Google My Business: Tips and Techniques

And as the pandemic has encouraged more of us to support our local businesses, showing up in local searches for people in your community is more important to businesses than ever.

That ease of use and access to information is why Google My Business (GMB) is a vital tool for any local business looking to market its products or services. Not sure how to set your Google My Business page up, or why you even need one?

Don’t worry – we’ve got the complete guide to GMB marketing you need right here. It includes a step-by-step guide to setting up your Google My Business page so you can start reaping the benefits of this valuable tool right away.

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What is Google My Business?

An Overview of Google My Business

Google My Business is a completely free tool that allows you to manage how your business shows up in Google Search and Google Maps. GMB lets you add and update your business name, hours, and location, check out and reply to customer reviews, upload photos, learn how people are searching for you, and a whole lot more.

It’s a powerful tool for businesses of any kind, but it’s especially valuable for local ones. Google My Business helps your customers in and around your community find your business, understand what it does and what you offer, and get the information they need to make a visit or a purchase.

Ever wondered how do businesses use Google for marketing? GMB is a big piece of the puzzle. While GMB by itself isn’t enough to complete your digital marketing plan, it ensures that people who hear about your business or are looking for what you offer can find and contact you easily.

Why Google My Business is Important for Local Businesses

Why is GMB so critical for local businesses? It’s because when people are searching for something close by, like “pizza near me,” it’s almost always because they’re very close to making a purchase – ordering that pizza, for example.

In fact, 72% of consumers who conducted a local search visited a store within five miles of them. Google My Business local search results help those high-intent local searchers find your business and get the information they need to plan a visit, make a call, or purchase online.

And in case you’re still wondering, is Google My Business really free? Yes, it truly is – and that’s just one more reason you can’t afford to miss out on using it. It can bring in a significant amount of traffic and revenue to your business without costing you a penny. The only caveat is that to have a GMB account, and your business must have some in-person interaction with your customers, so you can’t set one up for a completely online business.

What is Google My Business Used For?

Google My Business allows businesses to have ownership over how their company appears in searches on Google, including in their Maps feature. While it doesn’t allow you to control everything – you can’t remove negative reviews, for example – it does let you ensure everything is updated and accurate.

Plus, you can add photos of your business and products to entice people in your community to visit. If you run a nail salon, for example, you can upload pictures of the salon, events you’ve held, and examples of the great work your nail technicians have done, so customers know what to expect. These action items are a great way to get started on local marketing.

You can also add price lists, service descriptions, menus, and contact information, so potential customers have the information they need to decide if they’ll be buying from you soon.

And GMB helps ensure any paid ad efforts you have don’t go to waste. For example, if you run an ad campaign in a local newspaper or radio show to increase your brand awareness, potential customers interested in learning more are likely to do a Google search on your name. Having an updated and attractive GMB listing means they’ll find a positive representation of your brand and complete that purchase they were contemplating.

GMB SEO vs. Website SEO

Google My Business SEO has a lot in common with traditional website SEO – but there are significant differences.

Having an updated and optimized GMB listing helps your business appear at the top of local search results in the “local 3-pack” – the listings that Google has determined are most relevant and popular for that particular search.

And your GMB profile can help your business website by indicating to Google that your business has social proof (your reviews) and driving traffic to your site.

But you don’t need to focus as much on keywords here as in website SEO, which is a benefit if you’re not super familiar with SEO right now. You can simply focus on creating a high-quality, descriptive, accurate listing and updating it regularly.

And one of the biggest GMB benefits for small businesses just starting is that you can begin to see local SEO traffic from a completed GMB profile right away. Traditional SEO is also highly valuable, but it takes longer to see results, and more work is required.

While ideally, you’ll focus on maximizing your long-term traffic, getting your GMB page up and optimized first requires less time, and you’ll see those customers coming in right away. This should be one of your first tasks when you open your business.

How to Use Google My Business

So now that you know what Google My Business is good for, how exactly do you set up and optimize your GMB page?

Whether you’re starting from scratch or you have a GMB profile, but it needs some serious updating, here’s your step-by-step guide to how to set up and use Google My Business.

Creating a Google My Business Listing

1. Log in to the Google account that’s associated with your business. If you don’t have one yet, now is the time to create one!
2. Navigate to google.com/business and click the “Manage Now” button in the top right corner.
3. The GMB wizard will take you through the steps to set up your GMB listing, beginning with entering the name of your business.

   

4. Next, it will ask you if you’d like to add a location customers can see and visit.

   

5. If your business doesn’t have a physical storefront because you deliver to customers, select no. Next, it will prompt you to add the area where you serve your customers.

   

6. If your business does have a physical address, add it in the next step.

   

7. The following step is to add your contact information so customers can reach you. It will ask you for a phone number and an optional website – if your site isn’t set up yet, be sure to go back later and add it.

   

8. Next, GMB will ask if you’d like to receive updates and recommendations for your business on Google – always a good idea, so you stay on top of your listing and business suggestions.

   

9. Google will then ask you to verify your mailing address – you can do this step later.

   

10. If your business has operating hours, you’ll be asked to add them in this step.

    

11. Next, Google will ask if you’d like your customers to message you on Google. This can be a good option if you anticipate they’ll have questions and want to provide an option besides a phone number or email.

    

12. In this step, Google will ask if you’d like to describe your business. This is a great spot to add a few keywords people may be searching for related to your business – for a nail salon; you could work in “nail salon in [location]” to optimize your GMB SEO.

    

13. Next, add photos of your business. They may appear in Search, Maps, and other Google services, so be sure they’re good quality.

    

14. Finally, Google will ask if you’d like to put up ads as part of your digital marketing strategy. You can always come back to this later once you’ve crafted the perfect Google Search ad campaign.

And there you are! Your Google My Business profile is set up and ready to go. You can always return to add in more information, update hours, add new photos, and more – this is just the beginning.

How do I access my Google business page? If you want to make updates or changes later, simply head to google.com/business and sign in to the account you used to set up your page to make edits.

Google My Business Trends You Should Know

Google is constantly updating and upgrading its tools, including Google My Business. Here’s what you need to know right now.

• Choosing the right primary category for your business is more important than ever. That means you should update your profile if it’s been a while with a more specific category so Google knows exactly what you sell. If you’re an antique shop, for example, you might have set up your profile a few years ago under the simple category “store.” But now you should go back and choose a better-fitting option like “antique furniture store.” There are category-specific features you might unlock – here’s a continually updated list of all the possible categories.

• Adding attributes to your listing is also important. Google has been creating more of these to offer customers additional information, such as accessibility for disabled people, or listed that your business is woman- or veteran-owned. Regularly checking for attributes that apply to you is a good idea.

And of course, working with a marketing agency that specializes in GMB can ensure you stay up to date on any new trends and changes as they happen.

Google My Business Marketing Companies

Setting up, updating, and optimizing your GMB page can certainly be done by you or someone in your marketing department. But to take advantage of the best Google My Business marketing strategies, hiring an agency to help can save time and ensure everything is optimized for the best results.

A typical digital marketing agency can help, but you’ll see the best return on investment if you hire specific, specialized Google My Business marketing help. These agencies know what goes into creating a top-notch GMB page that gets you results.