Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that allows you to create and manage your business information, including hours of operation, photos, videos, address and phone number. It also helps with SEO by making it easy for customers to find your company online. In this blog post, we’ll try to help with Google My Business and get you on your way to improving the visibility of your business.
But First, Improve Your Business Visibility on Maps
Maps are one of the many ways people can find a business on the internet. In order to help your customers find you, it’s important that you have a complete and accurate listing on Maps. This is especially helpful if someone searches by category or location in their browser – as Google puts “local” businesses first in the search results. Here are five quick tips to help improve your visibility:
CLAIM YOUR BUSINESS – If possible, claim ownership of your online properties such as social media sites with keywords related to your products or services. Learn more about what’s required in order to claim a business here. This will help with local search results when someone searches for a category, like “food near me”.
OPTIMIZE YOUR WEBSITE – You’ll want to make it easy for customers to find you, whether they’re browsing on a desktop or smartphone! Ensure your images are sized correctly so they don’t take too long to load. Additionally, look through your site to make sure all your content and images look good on different platforms–whether that’s a desktop, tablet or a mobile device.
LIST ALL LOCATIONS – Add all the locations where your business can be found. For large chains that have many locations across an entire region, this may mean adding every store in their network.
UPDATE HOURS – Update hours of operation so people know your current hours and days of operation. In addition to updating these details on Maps listings, update them everywhere you might have them listed.
ADD A PHONE NUMBER – Include your phone number with each listing to help make it easy for customers to contact you if they need help. Sometimes people just want to chat over the phone and not necessarily fill out an online form or email back and forth.
How to Optimize Your Google My Business Page
Optimizing your Google My Business page can be tricky, so here are some tips to help you get the most out of it. The key is to fill in all the information on your page and then follow these steps:
Use an accurate business category. You can help categorize your business by using these categories: Arts & Entertainment; Automotive Services; Beauty Salons; Food Production – Wholesale or Retail Markets; General Merchandise Stores (nonfood); Home Furnishing Stores/ Sales, etc.
Claim this listing on Maps for each location you manage with the address and phone number listed in the description field of that listing’s settings tab. If not all locations are open for business, add them as new listings when they open. Before adding any mapping data about a new location, make sure that the address and phone number are correct in the settings tab.
Keep in mind that you will need to update any information you enter from time to time on your Google My Business Page.
More Tips to Help With Google My Business
WRITE A GOOD BUSINESS DESCRIPTION – Make sure when creating your GMB listing to put in a good description of your business. Include keywords about what you do, especially if they are relevant keywords that will attract your target audience. The GMB description is 376 characters long but can take 750 characters total. Try not to use too many words and sentence fragments to ensure the most important information appears first
ADD POSTS TO YOUR GMB – Google My Business mapping tool allows businesses to add posts on their account. Users can read the post by visiting your Google search or clicking on the “map” that shows a list of nearby places and filtered results with reviews, ratings, contact information, etc. Use the post function to promote your business, share events, and share content. Your post will be up for seven days before you create a new one. Google My Business will remind you when it is time by email.
ADD IMAGES REGULARLY – Having attractive images on your Google My Business page is an excellent marketing opportunity. Not only will new, engaging pictures show that you’re active, they can also attract the audience’s eye while doing a search. Once the searcher’s eye is caught, hopefully, the image will entice them to click and browse through your website.
COLLECT CUSTOMER FEEDBACK – If you want to rank higher in search and map results, collect customer reviews. Reviews prove your business is trustworthy so customers are more likely to choose you. The best way to get reviews is by asking your clients for feedback. Send a template email if that’s easier, but personalize it as much as you can to encourage participation in your feedback quest. It is important for potential and current customers to know that you care about feedback. Whether the reviews are positive or negative, you should respond to them as this will show your level of engagement with new and past customers. Reviews offer valuable data for a business, and they can help you do everything from closing up a service that is not well-liked to making new improvements.
Take Advantage of the Benefits of Google My Business
If you don’t have a Google My Business page, you’re missing out on a great opportunity. It’s easy to set up and can be edited to reflect day-to-day changes. The time invested will pay off quickly with increased visibility in search results. Do you need help with Google My Business? This step-by-step guide will help you get started.
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