Google My Business is a free tool created to help businesses manage their online presence across the Google platform, including Search and Maps. Google My Business manages how your business will appear in Google search and Google map. Your Business Profile will appear right when people are searching for a similar type of business like yours on Google Search or Maps.
Google My Business is not only about B2C but also contributes largely to the B2B marketing and this has been increasing with the increasing use of smartphones. Google Map helps in managing and tracking your online presence across Google’s various platforms.
How to list your business on Google My Business
The client’s first contact with your business is the information that you provide. And most of the time people are looking up basic information like phone number, address/location, or opening and closing hours. Registration for Google My Business is completely free. Here are the steps that need to be followed for getting your business listed:
- Log in to the Google Account you want your business to be associated with (or create a Google Account if you don’t already have one).
- At the site google.com, go to business and select “Start now” in the top right-hand corner.
- Enter the name of your business.
- Enter the location of the business.
- If you offer the facility of home delivery service, then check the box “I deliver goods and services to my customers.” And if you do not want to show your address to the public, Check “Hide my address (it’s not a store) Only show region.” Finally, select your Delivery area.
- Choose your business category. Here, you’re essentially telling Google which type of customers should see your business listing.
- Add the phone number or business website.
- Choose a verification option. If your business is not ready for verification, click “Try a different method” → or “Later.”
A Google My Business account is both an online directory listing and a social media profile. As with an online directory, business owners can create and claim ownership of their Google My Business listing and load it with information such as hours, location, and photos. As with social media platforms, posts can be published to the Google My Business profile. Similar to social media stories, they are not permanent and can be deleted after a period of 7 days.
Optimization of business:
When we are talking about chances of appearing in Google features like the Local Pack and Maps, a well-optimized Google My Business listing is really important. Almost 90% of customers look online to find local businesses. So you need to do everything it takes to be as visible as possible.
Here are some of the key points that will help you in optimizing Google My Business:
- Complete your business information and add a description
- Upload more photos and ensure they are of good quality
- Respond to reviews (yes, all of them)
- Use posts to promote events, offers, and content
- Create and upload videos
An optimized page will help Google understand more about your business – who you are, what services/products you sell, where you’re located, and your website link (so they can crawl it for more info).
Verification:
Verification is one of the important things to do when it comes to listing. Once you are done with the listing, enter the PIN and verify the local listing of your business to get access to further improve your profile page. Once verified, you can expand your branch reach and share more information with Google and your targeted customers. Verification allows you to:
- Add personal business photos
- Write detailed business descriptions
- Create business reviews
- Post updated business hours and location information
- Upload videos to your profile
- Offer your audience and customers coupons
Google My Business listing can be verified in a number of ways, namely:
- By postcard
- By phone
- By email
- Instant verification
- Bulk verification
How is Google My Business beneficial for a business?
Even third-party organizations can utilize Google My Business to manage their client’s business. They can access it in various ways:
- Managing information in bulk through the Google My Business API.
- Make sure that clients can read and reply to customer feedback.
- Leveraging insights for better understanding.
- Managing user access to specific locations.
Once a business registers its name, one organization account is created, which will allow them to manage locations on behalf of the business owners, thus helping them to get the most out of it.
Google My Business is not a substitute for search engine optimization
Google My Business and SEO though different, complement each other to bring about valuable business benefits. Both have a common purpose which is to make it easy for potential customers to reach you.
Proper optimization of business is important to ensure better visibility of your business at any point in time. SEO experts know the nuances that will help you bring more organic traffic to your site through search engines.
SEO professionals like The Smarketers provide a range of services, including auditing your site, developing a tailored SEO strategy, and implementing the tactics that will help your business reach its goals.
When people start the search for your business in Google, the results include both Google My Business listings and website pages.
The more advanced your search engine optimization is, the more likely your business will show up on Google My Business results because Google favors relevant, helpful, and valuable search results and gives greater weight to sites with good SEO.
The Smarketers takes ongoing maintenance and monitoring to be sure you are listing where you want, and don’t fall in the rankings. Google My Business is a great tool to add to your SEO arsenal, but make sure it’s just a component of this essential marketing strategy.
Conclusion:
Google My Business understands and expands your business the way you want. It will help you understand your customers and their preferences. You will get informed if the customers changed their tastes, preferences, etc., allowing you to know how customers are looking for you and why they are looking for you. In short, it provides great visibility to your business at no cost and barely any time.
