8 Crucial Tips for Setting Up Your Google My Business Page

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So, you want to optimize your My Google Business Page?

Great!

In this article, we highlight 8 tips you can follow to set up an optimized Google My Business profile for local and national rankings. Let’s get into it!

1. Have a Google My Business account

To optimize your Google Business Page, you’ll need a Google My Business account. It allows you to access all areas that need optimizing. Here, you also tell Google to connect the page to your account. In short, the account allows you to optimize as many Google My Business profiles as you can.

To create an account, you’ll only need your primary Gmail account. Then, head over to Google My Business and create your account. Note: you should use a business email rather than your email account.

Learn how to set up your Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Yoast here.

2. Enter relevant business information

How Google displays and ranks your business is dependent on the information you provide. As such, you should complete the profile and provide accurate information. Ensure you fill:

• Name
• Website
• Hours of operation
• Phone
• Address

From here, create an overview of your business, the products or services you sell, and the business category. You can even include common questions and answers to help visitors know about your business.

Providing this information will bolster your local SEO. Ensure that it is the same as that displayed on your website or social media platforms.

3. Choose a business category

To reach your targeted audience, you need to choose the category of your business. In fact, 49% of views come from organic search. That is, customers, search for terms associated with a specific type of business. This is why you need to choose a category. Besides, most customers will discover your business through such terms if the name of your business does not display what services or products you offer.

To reach your targeted audience, you need to choose the category of your business. In fact, 49% of views come from organic search.

The best part, Google has category-specific features that allow for a more engaging profile. Ensure to be specific when choosing a category. For example, you can choose “women’s shoe shop” instead of “shoe shop”. You can even include subcategories that are relevant to your business.

4. Include media

To make your listing engaging, you can include videos and images of your business and products. Images and videos help visitors connect with your business on a personal level. Besides, media enables prospective clients to know what your business is about.

Include the business logo, images of your staff, and multiple images of your location. For videos, you can include a “day in the life” type of video. For example, you can highlight a normal working day of a staff member. Besides, you can request customers to upload videos using your product

5. Request for reviews

Reviews are a crucial aspect of the success of your business. In fact, 87% of customers read reviews before making a purchasing decision. As such, having authentic reviews can significantly bolster the conversion rate. While most businesses yearn for positive reviews, negative reviews can also present an opportunity to improve your services or products.

Reviews are a crucial aspect of the success of your business. In fact, 87% of customers read reviews before making a purchasing decision.

You can ask customers to leave reviews or send them a review link via email. And once they review your product or service, make sure to respond to them. You’ll be surprised at how much crucial data you’ll collect from such interaction.

6. Create offers for new customers

Google My Business allows you to award new followers with offers. You can update GMB settings, so you are notified of every new follower. After this, you can create a unique offer, for example, a discount. The point is to encourage them to take an action such as visiting your website or buying a complementary product.

7. Add posts to your Google Business Page

It improves engagement, just like in social media platforms, you need to include posts. They can be about products, events, announcements, or offers. You can even talk about recent advancements. Here, you can include call-to-action such as reserve, sign up, buy, and more. However, you can only add posts once your GMB account is verified.

Keep in mind you can only include up to 300 words per post. And if you use a call-to-action button, Google will display up to 70 characters on a small screen. That said, the full post would appear if you do not include a CTA button. Ensure to post regularly as this can improve your listing. Besides, customers and SEO for Google My Business both like unique content.

8. Communicate directly with customers via Messaging

The Messaging feature allows you to connect with your customers on a personal level. And since a high percentage of customers prefer messaging to phone calls, your conversion rate is set to improve. In addition, it enables you to create loyalty among your customers. Here, you can ask questions about your business and products.

The Messaging feature allows you to connect with your customers on a personal level.

All you need is to provide a phone number you’ll be using for sending questions. The best part, Google does not share it publicly. Avoid using your personal number, rather, use your business number. You can change your number or disable the feature as needed.

Why do you need an optimized My Google Business Page?

• Improve engagement: An optimized page will have all relevant information that a customer needs. They can contact you directly, place orders, or ask for directions from your business page.
• Increases conversion rate: Customers can easily find your business if your page is optimized. They do not need to know your business by name to find you. Rather, they can use keywords you rank for. And they can know more about your business via reviews, overview, and business description.
• Improves local ranking: If you want customers near your business to find you, then you’ll need to implement SEO strategies on your Google My Business page.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, Google My Business is a tool that you can use to improve the local listing of your business. It allows you to connect with the right audience, build trust and loyalty with your customers. Done right, Google My Business SEO can increase your conversion rate, helping you stay ahead of your competitors.