Google My Business was launched in April 2014. A product that allows businesses to manage information in one place for all Google business listings. But I regret to notice, since then and after having encouraged so many business to claim their listings, many companies still are not aware of this great service Google has provided for the benefit of businesses everywhere. Hopefully with this article the awareness will expand and more companies will take advantage of this great product which is within their grasp. Firstly here are the reasons why you should take advantage of using Google My Business:
Google My Business is a free and easy-to-use tool created to help businesses and organizations to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. A Google My Business account (or listing, or profile) can be considered a combination of an online directory listing and a social media profile. By verifying and editing your business information, you can both help customers find you and tell them the story of your business. I personally find it very advantageous for businesses with actual physical outlets - shops or offices, as they are easily found on Google maps. Google uses your listing and other real-time data to be able to answer highly specific queries, such as “ Chinese restaurants near me, open now” or “hair salons near me open now”. This allows for more of the most targeted patrons to find your business—those who are highly likely to make a purchase. Google My Business has been one of the most useful Google services for small business owners, and it's good to know that it will still be around and since Google is always improving, G M B will be getting even better with time. GMB allows your business information to appear before that first search result. When used correctly GMB is a powerful tool for driving consumers your way, dominating the first page of a Google search. GMB levels the playing field and allows every business the opportunity of achieving a prominent listing. It offers the greatest impact for brands seeking local exposure. Google My Business complements your existing website by giving your business a public identity and presence with a listing on Google. Relationship-Building Opportunity: It allows easy customer communication It provides a great way for customers to connect with your business. Customers viewing your listing now can call, message, or leave a review. Providing more ways for people to find you and reach you so you can do more business. It helps you earn trust from customers. Due to the inherent trust and confidence most users place in Google, your business benefits whenever it pops up in a local search, as prospects will automatically be more likely to trust your brand. In fact, brands that show up on Google are 2.7 times more likely to be considered reputable by consumers. Increase Engagement Google My Business profiles provide ample opportunities for engagement. Potential customers can access your website or call you in one tap or click. Even more beneficial is the ability to reserve a table or book an appointment directly through your listing Star Ratings Boost Your Appeal. With a GMB listing, customers will be able to review your business and leave feedback for others to see. In doing this, not only will you get honest evaluations about what you’re doing right and what you could be doing better, but you’ll also get that nifty star rating system next to your business on Google. As long as you’re delivering quality products and a quality experience, over time, you’ll start to collect more reviews and a higher overall rating (responding to reviews helps with this as well). This is especially helpful when there are competing businesses nearby and you need to gain a competitive edge. How to go about setting up on GMB? If your business has been around for a while (several years or more), it’s likely it already has a GMB listing and you just need to claim it. Once successfully claimed, you can manage the information just as if you started the GMB listing yourself years previous. Head over to the Google My Business page for adding and claiming GMB listings and enter your most important business information (business name and address) to ensure your business doesn’t already have a listing that you need to claim. If there is already a listing for your business, it will notify you. It may also notify you that someone else already claimed your business. If that happens, follow these steps. Fill out the remaining input boxes with your business details, ensuring everything is accurate and grammatically correct (capitalize your business name, street names, etc.). Be sure to find the best relevant category for your business (there are a lot of variations to choose from). The last option listed asks if the business being created delivers goods or services to customers at their location. This is valuable for many businesses that operate away from their brick-and-mortar headquarters and, typically, at the home or business of the customer (cleaning services, construction companies, pest control, other home services, etc.). Add or Edit Service-Area Business Details. To add or change your service area details: Sign in to Google My Business and make sure you’re using “card view.” If you’re viewing your locations as a list instead of cards, switch to card view by clicking the cards icon on the right side above your locations. Choose the listing you’d like to manage and click “Manage location.” Click Info from the menu. Click the “Address” section. In the window that appears, select “Yes” next to “I deliver goods and services to my customers at their locations.” Enter your service area information. You can set your service area based on the ZIP codes or cities that you serve, or in a given area around your location. Select the box next to “I serve customers at my business address” if you want your complete address to appear on Google and your business location is staffed and able to receive customers during its stated hours. Click Apply to save your changes. Verifying Your Google My Business Listing.
Publishing Your Google My Business Listing. It’s important to use all resources Google My Business offers within its listing details to get the most out of your business locations. Some basic but crucial tips for optimizing your listing:
Include Keywords Just like SEO for websites, it’s important for search engines, to include important keywords and search phrases to your business listing will be incredibly helpful, especially since your business website is listed directly within your GMB listing. Keep Business Operating Hours Accurate. It’s important to enter your business hours, and update them whenever they change. Google offers the ability to customize hours for holidays and other special events, and it should always be used to keep your site accurate and user friendly. Add Images. Images / photos enhance business listings’ performance more than most business owners and marketers probably expect. According to Google, businesses with photos on their listings receive 42 percent more requests for driving directions on Google Maps and 35 percent more click - through rates to their websites than businesses without photos. The most important piece of imagery in your GMB listing:
Manage & Respond to Customer Reviews. Interacting with customers by responding to their reviews illustrates that your business values its customers’ feedback. Positive reviews are going to have a positive effect on potential customers when researching your business, but they also increase your business’s visibility in search results. Encourage customers to leave feedback by creating a link they can click to write reviews for your business. Monitoring Your Google My Business Listing Insights. Google has made tremendous strides making available analytical data for Google My Business listings - called Insights, This helps businesses a different way to understand how customers interact with their business listings, which are:
How customers find your listing. This section of Insights show how customers found you:
Where Customers Find You on Google This section shows how many customers found you via Google Search or Google Maps. Beside “Listing on Search” and “Listing on Maps,” you’ll see the number of views your listing received from each product in the time frame you’ve selected. According to Google, “Views” are like “impressions” on other analytics platforms. To see how many people found you on a particular product on a particular day, place your cursor over the appropriate segment of the graph on the day you’re interested in. These sections have the following labels in bulk insights reports:
Customer Actions This section shows what customers did once they found your listing on Google.
Direction Requests.
Phone Calls
Lastly, GMB allows you to examine how often your business’s photos are being viewed with the “Photo views” graph and “Photo quantity” graph. There are also lines on the graphs that compare your business’s photo data with photo data for other businesses similar to yours. Section of this reporting component includes bulk insights for:
Google My Business Posts Posting on GMB increases visibility online. While these posts are updates they are not actually Social Media updates. These posts are visible on your Google My Business listing during a search and on the Google My Business website. The posts are a great way to showcase your business at the exact time someone is searching for your business online. At a minimum, you should be posting on Google My Business once every 7 days. Many businesses post once per day, and have seen good results and improved rankings. Google tends to look favorably on businesses that use Google products frequently. Please note that Posts do expire after a week so you'll need to keep updating them. Google My Business mobile app. A free mobile app that helps you manage your business on the go, wherever you are. You can do the following:
Now that you better appreciate the importance of Google My Business for you, just to recap the benefits:
So is Google My Business worth the effort? Considering how little effort it takes, the answer is almost certainly “YES!”. It’s only the initial entries that may take awhile and waiting for the verification by mail.
It's may not be a perfect fit for all businesses, but it has the potential to help you reach new customers who otherwise might not have heard of you—and make sure they're getting the right information. Now don’t miss out on Google My Business benefits. |
AuthorNicholas Joseph Lim and guest writers contribute the latest on internet marketing strategies. Archives
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