Whether you are just starting out or you already have a stable business and you need an increase in the number of customers arriving at your location, Google My Business is one of the tools you must use.
In the end, half of those who search for a product or service on their mobile phone end up visiting a store on the same day.
This should be a strong enough motivation to convince you to work on listing your business on Google My Business and make it stand out from the competition.
Recently, Google has released many improvements designed to provide businesses with the necessary tools to reach consumers, to attract their attention and to convert them into customers directly from the search results.
And you should take advantage of them.
But… let’s take it step by step.
What is Google My Business?
Google My Business (https://business.google.com) is a free platform that allows you to manage the appearance of your business in search results. It allows you to manage your business name, working hours, locations, reply and check consumer reviews, but also add pictures or videos.
At the same time, it is very useful to receive information about how people reach your listing and how they interact with it and you can promote it, if necessary.
According to HubSpot, 89% of people look for a local business using their mobile phone at least once a week.
What does this mean for an entrepreneur who tries to bring his business as close as possible to his customers?
If you have recently heard about Local SEO, this is the first and best step you can take to optimize the way your business appears in Google search results.
You will increase your chances of getting new customers if the location of your business is up-to-date and contains complete and optimized information in Google search results.
There are several steps you must follow if you want to optimize the listing of your business on Google My Business, so let’s get down to business.
How to set up Google My Business
- Claim and verify your Google My Business listing
- Complete all the information about the business
- Add pictures and videos
- Add posts and offers
- Carefully manage all reviews
- Answer all direct questions from Google My Business
- Optimize your listing when needed
1. Claim and verify your Google My Business listing
If you haven’t created a Google My Business (GMB) account yet, this is the first step you need to take to claim or create a GMB listing.
How to claim a listing in Google My Business
Before going into the details of how to create a new business, make sure that your business is not already listed in the local Google results.
Here’s what you need to do to claim your business in GMB:
Step 1. Search your business name on Google.
Step 2. If your business exists and has not been claimed, click on the button “Own this business?” and you will be able to claim it.
Step 3. If you cannot claim it, it means that someone has already done this. Make sure that, if it is someone from your business, they will give you admin rights. Otherwise, these are the steps that Google advises you to follow to claim ownership of the business.
Step 4. If everything goes well and you managed to claim your business, the last step is checking the location.
How to set up Google My Business
Step 1. Access GMB and use your Gmail address for authentication.
Step 2. Fill in all the necessary basic information, such as business name, country, postal code and location (make sure the location is correct, as you will need it later in the verification process).
Step 3. If you do not work and you do not have customers who visit your location, but you are the one who travels to them, check the box “I deliver goods and services to my customers.” (“I deliver products and services to my customers.”)
If you work from home and don’t want your address to be public, check “Hide my address”
Step 4. Choose your business category. Make sure that the selection you make accurately matches your business, because this will tell Google in which type of searches and categories you would like to be displayed.
Step 5. Choose a verification option from the available ones.
This step is required before your listing appears in Google My Business, so make sure you fill it out either now, or click the “Later” button if you want to skip this step until you fill in more information.
How to verify your business in Google My Business
Verifying your business listing is necessary to be able to manage the information you display in searches, Maps and other Google platforms.
This will help the Google algorithm to ensure that the information is correct and only you, as the owner or manager, can access it.
There are several ways to verify your business on Google:
- Letter
- Phone
- By email
- Bulk check
- Court verification
You will see one or more verification methods depending on the type of business you previously selected.
The most common verification method you will encounter is by letter. By selecting this method, you will receive a letter to the address you previously listed for your business.
The envelope will contain a code that must be entered into your Google My Business account within a maximum of 30 days to complete the verification process.
Telephone, email or instant verifications are only available for certain types of business. It’s no problem if you can’t see these methods. Use verification by letter.
Mass verification is only valid for businesses that have more than 10 locations and you can read more about this method here.
2. Complete all the information about the business
After you have checked the business listing, it is time to fill in all the information related to it.
Do not skip any type of information and provide as many details as possible. Google offers you many options regarding the details of your business and you must fill in the ones that apply to it.
This is the information you need to add to your GMB listing in most cases.
- Categories
Adding your business to the right category will help searchers find you and will change the options available in your GMB account. For example, if you own a restaurant, you will get the option to add a link to the menu.
Which categories should you choose for Google My Business?
Even if people viewing your listing in search results see only one primary category, adding more categories is beneficial for both you and Google.
Google will understand better what your area of expertise is and your listing could be displayed to more people looking for similar services.
- Working hours and special schedule
Make sure you have entered the correct working hours. Don’t list your location as 24/7 if you can’t answer the phone at 3 in the morning. People will call and if your business is listed as open, make sure someone will answer the phone and solve the problem.
If there are holidays or special days when the program will be different, mention this in the “special program” section.
