives users access to several valuable features—things like reviews and the ability to upload photos and videos to your business profile—that can help you interact with customers and increase your business’s ranking in local search results.
Importance of Search Engine Marketing
Today, Google handles billions & billions of searches a month and makes up more than 92 percent of the search engine market share worldwide. (By comparison, Bing, and Yahoo, which rank second and third, respectively, make up only about 2 percent each of the search engine market share.) That’s why claiming your Google My Business listing and taking advantage of the full suite of features available is so vital to your business’s online visibility. Additionally, research shows that consumers are two times more likely to view verified businesses on Google as reputable than businesses that are not verified.
A lot of businesses are probably already in the Google My Business, “But you need to claim it to get control and optimize it, if you haven’t claimed your listing already, run a quick Google search on your business name and your city. If it’s in the Google directory but not yet claimed, you’ll see a link under the listing that says, “Own this business? Simply click on the link and follow the prompts to confirm that the business is yours.
One thing to note is that you need a physical address to verify your business listing. (Google will typically send a postcard in the mail as part of the verification process.) However, that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to have a brick-and-mortar shop. If you run a service area business out of your residences, such as landscaping or painting, for instance, you can use your home address as your business address. You may just choose the option to hide it so that it doesn’t appear on Google Maps.
Optimize your Listing
Once your listing has been verified, you can log in to your Google My Business dashboard and start filling your business profile with clear information. Make sure you add all the basic information required, including your street address, phone number, website, business category, and hours of operation, and update as needed.
For example, “if you know that you’re going to be closed on the day of Diwali, make sure you update that.
And then comes the interesting part: using the features to tell the story of your business, which when used effectively, will help you stand out and attract new clientele.
Business description
This feature gives you an opportunity to really tell people why they should choose you over your competitors. But be careful to adhere to Google’s guidelines or else your description could get rejected. Don’t forget to mention things like how many years you’ve been in business, the business category, service types of services and products packages you offer, and the benefits of choosing your products.
Pictures and videos
Uploading photos and videos that showcase your business and services have been proven to get more people to click on your listing. According to Google, “businesses that add photos to their listings receive 42 percent more requests for driving directions on Google Maps and 35 percent more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t.
Avoid stock images at all costs, and use images “that genuinely represent your business,” The more quality images you post, the better. These should include pictures of your space—both the interior and exterior, so people can more easily recognize your building when they visit—your product, your services, and your employees at work. Meanwhile, keep videos short and stay away from promotional ads. “They should be videos of maybe of an employee talking about what your products and services are, or maybe a customer giving a testimonial.
Reviews
According to Bright Local’s 2018 Local Consumer Review Survey, 86 percent of consumers peruse online reviews of local businesses, typically taking in an average of 10 reviews before they deem an establishment trustworthy. So, when it comes to reviews, you need to get as many good ones as possible. (Read more here about how you can build up your positive online review count—and handle negative ones.)
Posts
The post feature can add a lot of value to your listings. You can post the latest offers, invite people for events, showcase your unique products menus, etc. Businesses that add photos to their listings receive 42 percent more requests for driving directions on Google Maps and 35 percent more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t.
Q&A
This feature allows customers to post questions and answers regarding your business to your profile, which, admittedly, can be a little “scary” for certain business owners. It is suggested to pre-populate the section with frequently asked questions and answers and answer those questions before other people can.
Chat option
Google my business has recently introduced a chat option that enables customers to chat directly to the business one needs to enable the feature by installing GMB mobile app.
SEO website traffic charts and graphs
Insights help you to understand how was your listing performs including calls, messages, direction requests, website visits, booking, etc.
Bookings, menus, and all the rest
Google has made it easier than ever to connect clients to businesses directly from a listing. Not only can people call your business and get directions right from your listing, but depending on the type of business you have, customers can now even book appointments or order food straight from your Google business profile, making it a sort of one-stop-shop.
Monitor it continuously.
Once your profile is complete, one of the most vital things to remember is to regularly monitor your listing.
Either that or they don’t realize that just about anybody can change information in your business profile by suggesting an edit. That’s right, anyone, including those who may be trying to spread misinformation about your business. So, it’s imperative that you not only update your business profile often but also check it frequently for any unacceptable changes or errors.
If you happen to see any fraudulent activity or misleading information on another business’s listing, Google has created a form for submitting complaints. Business owners can also seek additional support via the Google My Business Help Community page.
By logging in to your dashboard and looking at insights, you’ll also be able to see how well your profile is working for you. One of my clients who runs a mental health clinic received 395 phone calls, 35 messages, and 425 website clicks in the last quarter solely as a result of their Google My Business listing, proving just how good for business it is—and for the bottom line—to optimize and keep up with your business
I recommend my clients, to focus on Google My Business listing, as a starter and yet the important strategy of neighborhood marketing
For more details about GMB listing and consultation please contact me here