About 70% of online searches happen on Google, and the majority of people don’t go past the first page.
What does this mean for you?
It means you need to list your business on Google and optimise your profile to appear on the top pages. Not sure how to optimise your Google My Business profile? We’ve got you!
In this guide, we discuss all the tips to manage and optimise your Google My Business listing.
Let’s get in.
What Are The Benefits of Google My Business Listing
One of the goals of every business owner is to get more customers and make more sales. But did you know that Google My Business could be a great digital marketing tool to improve your business performance by appearing at the top of the results list?
Here are some benefits of Google My Business marketing for your business;
1: Increased Visibility:
You may have searched for something online and got some results from businesses listed on Google My Business.
That is the work of Google My Business!
An optimised Google My Business profile puts you on the map, making it easy for people searching for your services or products to find you.
2. Free To Use:
Google My Business is free, and that’s one of the best parts of using this digital marketing tool. You can create an account, list your business and manage your profile at no cost. There is no premium version or payment, and everyone, including your biggest competitors, gets the same features as you.
3. Collect Reviews
Another thing about Google My Business (GMB) is that it makes it easy to collect social proof and customer reviews. You can use these reviews to work in your favour by showcasing them on your GMB and other marketing platforms like Facebook. So, encourage your customers to rate your business on Google My Business to help your business stand out and attract more customers.
Getting Started on Google My Business
Google My Business is a feature from Google that helps business owners manage their online presence on the search engine platform. Also, with Google My Business Free, you can improve your SEO on a location-based strategy. So the first step to improving your search visibility is to create a Google My Business profile if you don’t already have one. Check out these steps to create one:
1: Create An Account
To create an account and manage your business, go to https://www.google.com/business/. You need a Google account to do this, so if you don’t have one, you will need to create one.
Meanwhile, before you create a Google business account, it’s best first to conduct a Google search to confirm you don’t already have one (customers sometimes create a profile for business). If you started your business a long while ago, you might already have a Google My Business profile. Then, in this case, you need to claim the business and edit the information.
2. Add Your Information
Next, add information about your business, like your official business name, location, contact details, and business category. Also, you will need to set your contact information and other details like your social media platforms and website URL. Once you add the necessary information, click next and finish the process.
3: Verify Your Google My Business
After creating a business account on Google, the next step is to verify the account. This is an essential tip because it boosts your business visibility and performance. Without verifying your account, Google will not display your business, and you can’t access page insights from the backend.
Google will send you a verification code postcard within a week of creating or claiming your Google Business account. Once you use the postcard to verify your account, your Google My Business will go live. Also, verification lets you add more information about your business, like business hours, business descriptions, photos, etc.
How To Optimise Your Google My Business Account – Best Practices
Now that you have a GMB account, let’s look at some best practices to optimise your account and boost visibility.
1: Add All Relevant Business Information
For SEO and visibility sake, complete your business information on your dashboard by adding:
- Official business name
- Business Category
- Location and Address
- Business Hours
- Website Link
- Phone Number/Contact Details
- Business Description
Also, don’t forget to highlight your product or services to show off what your business offers. If you run a restaurant, you can add your menu, prices and a reservation option.
2. Optimize Your Business Description
Google gives 750 characters to describe your business, products and services, and it’s best to take advantage of it. This description helps potential customers know more about your business and can improve your Google ranking, mainly if you use relevant keywords. So keep SEO at the back of your mind when writing your business description on Google My Business.
3. Add Photos
Photos help customers find your business more trustworthy. Also, Google says business profiles with pictures are likely to get 35% more clicks through to their website than businesses without pictures.
You can add pictures of your brick-and-mortar store, your products, your staff, customers, and other authentic photos of your business. This helps you control what your target audience will see when your business appears in the search results.
Also, your customers have the option to upload images to your Google My Business profile so encourage them to do so. Consider the following tips as you upload photos to your business profile.
