Top Tips for Google My Business

Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool from Google that can be powerful for your business when harnessed to its full potential. It helps you connect with customers across Google Search and Maps, as the business that appear when you search a business name or service. Recent research shows that 46% of Google searches have local intent, meaning people are looking for something local to them. Making sure that you optimise and update your listing can assist your business’ profile in appearing more frequently in these search results as part of Maps or in the local 3 pack that appears for broader queries. Many people treat their GMB profile as a ‘set and forget’ listing, rather than as a social media platform of its own. A complete GMB profile increases trust in your business for consumers; giving them assurance via social proof that they should engage with your business.

Create or Claim Your Listing

As Google automatically creates many GMB profile, it is likely your business has one even if you haven’t claimed it (in fact, almost 56% of local businesses worldwide have not claimed their listing!). Simply Google your business’ name to check- does it show up, and if it does, do you have control of the information here? If you are a new business, you can create your own listing, however if you find one exists for you already, you can opt to claim ownership of the listing. All that you need is a Google Account to own and manage a GMB profile.

Set up and optimise your Profile

Once you own and have verified your listing, take the time to get familiar with the layout and work your way through the menu of your listing to ensure that every field is complete and accurate. The more information Google has on your business, the better as it’s algorithm will know when you match a search query. Some of these key steps include your address, phone number, website, opening hours, services/products, photos and more.

Treat it as any other social media platform

Google’s algorithm for ranking GMB profiles is based on 3 factors: relevance, distance and prominence. These first two factors are why it is important to ensure your profile is complete, accurate, and up to date, and the last one is why it is important to treat it like a social media platform; stay active and engage. Some of the key things to do with your GMB listing are:

• Reviews: any person with a Google account (free) can leave a review for a business. Responding to these also shows others that you care about your customers and their experience. You can also get a shareable link from your GMB listing that goes straight to reviewing your business which you can share to ask customers to review you.
• Posts: Often forgotten, posting on your GMB profile is an easy way to keep your listing active. As these don’t show all the time or display at the bottom of your specific profile, we don’t believe posts are the best method of reaching your audience, but it certainly shows that you care about your presence and the perception of your business in search results.
• Update operating hours: This one is easily forgotten but can be a huge frustration for customers! If someone has looked for your business via Google and seen your opening hours here, it can be very frustrating if these are not accurate – not just everyday hours, but also updating your public holiday hours.
• Answer Questions: Users can also submit questions about a business on GMB. These can be answered by anyone, so it is important to check these regularly or turn on notifications so that, as the owner, you can answer these.
• Messaging: This is a function you are able to turn on if you wish where customers can message you via GMB. You do need to respond via GMB, so ensure to check these or turn on notifications so you can respond to these within 24 hours. If you would not be able to do this, we do not recommend turning this function on as failing to respond makes your business appear inactive to Google so can impede your visibility and ranking.

Doing these actions will show Google that you are active as a business and would likely be a good business to recommend in a search result to fulfill someone’s query. After all, Google’s main goal with their search platforms is to provide the best possible result for its users.

Take advantage of Google My Business as a free tool

Whilst it is important to keep up to date and active on GMB, remember that you cannot explicitly control where and when your GMB appears, how high it ranks, what images display for your business, or what reviews display first. At the end of the day, Google and it’s algorithm decides it believes is the most relevant result for a searcher’s query.

The experienced team at Adllins Media in Cairns can help boost your business’ online presence. Contact us to discuss your business needs on 07 4031 1889 or send us a message.