What is Google My Business (GMB)?
What is Google My Business (GMB)?
Google provides all qualifying businesses with a google business page. If you are interested in promoting your business, you don’t want to miss out on the free marketing opportunities offered by Google for business.
GMB gives you; a business listing that shows up on Search and Maps, free posts about your business, access to customer information, and customer reviews. Google My Business listing lets potential customers find you in Search and Maps.
Your listing shows your address, business hours, contact detail, and payment types. Business google maps mean your customers can see where you are in their area – increasing footfall to your business.
Engaging with business on Google is an excellent first step to increasing your SEO by increasing brand awareness and making yourself more visible in the search rankings. It’s not a static listing because you get the ability to post news and information about yourself- for free.
You also gain useful information about potential customers to use at a later stage when you may want to use paid advertising for a marketing campaign.
What is the Difference Between a Google Maps and Google My Business listing?
What is the Difference Between a Google Maps and Google My Business listing?
You can list your business in Map Maker and Google My Business. There are key differences:
1.When you move address, you have to delete your listing in Map Maker and make a new one. In Google My Business, you simply update your address details. The old map listing says visible and can outrank your new one.
2.Service area businesses cant list on Google Maps, but they can on Google My Business.
3.Rebranding is straightforward on Google Business and more complicated on Google Maps with closing and reopening.
Generally, Google My Business is more user friendly and lets you retain your business history in a way that Google Maps does not.
What’s the Difference Between a Google Plus profile and Google My Business profile?
What’s the Difference Between a Google Plus profile and Google My Business profile?
Google Plus for business users is now Currents. This tool is for employers to communicate with employees and engage on key topics for the organization and staff. The administrator can give access to people outside of the organization. Google My Business is outward facing to engage with current and future customers. My Business Google is the marketing tool, and Currents is more of a social tool.
Why You Need a Google My Business Listing
Why You Need a Google My Business Listing
The main benefits of an accurate, verified, and maintained profile on My Google Business Page are:
Show Up in Google Maps Searches
You want your business to show up in Google map searches because these are potential customers in your area. They are also warm customers actively looking for a company like yours for their dry cleaning, a cup of coffee, or some legal advice.
People like to check out the territory before making contact. They want to know where you are and what you look like, with pictures and a map reference. They want to know you are local – every month, there are billions of local searches. About 30% of these searches relate to wanting to see where you are on a map.
What about if you go to the customer? Business on Google Maps lets you set your map information to show your service area. Potential customers can then see that they are in the right place for you to come to them. This information means when they click through and call you, both of you know you can do business together.
People like to check out the territory before making contact. They want to know where you are and what you look like, with pictures and a map reference. They want to know you are local – every month, there are billions of local searches. About 30% of these searches relate to wanting to see where you are on a map.
What about if you go to the customer? Business on Google Maps lets you set your map information to show your service area. Potential customers can then see that they are in the right place for you to come to them. This information means when they click through and call you, both of you know you can do business together.
Show Up in Google's Local 3-Pack
A Map with three local businesses appears in almost a third of all first search pages. Google assumes local information is more relevant to you than global. If you search for restaurants, Google thinks that you want to go out to eat and gives you the best results for your search intent.
What qualifies your Google business page for top three-star billing?
Relevance – do you have what the searcher needs?
Distance – how close are you to the searcher's current location?
Presence – are you a reputable and active business online and locally?
Although location and relevance are the key factors, it makes sense to optimize your website and increase your local visibility on social media. When google business search sees six similar businesses in your locality, it will select those with excellent SEO and ranking.
What qualifies your Google business page for top three-star billing?
Relevance – do you have what the searcher needs?
Distance – how close are you to the searcher's current location?
Presence – are you a reputable and active business online and locally?
Although location and relevance are the key factors, it makes sense to optimize your website and increase your local visibility on social media. When google business search sees six similar businesses in your locality, it will select those with excellent SEO and ranking.
Earn Trust Using Reviews
Customer reviews tell you about your business and tell others if you are a good option for them. Customer reviews and star ratings appear next to your Google My Business listing in Maps and Search.
Think about how you choose who you choose online – do you look at the lowest rated or the highest rated? Potential customers find other customers reviews helpful, and the reviews influence their decisions.
You can request reviews from your customers, and you can respond to reviews posted. No one likes negative feedback, but skillful handling of customer complaints demonstrates a commitment to customer services. The golden rule is – friendly, polite language, even if the claim is wrong or malicious, google business advice is to remain calm and professional.
Think about how you choose who you choose online – do you look at the lowest rated or the highest rated? Potential customers find other customers reviews helpful, and the reviews influence their decisions.
You can request reviews from your customers, and you can respond to reviews posted. No one likes negative feedback, but skillful handling of customer complaints demonstrates a commitment to customer services. The golden rule is – friendly, polite language, even if the claim is wrong or malicious, google business advice is to remain calm and professional.
Increase Traffic and Sales
When someone searches for a product or service, they are on the buying journey. The query shows interest and is more likely to prompt a phone call or click through to your website if it is easy.
