Businesses with their own Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter profiles are common these days. However, Google is still often neglected – at least when it comes to a business presence. Maybe Google is no longer on the radar in this context because the search engine company once failed with its own social media attempt called Google+. Google My Business enables you to influence how your company is represented on Google or Google Maps to the outside world. In the following blog, you will learn what exactly Google My Business is and how you to create a great profile on Google My Business for your purposes and goals.
What is Google My Business?
Not the Yellow Pages, but Google is now the first port of call when consumers are looking for a specific business or company, its address, e-mail, telephone and fax numbers, or website. Google displays such a business profile on Maps or in the local search results.
These profiles are particularly important for businesses that rely on local customers. But such an account is also helpful for location-independent businesses. If a consumer is looking for a restaurant, café, or other specific business, it will be the first to be highlighted in a separate box at the top right of the search results.
For example, if your business details are already listed in a business directory, you may already have a business profile on Google. However, this means that a Google Business Profile of your business can be created entirely without your intervention if you are not proactive yourself. In this way, you give up control of a decisive part of your external image and leave the management of your ratings or comments to chance.
Marketing Benefits of a Great Google My Business Account
If you don’t want to let others control your business profile, you should create a Google My Business account. Customize and maintain your business profile and improve your company’s public image on one of the world’s most important search and marketing engines.
The tool itself is also free, but you should still put in some work for these reasons:
- You are able to interact directly with your customers
- You increase your visibility on the search engine
- Customers quickly receive the most important information about your company
So this is an important marketing tool. It has at least as much importance for click and lead generation as well as customer acquisition as most social media channels.
How to sign up for Google My Business
First, sign up for Google My Business if you haven’t already. To do this, go to https://www.google.com/business/ and click on “Get started now”.
Next, you need to search for your business by typing the name in the search box. If you can’t find your business or you want to create a completely new profile, simply click on “Add business to Google”.
A notice
Before you can create a Google My Business account, you need an active Google account, but it’s easy to create and offers you many advantages. At best, however, you should sign in with your company’s Gmail account and not your own.
Google then allows you to add to your company data or create it from scratch. Here you can enter your name, country, and address as well as the main telephone number of your company. You may also indicate one or more categories in which you work.
To avoid fraud, Google has to confirm that you really are the owner of the company mentioned. You can usually choose to receive a phone call or a postcard with a confirmation code. You must enter this PIN. After that, you have to wait a few days until your company profile appears on Google.
Important steps for optimizing your Google My Business account
Most of the details involved in creating a Google My Business account seem very basic and simple at first glance. However, they offer a lot of room for optimization.
The following approaches for adjustments and improvements make an account a successful marketing tool.
Supplement and update core data
It may sound succinct, but a complete and up-to-date My Business account is the basis for a positive impression. This is the only way to inform your potential customers comprehensively about your business, attract their attention and set yourself apart from potential competitors. When you create your profile, Google shows you what percentage is required to complete your profile.
The name of the company, opening hours, address, telephone number, e-mail, and homepage should be a matter of course. However, because Google is linked to the Yellow Pages, and other social media sites such as Facebook and Das Örtliche, among other things, there should be no discrepancy between the data provided.
Be sure to include all possible opening times. If you run a business that also opens on Sundays and public holidays, you should let potential customers know. In this way, you encourage consumers to contact or visit you even during seemingly unusual times.
If you’re linking to a website, choose a page that contains helpful information for your customers. If this is not the start page, choose one of the subpages that contain more relevant information.
Business categories
The business categories offer you numerous options to sharpen your profile. Above all, however, they serve to help Google users find your company because they will rarely search for the exact name of your company. First, they are interested in a specific service that will meet their needs of the moment – be it in the form of a repair, a delicious cake, or a haircut.
You can create up to 10 categories in total. The category that most accurately describes your business should be set as the primary category. If you can’t find a suitable description, it’s best to search for a more general term.
Even if you have 10 options, it’s not about filling as many category slots as possible. On the contrary: Less is clearly more at this point. In particular, you should avoid redundant descriptions. At the same time, the category terms should not be so contradictory that they confuse potential customers. You should not necessarily see the categories as keywords or use them for so-called keyword stuffing.
Rather, think about what makes your business stand out alongside a potential main category. What other sectors of the economy do you occupy that make your business stand out in the public eye? For example, do you not only offer used smartphones but also repair them? Do you run a catering service for various events in addition to a nice café? All of this can help shape your business.
A notice
You can only opt for categories already provided by Google and not produce your own to indicate your business. You may have to embark on a creative search to find appropriate euphemisms for more specific types of businesses.
To determine if you have selected effective categories, you should consult Google Analytics after the determination. This way you can find out directly whether your selection has a bad or positive effect on your ranking. Check regularly to see if Google itself has added new categories that describe your business more accurately.
