Google My Business
Google My Business (GMB) - Give your digital marketing that vital edge.
Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that allows sellers and buyers to locate each other. It allows businesses and companies to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. If a user Googles for a specific service or product, Google My Business displays the name of companies near that person.
For instance, if you type ‘motorcycle’ in the search box, information about several motorcycle manufacturers and shops near you appears.
Having your business listed on GMB allows potential customers to know where you are located exactly, your operating hours, contact information and so on. Your free GMB profile provides users with some insights on your shop or company (photos) as well as reviews/ratings from past customers, which will allow them to decide on the next step (to visit or not - based on whether the presented information meets their expectations).
GMB is where you set the key information about your business that you want users to find when they search for your business or products or keywords - keywords. If a user finds your business on Google Maps or Search, they can find information like your operating hours, product photos, website, address and so on.
Benefits of Google My Business Listing for Small Businesses
1. Digital Landmark
In short, Google My Business allows users to know your business exists and that it is located nearby to them. So suddenly you exist and exist conveniently close by to potential customers who are actively looking for your products or services.
2. Google Rankings
There are ways for you to rank your business at the top of the list, if you know how to set up your company on Google My Business the right way. And when you do so, you create the most effective advertisement for yourself with thousands of reaches.
3. Featured on Google
You have the world's most important search engine to let your audience know everything they need to know about your business. This creates a lot of credibility for your brand/company. Best of all, it’s free.
4. Increase Opportunities
Google My Business increases your business opportunities unlike any other methods. If you yourself have used google search you know this fact. And you also know that the review section in the My Business portal is where you would usually go look to see what others are saying about a particular company/brand/shop.
5. Good Experience, Good Reviews
However, this is the part where you need to ensure every customer has the best possible experience. It is in your best interest to ensure your customers’ experiences garner you favourable reviews and ratings in every possible aspect; pricing, service, promotions, product variety, shop environment, you name it. Everybody knows reviews and ratings are based on actual customer experience, and that is the deciding factor that will undoubtedly attract them to your shop.
The more and the better the reviews and ratings, the more customers you will attract.
6. Useful Tools
On top of this, upon creating your Google My Business Listing, you have a host of wonderful tools at your disposal - tools that help you analyse your market efficiency for instance. Here you can track your audience and check the customer involvement, actions, click-through rates and so much more.
It also gives you the opportunity to connect with your customers directly so that you can obtain feedback. One of the great new features is ‘Book an Appointment,’ which allows people to plan a visit to your place.
There are many sites that will guide you step-by-step on setting up your Google My Business listing, here is one.
We will instead give you pointers on how to optimise your GMB listing, once you have done with the set-up.
How to get more out of your Google My Business listing?
Complete Every Information in the Listing
Use your GMB platform to serve up all the pertinent information on your business/company. Provide your name, location, business description, operating hours and add your logo. Fully complete all the fields, before moving on.
Putting Out Timely Post
Google ranks businesses on its list by assessing how active the owners are on GMB. Thus, prepare a weekly/monthly plan for your posts, so that each day you have something interesting to share to help with your ranking on search results.
Promote Reviews
The more good reviews you get, the better your ranking in the search results. Just say if one of your customers leaves a positive review that includes a comment like ‘Tyre Shop - Great Service in (your area),’ the next time if a prospect customer searches for ‘Tyre Shop - Great Service in (your area),’ there is a very high chance that Google will consider giving your list a better ranking.
The only proper way to get good reviews is to get your in-shop customers to write a good review. Also, always respond/reply positively to every review given, both good and bad, that shows your business is attentive and you are eager to improve things.
Do note that it is against Google’s Terms of Service to incentivise customer reviews/ratings.
Professional Photography
Photos give a strong visual impression of your business to your prospect customers. You want to upload photos that attract customers. You can take photos yourself if you are good with photography or spend some money and hire a more professional on a regular basis to do it; consider it as a wise investment.
Your Profile Photo - Make it shine!
A stunning photo of your company’s lobby or skyscraper office? A professional-looking and inviting front-desk? Or a popular logo that people already know? The idea is to stand out and use what works to attract your prospects to your shop - so make it outstanding!
Give them a Tour (Video)
Although this is optional, we do recommend taking a video to give your prospect customers an idea of what to expect before they actually decide to drop by. Again, you may want to hire a professional videographer or creative agency to help produce your video. You can show off the product variety in your shop, the beautiful or warm and spacious interior of your premise (if it applies), the happy customers visiting your shop, and so on.
GMB Website
Having your social media presence is a must for digital marketing, and so is a professionally designed website. Which is why the Google My Business platform allows you to create your website. Build and link your website with your Google My Business Account - if you truly want to reap the benefits of digital marketing with Google My Business.
Full-throttle on Digital Marketing
Your Google My Business listing is one aspect of Digital Marketing that contributes in improving your business performance, so you want to ensure that you have all other components of your digital marketing in full-swing: Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Content Marketing, Social Media Marketing, etc. - to see better tangible results.
Getting Support on Google My Business
We have given you the vital breakdown on what you need to know about setting up your Google My Business. However, you can get more specific help-support on Google My Business Help.