Your My Business Google listing comes with tools to increase sales and traffic by increasing your engagement with existing and future customers. These tools include writing your business description, creating posts that can advertise sales and include links to your website, and a question and answer section where you answer searchers' queries (you get an email alert).
Plus, you can rank the order in which questions appear – creating a FAQ section on your Google business listing.
Your My Business Google listing comes with tools to increase sales and traffic by increasing your engagement with existing and future customers. These tools include writing your business description, creating posts that can advertise sales and include links to your website, and a question and answer section where you answer searchers' queries (you get an email alert).
Plus, you can rank the order in which questions appear – creating a FAQ section on your Google business listing.
Increase Engagement
Turning a passing interest into a long-term relationship means creating opportunities for conversations with people who spot you as a result of My Business for Google.
On the Google Business page, people interact with you by:
Clicking through to your website: When a potential customer clicks through, they need to land on the most relevant page for them.
Asking a question: Be prepared to make quick and accurate replies.
Reading your posts: Regular posts about sales and special offers, as well as news and events, keep up a level of interest. Plus, you can encourage your customers to post photos, videos, and comments.
Leaving a review: Make it easy for your customers to leave a review and respond appropriately to customer reviews.
Editing your pages: Anyone can edit your Google business page, so check in regularly to keep your information current and correct.
On the Google Business page, people interact with you by:
Clicking through to your website: When a potential customer clicks through, they need to land on the most relevant page for them.
Asking a question: Be prepared to make quick and accurate replies.
Reading your posts: Regular posts about sales and special offers, as well as news and events, keep up a level of interest. Plus, you can encourage your customers to post photos, videos, and comments.
Leaving a review: Make it easy for your customers to leave a review and respond appropriately to customer reviews.
Editing your pages: Anyone can edit your Google business page, so check in regularly to keep your information current and correct.
Stand Out from Competitors
The best way to stand out from your competitors is to take advantage of every tool at your disposal and to optimize everything you write about your business online through opportunities like My Google Business account.
Create and maintain a complete profile – this information connects you and your customers, so make it easy to understand, accurate, and keep it updated.
Use your business description wisely – you get 750 characters but only the first 250 display. Load your vital information into the first section and talk honestly and realistically about your business.
Post regularly with high-quality photos, videos, and text. Your post stays highlighted for seven days and is an excellent free marketing tool for your business.
Create and maintain a complete profile – this information connects you and your customers, so make it easy to understand, accurate, and keep it updated.
Use your business description wisely – you get 750 characters but only the first 250 display. Load your vital information into the first section and talk honestly and realistically about your business.
Post regularly with high-quality photos, videos, and text. Your post stays highlighted for seven days and is an excellent free marketing tool for your business.
Google My Business Analytics
Google My Business Analytics
Google offers data tools like; Search Console, Google Analytics, and Google My Business Insights Search Console and Google Analytics are more advanced tools than My Business Google Insights, but Insights gives you plenty of useful data as part of your listing:
Number of views
Where customers found you
Interactions
Queries used
Types of Searches
Direct Search -where someone already knows your name
Discovery Search – where someone is looking for a product or a service.
You want your discovery search total to exceed your direct searches. Why? Because you need people who don’t know you to find you ahead of your competitors. If this figure is low, you need to look at improving SEO for local searches to rank higher and gain one of the top spots.
The way the top searchers worded their query tells you what keywords and phrases customers are using to find your Google business page. This information is useful for making sure your content is working as you intend.
Your customers can find you through Google Search or Google Maps. A higher map number indicates more mobile users are finding your business. This information lets you review your mobile optimization for business on Google Maps.
What is Customer Activity Tracking?
When a customer finds you, what do they do? Are you making an impression and prompting them into interacting with you? That’s the goal – attract and keep their attention.
Customer activity falls into:
• Clicking through to visit your website.
• Using the phone number on your listing to call you.
• Asking for directions to your business.
• Viewing (clicking on) your posts.
• Viewing your photos and videos.
Your customer activity on your Google Business account lets you know where to focus your efforts. If people are asking for directions, you can add more information to your Google business page on parking, public transport and include more photographs showing your building from different approaches. Direction requests display on a heat map so you can see what areas the best zones for your business. You can use this information to run a social media campaign in those areas or those that don’t use your services. Phone call information tells you the days and times when most people call you – perhaps in their lunch hour? As well as being interesting, this information tells you when most people are looking at your listing – you can schedule a new post for before peak viewing times and see if that increases your viewing statistics on My Google Business page. Your Photo views come with a benchmark for similar businesses. This information lets you know if you need to change your images or if you are outperforming the competition. All the information collected and analyzed by Google business insights gives you the marketing data needed to increase your reach and sell more.
How to Create a Google My Business Listing?
How to Create a Google My Business Listing?
To use Google Business Manager, you need a Google Account associated with your business. If you don’t already have one, set one up. It’s free. You can click through from your google account (menu option and also at the bottom of the page) on the ‘business’ option. Or you can go direct to google.com/business and follow the straightforward directions. Once you complete initial information, you verify your Google Business account information using one of the verification methods Google offers. Lots of people confirm by email because everyone is familiar with setting up accounts with businesses this way. You get a verification code that you enter to validate the My Google Business account.
