What is Google My Business?

Google My Business is a free platform that allows businesses to connect with customers. The goal of your listing is to let your customers know you provide what they need and that you are a reputable business. While the standard details such as your company name, address, and phone number are important, there are several other features to utilize.  An optimized Google My Business profile is also crucial for SEO as it is one of the best ways to work your way into the local 3-pack. Go beyond the basics to drive more views and engagement from Google users.   

Google Reviews

The biggest influence on a customer’s decision to purchase is reviews. In fact, 97% of people say reviews affect their buying decision. Google reviews not only confirm your trustworthiness, but you can prove you truly care about your customers.

• Overall Rating is not the only thing that matters. The number of reviews is important as well as how recent the reviews are. If your listing has not received any reviews in a few months, it is time to get some new ones. 
• Respond to your reviews whether they are good or bad. 
• Do not fear to get a few negative reviews. Studies have shown that a perfect 5.0 rating can seem unrealistic, which means the sweet spot falls between 4.5 – 4.8 

The easiest way to start getting reviews is to involve your entire team. For every positive interaction with a customer, there should be a review request that immediately follows. For more information on the value of reviews, check out our previous blog post: Customer Reviews: a Digital Marketing Goldmine

Photos

Represent your brand, products, services, and more by regularly updating photos to your listing. Photos attract engagement with your profile which impacts visibility. While the focus should be on quality over quantity, it is recommended that new photos be uploaded at least once per week It is also important to remember the purpose behind uploading photos should revolve around your customers, not to simply rank higher. 

Services Offered

What can you do for customers? How can you let searchers know your business provides a service they need? Google My Business allows you to add services to your listing either by choosing from auto-suggestions or by adding your own custom service. The best way to add services is to reference the information on your website. 

Product Highlights

In Google’s own words “The Product Editor allows merchants to build a presence on mobile and the computer to showcase their products and drive consumer interactions. Consumers will see a more curated showcase of a store’s products on the Business Profile Products tab on mobile, or the Product Overview module on the computer.”

There are two methods to choose from when adding products to your Google My Business profile:

1. Add individual products you would like to highlight.
2. Add product categories to show a more generalized product offering. 

Products can then be linked to pages on your website which means a user can discover your listing, browse your products, click-through to your site, and make a purchase. 

Google My Business Posts

Posts on Google My Business help to increase local visibility, highlight any promotions or events, and boost organic traffic through linking posts to your website. Posts display towards the bottom of your profile and give searchers more insight into your business. Google My Business posts also have several call-to-action buttons to choose from, which include: 

• Book
• Order Online
• Buy
• Learn More
• Sign Up
• Get Offer
• Call No

Similar to products, you can link a post directly to a page on your website. Posts are incredibly easy to create and effective in terms of increasing engagement. One of the easiest ways to get in the habit of publishing posts is to incorporate Google My Business into your social media strategy. 

COVID Updates

The coronavirus pandemic forced businesses everywhere to adapt their marketing strategies. Once quarantines began, online shopping and presence became the immediate focal point. Because of this, Google added new attributes that allow businesses to communicate how they are operating during these times. These attributes include:

• Online Care
• Online Appointment
• Online Estimates
• Online Classes

Optimizing your Google My Business listing for COVID-19 times will show customers you are still operating and available to them. 

Google My Business is a great opportunity for businesses to connect with their customers. Profiles that are fully optimized and regularly updated are more likely to rank higher, and if you ever want to show in the map pack, you absolutely need a Google My Business profile. For more information about optimizing your Google My Business listing, contact Anvil.