- Use your business logo as your thumbnail image
- Follow Goggle’s photos specifications
- Use high-quality photos and avoid using stock images
- You can add videos too
- Pick a relevant cover photo
4. Get Reviews From Customers
Another tip you should know on how to optimise your google my business account is reviews. Many customers love reading online reviews when looking for a trustworthy business, so getting some is important.
With Google My Business, customers can add reviews straight on Google so that it comes up when potential customers search for your business. So try to gather enough positive reviews to improve your business success through Google My Business. Some great tips to get reviews on your google my business website include:
- Send a link to your customers for review
- Consider requesting reviews by asking your customers after they do business with you
- Provide good services to encourage customers to drop positive feedback
- Respond to all reviews: thank customers for positive reviews or address issues in case of a negative review.
5. Post to Google My Business At Least Once a Week
Posting on your Google my business website helps the search engine know more about you, and this can improve your search rankings. Just like social media, you have the option to post as often as you can on your Google my Business.
Posting regularly on GMB has many benefits, including improved engagement, high Google ranking and lead generation. It’s best to post things you think your customers would like to know about your business; do this at least once a week. Some of the things you can post include your products/services, offers, details about upcoming events and other
6. Set up Messaging
One of the secret tips on how to optimise your google my business account is by including a messaging option. Google My Business has a messaging feature that lets your potential customers send you a direct message to make enquiries. This is the perfect opportunity to show your responsiveness and excellent customer service.
To add this feature to your profile, go to the messaging tab on the dashboard and install the app on your phone. From here, you can set up alerts for Business messages.
7. Build Citations That Confirm Your Name, Address, Phone Number (NAP) Information
The word ‘Citation’ may look technical, but it’s not complicated.
It simply involves gathering mentions of your business across different platforms and directories like Google Maps, GMB and social media to confirm your NAP. This helps you verify your address and helps you rank better in local organic searches.
8. Take Advantage of the Q&A Option
The Q&A option on GMB is a powerful way to connect with your customers and convert visitors into leads. When consumers ask questions about your business., you should respond. Also, you can ask, answer and upvote your question, so use this to populate the section with your Frequently Asked Questions. Some other tips to optimise your google my business marketing through Q&A include:
- Setting up alerts to help you monitor activities on your profile. If you don’t receive questions, you have the option to ask a question yourself and reply to it.
- Include strategic keywords to your questions and answers before posting. This will boost your GMB ranking for a particular keyword search query.
- Monitor your profile regularly to screen out misinformation about your business.
10. Keep Optimizing your Google My Business
One thing you should know about Google My Business Optimization 2022 is that it’s an ongoing process. It is not a one-time thing, so you need to continue building, managing and optimising your account. Some tips for managing your GMB listing include;
- Posting regularly.
- Checking back for new features that can improve your profile.
- Encouraging customers to review.
- Posting pictures and content.
Boost Your Marketing Performance
In conclusion, Google My Business is a powerful tool for improving your search visibility, so learning how to optimise your Google My Business is essential. Highlight the best qualities of your business, add all vital information, post regularly and add your website/social media links to your profile. These efforts will effectively boost your digital marketing footprint and help you increase your business performance.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) on Google Business Listing
1: What is Google My Business (GMB)?
Google My Business is a feature that lets businesses manage their online visibility across all google platforms, including Google Search engine, Google Maps, Google Knowledge, Google Plus and so on. This makes it easy for potential customers to find you online.
2. Is Google My Business Free?
Yes, Google My Business costs nothing to use. All you need is to create an account using your Google account and learn how to manage google my business to increase your visibility.
3. What Information Can You Add To Your Google My Business Listing?
Some of the information you can add to your Google My Business page include;
- Business name and address
- Website and social media URL
- Business category
- Working hours and holidays
- Photos and 30 seconds videos
- Additional details like a reservation button, wheelchair accessible, WiFi facility, outdoor seating and so on.