Five Tips For Setting Up Your Google My Business Profile
Google My Business is a free tool from Google, developed to help businesses manage their online presence across Google Search and Maps. Having a Google My Business (GMB) profile can help your business gain more online visibility, drive organic traffic, and increase the bottom line. So the question is, are you taking full advantage of your GMB profile?
If you’re like 56% of all local retailers, chances are you still haven’t claimed your Google My Business listing. That’s why we’ve put together five quick tips to help you set up and optimize your profile from day one.
Claiming your GMB profile is easy, and best of all, it’s free! The first thing you need to do is head over to Google My Business and start the process to claim your listing.
Setting Up Your GMB Profile
List Your Exact Business Name
When filling out your profile, you want to list your business name exactly as it is registered. This sounds simple enough; however, people often make the mistake of not listing their full business name. If you falsify your business name, Google can suspend you from the platform.
Categories
Make sure you choose your primary business category carefully, as this will significantly impact how you show up in local rankings. The primary category you select carries more weight, so take time to evaluate how crowded your particular market is and determine which category makes the most sense for your business. Also, perform research on your competition. What categories are those businesses listed under? This can help you evaluate market saturation within specific categories.
Phone Number
Add a local phone number to your profile. This is going to help your visibility in local searches. If your business uses a tracking number, it’s perfectly fine to list this as your primary contact. You just want to make sure you add a local number as an alternate.
Once your GMB Profile is Active
Take Advantage of Posts
Once you have your Google My Business profile up and running, you want to take advantage of the posts feature. Posts essentially act as free ads, where you can promote your products or services. A user can click on your post to read it in full, and this is your opportunity to drive more qualified and engaged traffic to your website. If you’re not using posts, go create your first one today!
Leverage the Question and Answer Section
The question and answer section is a great way to obtain customer feedback, so you want to be sure to check it often.
One useful way to leverage this feature is to preload your own FAQ post. By adding and answering your own frequently asked questions, you can address all the common barriers to entry your prospects usually have. By the time these users visit your website, they will have already gained some confidence and trust in your brand or business.
Pro Tip—Visit your competitor’s Google My Business profiles Q&A section. This is an excellent way to discover gaps in their service or products. What questions are their customers asking? This is also a great strategy to identify content you can create and publish on your website. If you see repeatedly asked questions, it means your competitor isn’t doing a good job of providing that content to users.
Google My Business is a powerful tool that can help your business gain more online visibility, especially in local searches. Claiming your GMB listing is one of the first steps you need to take in building your local SEO strategy. Don’t wait; claim your listing today!
Edge Webware specializes in developing Local SEO strategies to help businesses connect with qualified, local prospects. If you have questions about how we can help improve your business’s Local SEO efforts, please contact us.