Google my business (also known as GMB or Google business profile) is one of those quick easy wins you can make to your business if you’ve not done it yet. If you have a business that relies on local custom (such as trades, hospitality, physical retail, in-person service/businesses), then it’s absolutely critical you have a fully optimised Google My Business listing set-up and keep it up-to-date.
What is Google My Business?
When a potential customer or client searches for what they want in Google, they generally do it in one of two ways, depending on what they’re looking for.
The first method is to simply type or speak their search into the search engine (for example, “hairdressers Southsea“). They’ll then get back a page of results that look like this:
The second way people find results is through maps searches (for this article we’re only talking about Google Maps). They’ll either be in the app or using the browser version of Google Maps, either way they’ll search for something they want locally (this example is “hairdresser Southsea“).
As you can see the business results that come back show several key bits of information about that local business such as: business name, reviews, opening hours, location. It also returns certain businesses first. As you can imagine, those with the best reviews and highest in the results are the ones that get more customers!
Google is pretty intelligent and will often find this information on your business without you even telling it. However the information that Google finds and shows to potential customers is pulled from a wide range of sources and is often out-of-date, inaccurate or might simply contain information on your business that you don’t want shown.
The little profile that is shown by Google is essentially your GMB listing. So it’s vital to have control over what is shown, and work on improving your result so you can be shown higher than your competitors.
So How Do I Create or Edit my GMB Listing?
This is a very simple and user-friendly process.
Step 1 – Visit the Google Business Profile Page
Step 2 – Sign in to the Google account you’d like to use to manage your business/es. If you don’t have a Google account then you’ll need to click on “create account” and create your free Google account.
Step 3 – Search for your business, or if you can’t find it, because you’re quite new, then click “add your business to Google”.
Step 4 – Follow the instructions on setting up your account/profile.
Step 5 – Add as much information to your Google my Business profile as possible. Add your logo; images of your business (inside and outside if possible); check/update/add all of your opening hours, contact details, business description etc. You’ll need to verify your address. To do this Google will send a postcard with a secure code to your business address. Once you receive the card, open it up log back into your Google Business Profile and add the code to prove the address is indeed yours.
Step 6 – Start building your reviews. The customer reviews on GMB are crucial to both your public image and also to how important your business is in Google’s eyes. On the home/dashboard of your Google Business Profile, you’ll see a link for creating a reviews link (see image).
This link can then be shared with previous and future customers to ask for reviews. Try to gain as many genuine reviews as possible and then set-up an ongoing system for collecting reviews as easily as possible from customers. Don’t be tempted to ask friends/family for reviews! Not only is this unfair to your customers, but Google is very smart now and can pick up fake reviews very easily. Stay on top of your reviews, by replying to any new ones you receive, particularly if they’re critical about your business or are expressing a problem the customer had.
So that’s a very quick, basic guide on Google My Business, don’t hesitate, get it done today! You’ll thank yourself later.
If you’d like any help or free advice regarding your Google My Business listing or any other aspect of your digital marketing, hit that contact-us button and get in touch today!
