Many marketers and companies start with GMB (Google My Business) as it greatly improves your SEO standing and the chances of becoming noticed on the internet.
Firstly, create an account and claim your business. Verify your business, optimise your listing and download the GMB app. These are all steps that you must follow in order to be able to complete your GMB listing.
There are many things you can add to your GMB listing, the more information you supply, the more successful your listing will be.
You will be asked to supply a business description (a fairly new addition to GMB). They allow 750 characters to tell your story. Needless to say, this is an important place to be plugging your keywords.
You can add pictures and videos of your business or products, so get some professional shots and add them. Videos up to 30 seconds or less. Photos must be 720 x 720 or less pixels. Remember, searchers (customers) will look to the pictures and videos first.
The main reason a person would search for your business is to find your phone number and/or address. Make this clear. Google Maps will help here.
GMB also has a message facility, where the customer may have a question for you. Ensure you check your listing regularly and respond to the questions immediately if possible.
A review from a previous customer is cream on the cake. Answer all reviews, even a quick “Thank You”, but most importantly, answer any negative reviews you may receive. Be polite and helpful so other customers can see you are reasonable about criticism.
If you are a restaurant, then being able to list your menu is priceless. If the customer then phones you , you can be pretty sure they will be purchasing, or getting directions to your business.
Google supply a lot of data-analysed insights about your listing. Your GMB data can show how many new people found your business through the listing, or through your website.
If you are getting confused by the number of Google products around, I hope the following might clarify some of your questions. In 2014 Google Places was replaced by GMB, this was to assist with appearance on Google Search. Google Maps is still going strong and you may have heard the name Google +, which is now no longer available.
So go ahead, start your GMB listing today, remember, verify, enter your data and post and you will see how GMB can help bring customers to your door.
