How To Use Google My Business?

Google search or as we lovingly call it googling has become synonymous with the word Serch itself. so, if you are a business owner the best thing you can do is, have a business profile for your business. This will make you and your business profile visible to your potential customers. This will help you in building trust and loyalty with your customers.

In this blog, we will be talking about how you can increase your business visibility on Google.

You have to accustom yourself to the digital tools that help your business grow online. You can’t look over the fact. Well, if you ask how to do it, Google My Business (GMB) recently known as Google Business Profile is the way. GMB is most beneficial to small and local businesses.

By listing your business with Google My Business, you have an edge over your competitors who haven’t listed their businesses. It helps you get more traffic to your business when someone searches on Google for the products or services you offer. The visitors also get navigated to your services through Google Maps.

Table of Contents

How to propel the growth of your business with Google My Business?

Setting up the account

Let us see how to set up a Google My Business account

1. Create a Google account

First of all, what you need is a Google account to create your listing. If you don’t have a Google account, create one. Search “create Google account” on Google. It will take you to the screen above and from there on it is easy to create a Google account with basic details.

2. Name your business

Once you have logged in with your Google account, go to the page “google.com/business”. Type the name of your business in the search bar and see if your business shows up. If it does, you can claim ownership of the business. If it doesn’t, it means that you have to create your listing.

3. Select the appropriate category

Then, select the category of your business. Select the closest category to avoid any confusion for the visitor, who is performing a Google search for the specific goods and services you provide or related services as well.

Eg. If you are a sweet shop owner, your shop should be in the sweets category as well as for snacks category as well. So whether the customer Google search for a sweets shop near me or snacks shop near me, your Google business profile will pop up in their feed.

4. Add the location of your business

Google is a very well-integrated search engine. Your Google business profile will be very well integrated with google maps. If you have an outlet or an office, you should add your complete business address and pinpoint your accurate location on google maps.

5. Contact information

Add your contact information, such as the contact number of your business for the visitors to contact you if they want to. You can add the URL of your website where you can showcase your products or the types of services you provide. which will help you convert visitors to see your website into your potential customers.

6. Verification

Verify your ownership with a mail that arrives at your address with a PIN which you have to use to confirm your ownership of the business. You have to provide your name while verifying the account through the mail.

It is better if you collect the data that each section of the setting up process asks you to fill out. The more detailed your listing is, the more likely it is to perform well in the search engine results.

Watch out for solutions

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After setting up, a Google My Business profile looks like this.

Optimization: Get your GMB profile running

After setting up the account, you need to optimize your Business profile for Google which is called Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for it to work at its maximum potential.

There are some features in the google my business platform which you need to use properly for the optimization of your business profile. Let us see why you need to take care of these details when you are optimizing your business profile and what role they play in the performance of your business online.

Using the following SEO strategy you can increase your search rankings, and use google my Business as a great marketing tool.

1. Complete every section, leave no stone unturned

Try to fill in every detail of your business that the platform asks like your business’s physical address, email address, business days, hours of operation, other business details, primary business category, etc.

The more accurate the information the more you increase your business’s organic search potential.

2. On-point contact information

Provide the name of your business as it is on the board of your store or outlet. The inconsistencies that may arise due to the name are also taken into account by Google. So, ensure that the name of your business is consistent on all platforms. And also, give your business contact number.

Add your business hours and holiday hours. And regularly update the timings of your outlet. Due to any emergency, if the store cannot remain open during business hours, make sure you update the status of your availability. Otherwise, you might run the risk of losing a customer who navigates to your store and returns dissatisfied if he finds it closed.

3. Photos

Profile with photos is an indication that the business listing is genuine. It also adds to the visibility of the listing. A business listing is more likely to get suggested in search results if it has photos. Regularly adding photos to your profile shows that you are up-to-date and active on the platform. There is also a provision for people to add photos to your Business profile. With the photos you add and the ones people add, you’ll have a rich (in terms of diversity) collection of photos. The more photos you have, the more customers there will be that are going to request directions on Google Maps and those people are likely to visit your website where they can know your business better. You can add videos to further enhance your visibility.

