Google My Business 101
What is Google My Business
Google My Business is a free and powerful tool offered by google exclusively for businesses. If you’re unfamiliar with Google My Business you can think of it like the old Yellow Pages, but it is free and the businesses listed are in control of making changes and updates to the Google Business listing. Very simply, it is a platform where businesses can list all of their contact info, hours, services, products and a way to post announcements and new promotions as they come up. It allows you to go into great detail on all of these important categories and any updates are made in real time. If you or your company are not listing your business on Google, you can bet that your competition is.
How a Google My Business Listing can Help Your Business
There are several benefits to having a Google My Business Listing. First of all, Google is the number one search engine. So, when people are looking for your products and services they are most likely going to Google to search for you. You want to be able to highlight your business the best possible way. When they search for your business, having an updated and robust Google Business Listing is a sure way to get your new customer’s attention.
Google business listings are a great way to score points with search engines as well as potential customers. Customers love to see up to date reviews from other customers to decide if they want to go with your company or the competition. Likewise, Google loves “activity” and fresh new content about your business. These are some of the main factors that are taken into consideration when Google ranks your business, and increases your ranking when people search for your products and services. You have a potential to rank higher when your business’ listings are up to date and more people are likely to find your business.
How to Get Started with Google My Business
Getting started with Google my Business is easy. However, it does require some time and attention to details not only to set up, but also to maintain on a regular basis . First you will need to make sure you have a Google Business Profile listing in place. This can be done by anyone and you as the business owner do not have control over this. A Business Profile is the same as adding a business to Google maps and it is where customers can leave reviews, post photos and ask questions etc.
As a business owner you will need to create a Google My Business account so that you can claim and verify your business. Once this is complete then you will have control over how your business is listed and can utilize the marketing tools available within the account. For details on how to set up the account go to Google’s support page.
Next you will need to compile all essential business information such as, business name, description, services, hours of operation, phone number, email, website, and photos of the outside and inside of your business.
Need Help?
If you’re like most business owners you are busy running your business and probably don’t have the extra hours to put into all the details of your business listing. A trusted employee or third party can act on your behalf and set up your account for you
NOTE: If you are using a third party or an internal employee, make sure that your email address as the business owner is made an Owner in the account settings. This could save you a headache of getting access to your account down the road if you part ways with an employee or an outside firm.
Assigning an employee or hiring an outside firm to handle your Google My Business Listing is money and time well spent. As mentioned above, Google wants to see fresh new content on a regular basis and so do your customers. It is easy to let days and weeks go by without updating your listing and you could be losing potential customers. Having an experienced team such as W3ON to set up and manage your listing can offer a wide range of returns on your investment.