The categories not only decide whether Google users can find you or not. They also determine which other profile functions you are allowed to use, which attributes are available for your profile, whether you can insert buttons to insert bookings, receive reviews, and much more.
Attribute
In addition, Google allows you to assign different attributes to your company to round off the business profile. Take the chance to make it clear once again which extras set your business apart from the competition.
Do your guests ask at your restaurant: Is free WiFi available? What payment options are there? Is this an accessible restaurant or shop?
All of this information is important to consumers and much more can be specified using attributes. You can also decide whether the potential customer becomes a paying customer. So don’t neglect this part of the My Business account.
Company Description
You only have 200 words to describe the company. Don’t let that put you off, but rather motivate you to concentrate on the essentials. It is important what makes your business special and how you can help your customers or what needs you can meet.
Choose a keyword and build the company description on this foundation. In theory, you can even use multiple keywords, but there is not much room for them – a reasonable, informative, and appealing description takes precedence.
Also, do not enter any redundant information about your company that you have already used in other areas of your profile. It is better to concentrate on offering the visitors of your My Business account relevant, previously unknown information and on crystallizing a unique selling point.
Pictures and videos
Images and, if necessary, videos give your profile more variety and give Google users an important visual insight into your company or business. These can be photos of the inside or an outside view of your office, shop, restaurant, or café.
With the help of attractive and high-quality photos of your shop or office, your employees, or your products, your customer can e.g. B. Think directly about the purchase or meeting situation. A logo of your brand is also possible, but not necessarily as meaningful.
Location on Google Maps
Many customers who visit your store for the first time use their smartphone as a navigation device to find their way to you. To do this, you need to position your front door or your parking space as precisely as possible on Google Maps. If the current entry is not correct, you should change it.
On the one hand, you have to check whether you have correctly entered your address in the field provided. Furthermore, Google allows you to move the red marker on the right side of the window to the desired location. It is best to use the zoom function to determine the location as precisely as possible. Once you have completed this procedure, click on “Apply” at the top right.
Google does not implement the adjustment immediately. This process can take anywhere from 24 to 48 hours or longer.
Keep consumers up to date with breaking posts
While it’s not actually a social media network, you can use Google My Business in a similar way. Posting updates to your profile’s dashboard increases your chances of being found by customers better and faster because it helps you rank higher. The use of images and videos could also have a supportive effect.
Events, current offers, and products can also be wonderfully promoted here. Set a specific time frame for the duration of the respective events and promotions so that the post can be seen on your Google My Business profile for a correspondingly long time.
Google users who like your business can even subscribe to your profile to receive your news without having to repeatedly visit your business profile. Make your new followers a welcome gift with a special discount.
Some regularity with these posts is important because, unlike social media boards, some types of posts disappear after seven days.
Use the FAQ function for customer dialogue
With the question-and-answer feature, you create a dialogue with users and visitors to your business profile who are curious about your company or have questions about a product. Chances are that many other users who find you on Google have the same questions.
Interested parties get even more information that conveys your remaining profile data. It also gives you the opportunity to go into more detail that hasn’t been covered elsewhere. For this purpose, it is sometimes useful to formulate your own questions or use them from the FAQ section of your website and answer them.
You can also use keywords in this area. But use it sparingly and purposefully. They should fit organically into the question-and-answer texts.
Danger
Other users can also answer questions. You should always check whether such answers are correct and, if not, take corrective action. Google will mark your own answers as “response from the owner” so that there are no misunderstandings. Google informs you about every exchange via email or pushes messages so that you can react as quickly as possible.
Reviews and criticism
If your customer is satisfied with your service, don’t be afraid to ask for a positive Google rating. After all, this will help you to continue to offer and maybe improve your service and to inform other potential customers with similar needs.
At best, they should write longer reviews. A large number of five-star reviews without a more detailed explanation of how they came about does not help other consumers and prospects much. At worst, it even looks unbelievable.
As with other networks, the following applies here: Don’t be afraid of negative reviews! If the request is justified and formulated in a reasonable and constructive manner, you should address it urgently. This shows that specific customers, as well as others, are willing to work on issues to ensure customer satisfaction.
Tip
If, on the other hand, there is obviously wrong and offensive content, the first thing to do is to keep a cool head. In such a case, no response is initially the best reaction. It’s best to get legal advice to help you have the post or posts removed.
Customer chat
The chat function is another way for your customers to get in touch with you. Simply set up this feature via your Google My Business account under “Messaging”. Smartphone users who find your business through Google will then be able to message you directly and you can reply to them.
Conclusion: Be sure to activate Google My Business!
Google My Business is a fast and free way to enter into a direct dialogue with potential customers via Google and to respond to questions and criticism. With some work put into describing and categorizing your business, as well as up-to-date status updates with relevant news, you can effectively and relatively easily increase visibility in search results.
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