Claiming Your Google Business Listing
Google business listings are a major part of how customers find local businesses. If you were to type in any business type (restaurants, car dealerships, plumbers, etc.) and then a city, Google will show a map and google business listings for most of that type of business in that city.
Through your business listing, you are able to post pictures, write a description of your company, link a website, include your hours of operation, and so much more. Additionally, customers are able to leave reviews on businesses and post their own pictures. Businesses can use their Google listing as a major asset to their SEO. The local business listings always show near the top of the first page, so instead of having your website stuck lower in the search results, this allows customers to easily find your website.
If your Google business listing isn’t claimed, it will be nearly impossible for customers to find your business. This will cause your potentially superior business to lose customers to competitors who have done this one simple thing. In a modern world where the internet is the go-to source for information, it is vital to make your business as noticeable as possible.Having a website and claiming your business listing are a good start, but SEO and Google AdWords are also important tools. I will touch more on AdWords in a later post, but they essentially allow you to pay to have your website at the top of Google search results.
When completing your Google My Business profile, it is important to include as much information as possible. If you don’t fill it out yourself, another person can suggest an edit and write what they want about you. Additionally, the more information you include in your business listing, the more likely it is that customers will be able to find what they’re looking for. Finally, Google business listings allow businesses to post on their listing. These posts serve as a free, mini ad on your listing, and they can make your listing much more attention-getting. These posts can be about whatever you want, but the best ideas for posts are anything that will attract customers’ attention. For example, you could have posts about events or sales that your customers might be interested in. The possibilities are almost endless with a Google business listing, and it is extremely easy to set up making it a no-brainer for just about any business.
Once you have claimed your google business listing, the primary task becomes acquiring reviews and listing use. Having a high number of good reviews and a lot of listing traffic will boost your listing above other local businesses in your niche. It will also give potential customers more confidence in your business to see twenty reviews with an average of 4.8 stars rather than no reviews at all. Boosting your traffic can be easily done through Google Adwords, Facebook advertisements linked to your website, or by adding posts on your listing. This will improve your website’s position in the search results as well as your business’s position in the local listing rakings.
If you would like to set up your google business listing but are unsure of how to do so, I will delve deeper into a tutorial in a later post. In the meantime, there are a number of articles and videos that can teach you how to set up your google listing. One particularly helpful video is posted by Google Small Business. Click HERE to learn more. If you would prefer to meet with me to learn how I can help you, click the button below and fill out my meeting questionnaire. At our meeting I will bring a FREE all-encompassing recommendation for you and your business for you to do with as you please. Click below to take the first steps in improving the marketing of your business.