When you claim a Google My Business account you also get Search and Maps as part of the deal. The best part is, it’s completely free. It’s a great way to promote your business but it’s important to consider that settings everything up optimally can be a challenge, especially considering that a proportion of your competitors are likely to be hiring Local SEO Consultants to optimise their Google My Business account for them. These Local SEO Consultants setup and optimise these profiles day in day out so are likely to be able to do this quickly and efficiently. So you’ll already be on the back foot before you’ve even started. But, have no fear, Internet Marketing Platinum is here to help, with yet another round for quick tips to getting you started.
Here’s our cheat sheet to promoting your local business with Google My Business (including Google Search and Google Maps):
Step 1 – Claim Your Listing Or Setup A New Google My Business Account
This can be done by following this link https://www.google.com/business/
Step 2 – Enter Your Business Name And The Rest Of The Details When Prompted Including Specific Service Areas (If Applicable)
This will include your business address, so that your business location can be determined.
Step 3 – Choose Your Business Category
Choose a business category that best fits your business.
Step 4 – Enter Your Website Address URL
If you don’t have a website or if you need your website redesigning, then contact us.
Step 5 – Enter Your Business Phone Number
A local number is best. Try to avoid adding a mobile number or 08 number.
Step 6 – Verify Your Business
Postcard verification is most common, which involves Google sending a postcode to the address that you specified in the listing. Less common methods of verification include by phone or email. There’s also instant and bulk verification.
Step 7 – Adding To Your Listing
There’s lots more you can do to optimise your listing, including adding a Covid-19 message, Q&As, photos, videos, business posts, and much more.
Step 8 – Reviews And Citations
It’s important that you request that your customers ‘follow’ your business on Google Maps and leave reviews for your business on Google My Business. It’s important to realise that any reviews left on your Google Maps listing will also appear on Google My Business. So don’t worry about having to ask them to add a review in both places! There may be a delay of up to 24 hours before a review appears on both though. Also when citations are being built (listings in business web directories) it’s important that your business name, address and phone number are consistent. This is known as NAP and is something that Google does look for.
