texolHow To Set up And Optimise Your Google My Business Listing
Google My Business is often one of the most overlooked yet powerful tools that are freely available on the internet right now. If you are a local business owner and has not created or claimed your Google My Business yet, you really should consider creating one. Why? Let me tell you why?
Suppose a person wishes to buy an item or need a service that you provide. As a millennial, the first thing they would do is to conduct a google search for the product/service they need. But what would happen if your business does not pop up in the search results? The user may want to reach you. But your contact number won’t be available. The user may want to know the store timings, whether you are open on Sundays, whether parking space is available or not and so much more information will be missing. A potential customer therefore could turn towards other options available.
Did you know that a Google study revealed that “50% of consumers who conducted a local search on their smartphone visited a store within a day”.
The pros of using Google My Business will only increase over time as Google is trying their best to provide great user experience, and claiming your business only takes a few steps.
To create or claim your business listing, head over to visit Google My Business. After filling out the basic details, you may need to verify the ownership of your business using the postcard verification method by Google. Once you verify your account, you will unlock all of the GMB features.
After your company information is added, you can access your dashboard to start personalizing your listing.
Are we done? NO! This is where most business owners makes the mistake. Just creating your account and filling the basic details is not enough. There is so much you can do with GMB. you need to optimize your GMB listing for increased sales and customer loyalty.
1. Make sure Your Information is Accurate, Comprehensive, and Up-to-date
First of all you need to make sure that you provide a comprehensive information about your business that is accurate and up-to-date. These are the core inputs you need to fill in.
- Name
- Address
- Phone Number
- Website
- Description
- Category
- Attributes
GMB needs your name, address and phone number for listing. The same information will be indexed by Google Search, Maps and Google+, laying out a well-structured foundation for your local SEO. You need to make sure that the Information you provide is consistent with the information you have already on your website or else it might negatively impact your SEO. After you’re finished with NAP, you can dive deeper into GMB by providing your business category and company attributes. After all these textual information is completed, you can start uploading visual information like photos. People are more likely to engage with your business if you provide photos depicting the services you provide.
2. Interact with Your Customers with reviews
Reviews are very crucial for local search. People will be keen to know what others are talking about your business. So spend quality time reading the reviews and respond to them in a positive way. Make sure that you address the problems raised by the users to provide a better experience next time.
3. Speak Directly to Your Customers through Google My Business Messages
GMB has introduced a feature where users can directly message the businesses. This is because a major part of the millennials actually prefers texting rather than talking through phone. You can turn this feature on by clicking the “Turn On Messaging” button in your Google My Business dashboard. If you are hesitant towards using your personal number you always have the choice of setting up Google’s own Instant messaging app Allo for handling the messages.
4. Get Customer Paths with Google My Business Insights
This is very important. If you use it right, you will be converting a great deal of leads into customers. GMB Provides a lot of useful insights about your visitors and their activity. Some of them are:
- How customers are finding your business
- What actions do your customers take on your listing
- Where are your customers from
- How many have called and the peak time of calls
Final Thoughts
Your potential customers are out there and they are indeed looking for you. The question that really matters is “Are you ready?”. Knowing about GMB and still not claiming your listing is one of the highest levels of ignorance. After all, it is a free tool. So take action today and get in control of your business digitally.