- Phone number
Include the main phone number of your business. Google uses this information to confirm your NAP (Name, Address, Phone).
This number must be identical in all listings when you build mentions.
- Website
Even if you can see the organic traffic in your Google Analytics account, I advise you to use a URL for tracking in your GMB listings.
Exemplu:
/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=local& utm_campaign=google-my-business
This will help you monitor traffic more accurately and see how many clicks you get from your GMB listing (and not from organic search results) to your site.
You can use this Campaign URL Builder to get a custom link in just a few seconds.
URL for appointments
If you use a different website or a special URL for appointments and reservations, you can add it here.
- Services
This section is a newly added one in GMB. It is available for a limited number of business categories.
Here you can mention all the services you offer, their prices and detailed information. Do not worry if they are not displayed together with your business in the search results.
It might take some time until Google makes these options available to everyone, but it’s good to be prepared.
- Attributes
Depending on the industry in which you operate, your GMB dashboard will have different attributes.
These can vary from “Access for disabled people” or “women-led” businesses to “spoken languages” or “drive-through”
Make sure you select all the ones that are appropriate for your location.
Moreover, Google asks users to provide feedback to the locations visited and to answer questions related to them.
This can increase the number of available attributes in your listing, such as “great beer venue”, “delicious lunch” or “casual atmosphere”.
- Business description
A few years ago, Google removed business descriptions from location-based results.
Recently this has been reintroduced and you should take advantage of this by making sure your description attracts as many visitors as possible.
Use it to differentiate your business from the others available, give people details about it and encourage them to come and discover more.
- Industry specific information
Depending on the industry in which you operate, you will have different options to complete and which you can take advantage of.
If you own a hotel, you can add a method for people to book a room using one of the sites you are listed on. If you own a restaurant, you can add a link to the menu.
- Opening day
There is no need to provide too many details. Select the year and month of the inauguration of your business.
- Advanced information
If you manage several locations, you will have the opportunity to add codes and labels for each store to make identification easier.
This information is not available to the public, but it will help you as you open more locations.
3. Add pictures and videos
According to those from Google, businesses with pictures receive 35% more clicks to the website from business listings and 42% more requests for information about the route in Google Maps.
We take their word for it and advise you to add as many relevant pictures and videos as possible to your business listing.
The Google guide specifies that each image must have at least 720 x 720 pixels and be in .jpg or .png format.
But there are several sections where you can add pictures to describe your business better. Here are some of them.
Cover photo
Your cover photo is one of the most important images in the entire listing, because it will be displayed at the beginning and in the middle every time your business appears in the search results.
Profile photo
The profile picture of your business appears when you upload new pictures or videos or when you respond to reviews.
But this is not all.
Google My Business has been updated in recent years and offers many sections for adding pictures. They will be different depending on the type of business.
Make sure you use them, because they help you define your business and services and give potential customers an overall idea of what they can find in your location.
Here are the specific images for a business that Google advises you to add.
| Description | Minimum number of images | Tips | |
| Exterior photos | Help your customers recognize the location of the business as they approach from different directions. | Add at least three images matching the exterior of the building to help your customers recognize the location. | Add pictures from different angles and different times of the day. |
| Interior photos | Show your customers the decor and ambience of the location. | Add at least three images from inside the location. | Make sure that the pictures give a real picture of the interior of the location and capture the atmosphere. |
| Product photos | Add pictures of the most representative or popular products to give your consumers a better understanding of your offers. | Add at least three product images. | Try to add professional photos using similar frames (same background, same brightness, etc.) |
| Photos during working hours | Add images that help customers quickly understand what your business does. | Upload at least three representative images for the services you offer. | Surprise your team while they offer different services to customers in your location. |
| Photos with food and beverages | Use images of food and drink to help your consumers decide what they want to eat. | Add at least three pictures of the food and drinks you have on the menu. | Highlight the most popular food and drinks and try to use the most professional images. |
| Common spaces | Add images of common areas to give customers an idea of the atmosphere in your location. | Upload at least one image of the common areas. | Add at least one image from each common area: spa, gym, restaurant, lounge, bar, etc. |
| Rooms | If you own a hotel, add images from its rooms. | Upload at least three pictures from your cameras, capturing different angles | Capture all types of hotel rooms to show visitors what they can expect when they step on your doorstep. |
| Photos with team | Introduce your team and add a personal touch to your business listing. | Add at least three images of your management team and employees. | These images give a personal touch to the listing. Show clients who you are and who your employees are to give potential clients an overview of how great your team is. |
In 2018, Google added the possibility of uploading videos to the listing. They are not mandatory and may not always appear in the search results, but if you have a representative video for your business, you can upload it.
Video is a very good way to show people what your business does and what they can expect when they visit your location.
Here are the video requirements for your GMB listing:
- Duration: up to 30 seconds
- File size: up to 100 MB
- Resolution: 720p or higher
4. Add posts, events, products and offers
What are Google My Business posts?