Enter Complete Data for Your Business
Now you complete your Google business profile as accurately as possible. Remember, other people can edit your Google business listing. It is sensible to make it part of your business routine to check your profile reflects your business. Your Google business listing is the first contact new customers have with you, and it’s probably how existing customers quickly check small details like opening times and contact numbers. Give your customers reliable information on My Google Business page and keep it up to date. Editing information is quick and easy. If your phone number or opening times change – update your profile. Also, give your customers all the information they need – complete all the spaces available to you on My Business Google for a complete listing.
Specify Service Areas
Most businesses give an address of their bricks and mortar store, but if you are plumber, a mobile hairdresser or a landscape gardener that isn’t going to work for you. Businesses that deliver services to customer homes can specify their service area on Business Google Maps. Instead of a pin on a map, your business shows up as a service zone.
Keep Business Operating Hours Accurate
Don’t feel tempted to say you are open seven days a week if you close Sunday and Monday. It is crucial that if a customer sees you are accessible on your Google business listing that if they come to your store, you are open. Remember that disappointed customers may edit your business page to save other potential customers from a wasted journey. They might change your business to – “closed,” and you may not notice for weeks.
Choose your Business Category
Currently (2020), there are 3,942 potential business categories, and you select one primary and up to nine secondary descriptions. You want to focus on your core business and limit your categories because more is not better. If you have a gym with a café for refreshments, your primary business is the gym and not the added benefit of the café. Concentrate on the needs of the customer you want to attract when describing your business type on Google for Business.
Finish by Verifying your Business
Information about your business can be on My Business Google without you creating it. When you are paying attention to your Google business listing, you either claim your Google business or create one. Either way, you need to verify that you are the business representative with the right to manage the Google business account.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where Does My Google My Business Listing Appear?
Ideally, you want your business on Google to be in the top three search results – the three-pack of local searches. Your listing appears when someone near your company searches for you by name or product or service.
Your position on the results page depends on proximity, relevance, and ranking compared to the other organizations in the search results pool.
If I Create More Than One Google My Business Profile, Will it Improve My Ranking?
The short answer is no. The guiding principle is on Google for Business is one listing per independent qualifying business. Your ranking depends on the three factors – the primary one being location so you would be competing against yourself and others for top billing and sending out a confusing message. Concentrate on building your business with activity and relevant content.
Is Google My Business (GMB) free?
Yes. Google My Business is a free listing on Google that you either create or claim. The information about your business is collected by Google and packaged into a listing with or without your co-operation. It makes sense for you to claim your Google Business page because it is your shop window on Google.
Who Can Have a Google My Business Listing?
There are two types of businesses that can have a Google My Business listing; those with a physical location that welcomes customers to their premises and those that travel to meet customers in their homes in a defined area.
Additionally, the business must make person to person contact during business hours with a couple of exceptions for some types of self-service kiosks and seasonal businesses. Seasonal businesses need to display signage all year round even if they only open for a few months of the year. Self-service kiosks need contact information to provide customer support.
Can People Make Edits to My Google My Business Listing?
All Google business listings are open for editing by anyone. That means customers (happy or otherwise), competitors, and bored teenagers.
The principle behind allowing the world to edit your business information is to benefit from crowdsourcing of information that may prove helpful to others. Your listing is free, so you have limited control over content posted without your consent.
Your primary safeguard is to stay vigilant and regularly check the content appearing on your listing. You can re-edit and correct any misinformation, and if someone is behaving maliciously, you can contact Google support for assistance.
Why Use Hashtags in My Google My Business Posts?
All the major search engines will index hashtags. The technical name for hashtag is metadata tag. A hashtag is a searchable link. If the hashtag is relevant to your post or business, then include it. If it is not connected, then don't.
Your primary focus on Google My Business is to help people find your business rather than trending keywords.
It's a personal preference; hashtags are unlikely to help, but if they are important to your message, then use them.
I Have Negative Reviews on My Google My Business Listing. How Can I Remove it?
You can only get a review removed from My Google Business page if it falls foul of Google's review policies. You can't delete a bad review or one you don't like, but you can flag reviews that are false or wrong.
Reviews must reflect a genuine experience, so a comment that your range of mint ice cream tastes terrible when you don't sell ice cream can be flagged as fake for removal.
Inside your Google My Business Dashboard, you can flag any reviews for Google to assess. You can't insist on removal and it and take days for review.
Best business practice is that you respond to the review (politely), highlighting that you have no record of any contact with them and if they are genuine customers to get in touch so you can resolve their issue.
I Forgot My GMB Login Information. How Can I Access My Listing?
First – do not be tempted to set up a new listing because there is only one listing per business.
Your first option is to find the business on the Google listing and click on the "Claim this business" link on the Business profile. Because the business has been verified, you will see a "request access" form to complete and submit.
The current "owner" has a week to reply and hand over the details.
Then contact Google customer support and ask them to resolve the situation. They will check on the activity and try to contact the current "owner" to resolve the conflict of ownership. Finally, you verify that you are the business owner and have the login details for your listing.
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