4. Categories & Attributes

Be as specific as possible with your categories. This is very crucial for your listing when people search for something related to your business. A huge chunk of views a Business profile gets on Google are from indirect searches. According to statistics from GMB released by Bright Local, 84% of the searches for a business come through discovery searches. A customer searches with a term related to your business and Google might show your Business profile if you have chosen the specific category. Try to add features that are specific to that category. For example, if you have a restaurant and you offer Chinese cuisine, choose “Chinese restaurant” instead of just “restaurant”. If you have a hair salon, mention if it is gender-specific. And also, choose secondary categories. For a restaurant, “Home Delivery” might be a category that a restaurant owner should consider adding. If you have a salon, mention if it is gender-specific.

After selecting the relevant categories, add attributes that apply to your category. For a restaurant, “dine-in” or “take-out” attributes might be applicable.

5. Reviews & Queries

Reviews indicate the buzz around your business. Ask the customers that are within your reach to review the products they have purchased or the services they availed. Most people will agree to review if asked. Reviews influence the decision of the customers who visit your business profile. If you have to choose between a business listing with reviews and one without reviews, which one will you choose? If your Business profile has reviews, that gives you an advantage over your competitors who have no reviews.

Take out time and respond to every query or comment. It will benefit your business. Reply very courteously to your customers who are not satisfied with your service or product and try to take feedback from them. All this interaction will boost your credibility in the eyes of Google as well as customers.

6. Be regular with posts

Post the offers you have, events that you organize, and any updates related to your business. Make sure to post any increase in the accommodation capacity and similar details.

If you wish, you can edit the details of your business listing according to your requirement. And also, you have a dashboard where you can monitor your GMB profile.

All these features mentioned above make your business profile look complete. These might look like trivial details but the impact these details have on the overall performance of the business listing is huge. These tiny details make the business more discoverable on the search engine.

Conclusion

Given the pace at which businesses are growing online post-pandemic, online presence is of utmost importance to local businesses (or any business for that matter). Triggered by the lockdown due to COVID-19, digital marketing is at its peak now. If you wish to be ahead of your competitors, you must focus on the online growth of your business.

Google My Business helps you build that presence by converting the people on the radar of your location, who are looking for services that you offer, into your customers.

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FAQs

is google my Business more important than a website?

No, Google My Business is not more important than a website. While Google My Business can help improve a business’s online presence and visibility on Google, a website is still essential for a business to establish its brand identity, provide detailed information about its products or services, and engage with its audience through content marketing and other strategies. A website also provides more flexibility and control over a business’s online presence, whereas Google My Business is limited to the information provided in the listing. Therefore, businesses need to have both a website and a Google My Business listing to achieve maximum online visibility and engagement.

Are Google My Business posts effective?

Yes, Google My Business posts can be effective for businesses. Google Posts allow businesses to promote events, offers, and new products directly on their Google My Business listing, which can improve visibility and engagement with potential customers. Posts also have a call-to-action button that encourages users to take action, such as “Buy,” “Learn More,” or “Sign Up,” which can drive traffic to a business’s website or landing page. Google Posts have been shown to increase engagement and clicks, which can ultimately lead to more conversions and sales.

Does Google My Business affect SEO?

Yes, Google My Business can affect a business’s SEO (search engine optimization) rankings. Google My Business signals, such as the relevance, distance, and prominence of a business’s listing, are considered key factors in local search results. A well-optimized Google My Business listing can improve a business’s visibility and ranking on Google Maps and local search results. In addition, businesses with an optimized Google My Business listing are more likely to appear in the “Local Pack” or the top three listings that appear at the top of search results. Therefore, businesses need to claim and optimize their Google My Business listing to improve their local SEO efforts

What is the best time to post on Google My Business?

There is no one “best” time to post on Google My Business that applies to all businesses. The best time to post on Google My Business depends on your business’s target audience, location, and industry. You should analyze your Google My Business Insights to identify when your customers are most active and engaged with your listing and schedule your posts accordingly. In general, it’s recommended to post during business hours when your customers are most likely to be searching for and engaging with businesses like yours. However, it’s important to test different posting times and analyze your results to determine the most effective posting schedule for your specific business.