Google Posts is an integrated function in your GMB dashboard that allows you to publish short messages that will appear whenever your company’s name is searched for.
Initially, these were limited to plain text, multimedia or events, but Google expanded these types and now includes Offers and Products.
After you have set up your GMB account, the next step is to make a post. Go to the “Posts” section and start creating it.
You must ensure that your Google My Business post meets Google’s criteria for this type of content:
- Be relevant for your type of business and audience
- It must have between 100 and 300 words
- It may contain offers, products you sell, events or others
- May include an image
- It can include a call-to-action
- It may link to other web pages
Remember that a post will only appear for 7 days. That content must be constantly updated, so you need to add new information at least weekly.
Tips for getting the most out of your Google My Business posts:
- Make sure the details are accurate and help customers get as much information as possible
- Preferably, add a link to a landing page or a product page, and not to the home page
- Use concise content and a good call-to-action
- Present the offer or the product with an attractive and high-quality image
- Add as many products as possible to the existing catalog, to attract the attention of potential customers that you have a varied stock
5. Carefully manage all reviews
According to Shopify, 90% of people searching for information online said that reviews had a direct impact on their decisions.
It is quite obvious that having such information, managing reviews is absolutely necessary when it comes to taking care of your business.
Your reviews will influence the two most important aspects related to listing your business:
- Your sales and customer decisions when they read them
- The ranking in the local Google package when people search for the products or services you offer
If you have negative reviews and your score drops below 3.5, there is a chance that you will not get anywhere in the local package, and this cannot be solved by responding to reviews, but by making sure that you offer quality services on future, and customers will leave good reviews.
But if the average of the received reviews is 4 stars, the way you manage them can convince people to buy from you, and not from your competitors.
How to respond to a Google Review?
Step 1. Access your Google My Business account
Go to the “Reviews” section in the left menu and you will find the reviews section of your location.
Step 2. Read and respond to the reviews
Check all the reviews you haven’t replied to in the “Haven’t replied” tab and start replying.
Respond to all reviews, be they positive or negative, because they will show customers that their voice is heard, and their feedback is read by you.
Here are some tips to apply when responding to Google reviews:
- Answer quickly
- Thanks for the review (whether it’s a positive or negative review)
- Use a professional tone and write grammatically correctly
Responding to negative reviews might be a little difficult, but don’t let your emotions get in the way.
Show your customers that you take them seriously by answering them and making sure that you are extremely polite. If you answer them by attacking them back, you will look unprofessional and you will make that review credible in the eyes of other readers.
Here is an example of a response when someone gives you negative feedback:
Hi [name]. Thank you for your feedback and we are extremely sorry that our [product/experience/employee] did not meet your expectations. [You can include a modification if you did]. If you would like to come back, we would be happy to offer you our [product/discount/offer], because we really appreciate all our customers. Anyway, thank you for visiting us and we hope that next time we will offer you the experience you deserve.
6. Answer all direct questions from GMB
An often overlooked feature of Google My Business is the question and answer section.
Just like the reviews section, Q&A are used by people (potential customers) to ask questions and find answers directly from company owners.
However, many companies are not aware of this Q&A section, and questions sometimes remain unanswered, or receive wrong answers from random people.
Below is an example where the owner still hasn’t responded after three months and, although it’s not crucial information, it would be nice to know how far the hotel is from the beach, especially in Capri, where most are on the hill or at a long distance from the beach.
Ask yourself questions and provide answers
An interesting feature of Google Q&A is that you can enter and prepopulate the Q&A with things you know former customers needed to know.
This means that you can create your own Q&A section directly in your Google My Business listing, and it would be a very good idea to do so, as your customers may need that information.
7. Optimize your listing when needed
Don’t think that once everything is set up, you can forget about your listing.
Google continues to develop more and more functions for all its platforms, and Google My Business is no exception.
People will suggest edits to your listing and will continue to review and leave feedback about their experience, and you should be prepared to update it accordingly.
Pay attention to the information in the dashboard and to the competitors
From time to time, in addition to answering reviews and questions, try to see where you stand compared to your competitors. Do some research, see how high you are in the local pack and if there are competitors ranked above you, try to understand why.
Google offers you a lot of valuable information about how people interact with your business listing, how many times they have seen it, and lately, even what searches were used and made the listing appear in the search engines. search.
Use the Mobile Application
It would be ideal to download the GMB application for Android or iOS and manage the listing on the go. If you have a high volume of people interacting with your listing, this will prove very useful.
Conclusion
If you’ve made it this far, congratulations! You are about to have one of the best businesses in your niche in the search results on Google!
If you have questions or comments, I can help you with great pleasure. Just let me know below.
Also, if you want to know more about how to get higher in Google’s local pack, you can read my previous in-depth guide on Local SEO here.
