If you’re a small business owner, chances are you’re somewhat familiar with Google My Business (GMB) listings. Whether you regularly update your GMB listing, or the whole concept of GMB flat out confuses you, we’re here to help you navigate your GMB listing and use it to your advantage.
No matter the business you own, owning a GMB page is paramount to increasing your SEO, gaining brand awareness in your community, and building trust between you and potential customers. Learn how to use GMB to your advantage, and grow brand awareness in your community with these five recommendations!
Setup and Verify Your Business
Have you set up your Google My Business listing? If not, watch below to learn how to set up your account in seconds!
Next, you’ll have to verify your account. By verifying your account, you are increasing your chances of potential customers clicking on your listing while validating the information on your listing.
Follow these steps to get verified on Google!
Make Sure Your NAP is Consistent
Also known as name, address, and phone number. Your NAP information is critical to building SEO. You’ll need to make sure every detail of your address is consistent – all the way down whether you write out “street” or use the abbreviation “st.”
For example, Google’s headquarters address is: Google LLC 1600 Amphitheatre Parkway Mountain View, CA 94043
In this case, Google would want to make sure they are spelling out “Parkway” instead of abbreviating it with “Pkwy.” Inconsistencies in NAP information will decrease the authority and legitimacy in your business, which leads to decreased SEO. Likewise, you’ll want to keep your business name consistent. As you see in Google’s headquarters address, they refer to themselves as “Google LLC.” In that instance, they would use “Google LLC” across all business and social profiles. Does your business use an ampersand in its title? Make sure your GMB listing is an accurate representation of this. Use the ampersand, instead of “and,” across all channels to avoid discrepancies that could harm your SEO.
By keeping everything consistent across all business and social listings, Google recognizes your business as authoritative and legitimate, resulting in increased SEO. Although this step is the most simple, it is oftentimes the most overlooked. You’ll want your Google My Business NAP to set the tone for the rest of your profiles – whether that’s social, business, or review listings.
Maintain Your Listing
No matter what type of business you are – you’ll need to make sure you include basic information, such as your hours of operation, contact information, links to social profiles, a link to your business website, business category, and a brief description about your business. Have you updated your branding? You’ll want to make sure all imagery in your GMB listing is up to date and an accurate representation of your business. Aim for high-quality images that showcase your products, services, and even your staff!
Regular Posting
Did you know that you can post updates on Google My Business? GMB posting can often be underutilized, but once you put a plan into action, there’s a great chance you’ll begin to see your SEO increase! You’ll want to post content centered around business updates, new products or services, or any sort of event you’re hosting. Remember – you always want to direct the consumer to the designated website page. If your post is about a specific product or service, you’d want to link to that product or service website page. Similarly, if you are posting about events, you’d want to link to your event page. Include a high-quality image in your post, along with a call to action and link to your website.
We recommend posting at least once a week, in order to see a positive change in your SEO. You can easily pull content from your social media calendar to add to your GMB, as long as the content is focused on your brand.
You won’t want to divert attention from your business, and its products and services. Below is an example of a GMB post from a local coffee shop:
Google Reviews
Did you know that 97 percent of consumers aged 18-34 read online reviews to judge a local business? If there’s one thing you don’t want, it’s for potential customers to view your Google My Business listing, and see that the last review was from 2007. This could potentially scare off customers, and cause them to view your business as less credible. You’ll want to use Google reviews to your advantage – to increase trust and credibility among potential customers.
Although some platforms like Yelp do not permit review solicitation,
Google has stated they allow businesses to ask customers for reviews. Google recommends that business owners encourage customers to leave honest reviews, respond to all reviews (positive or negative), and make sure your listing is verified. The more reviews your Google My Business listing has, the better. You don’t want to give your potential customers any reason to question your business, so receiving reviews is a great way to maintain your reputation.
What will you implement in your Google My Business listing? Let us know by tagging @Hyportdigital.
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