Research has shown that 88% of consumers who search for local products or services through a mobile device will call or visit a store within 24 hours. In addition, 97% of consumers say they learn more about local businesses online than from any other source. These two impressive numbers highlight the importance of local businesses developing a strong online presence. Last month, a comprehensive research was conducted, The Google My Business Insights Study, which was based on the analysis of 45,000 Google My Business accounts.
Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool created by Google to help business owners manage how they appear in Google search results and Google Maps. With it, you can request your free local business listing on Google and add details such as your contact information, business hours, photos, services and much more. A Google Optimized Business List allows you to provide useful business information to users, such as business hours, where you are, driving directions, and more, to increase your overall online presence.
To get started with GMB, sign in with the google account used to verify your company. In Google Maps, tap your profile picture in the upper right corner of the mobile app and select “Your business profile” to access these tools. In Google Search, search for your company by name or search for “my company” to update your profile. If someone has already included you on Google (which is not uncommon), then you should see your ad appear. If you already have an ad and want to hide your address on Google, you can do so from the information settings of your GMB dashboard.
If you're a company serving an area, you'll need to let Google know which area you're serving customers in. Doing this step right is crucial if you want to appear on the Google results page when potential customers search for a product or service you offer. Adding this information to your Google listing is optional, but highly recommended. Make sure that everywhere you publish your website on the web (on a Google list, Yelp, yellow pages, pages from your local Chamber of Commerce, etc.) you use exactly the same URL structure for your website.
It's important that your company's name, address and website are the same across all listings in the directory. A tool like Direction is perfect for checking the consistency of your NAP on the web. Google recommends having a secure website (https), which will require you to have what is known as a Secure Socket Layer (SSL) certificate installed.
Google may offer you a different option to verify your business, but for most business owners, you'll have to wait for Google to mail you a postcard with a verification code. Appearing at the top of a Google search is like gold. But you know that, right? Whether you were able to verify your company or not, you can continue and optimize your Google My Business listing.
Setting your ad is like the base and frame of a house, it has to be there. Optimizing it is like making sure that the roof does not leak and that the insulation works well. That said, you'll want to make sure you're following Google My Business's guidelines for representing yourself on Google.
When someone searches for a service or product that Google believes can be provided to them from a local business, the search engine results page (SERP) will change to include local results. There are several factors that influence your ranking in the local herd and no one knows for sure. We've learned some best practices from advice directly from Google, and yet through our own experimentation and testing.
One problem with organic traffic tracking in Google Analytics is that you can't easily determine if traffic is coming from your ad in the map package or from regular organic results. You can resolve this by adding UTM parameters to your website URL in the Google My Business dashboard.
If you're not sure which category is right, you can search for the type of business you run on Google and see which categories your competition selected. We also have a Google My Business category search list if you want to see a current list of available categories.
Google My Business will automatically suggest some services, but you can also create custom services. The easiest way to add or edit Google My Business attributes is from the Business dashboard. Once there, go to the information screen and scroll down to the section with a small label indicator.
Adding attributes to a Google My Business listing allows the company to appear in additional, more refined searches. For example, if a person didn't have cash and only had one card, they might want to know what payment options were available.
Make it sound natural and human. Even if it's a fake review, respond as if it were a legitimate one.
