Google My Business Listing: What you need to know

What is Google My Business Listing?

Google my business or Google local listing is a free tool by Google to showcase you business information like Company Name, address, website, reviews, business categories, direction etc. on Google MAP and Google Search results.

These listings show up on Google when you use specific keywords along with certain areas or locations to search on the internet, for example ‘dentist in Pune’ or near me searches.

Why is it necessary to optimize your Google My Business?

• Improving your customer engagement
• Increase your Local Ranking
• Boost your website traffic
• Generate customers

How can you optimize your Google My Business?

If optimized correctly your Google My Business can become an all-year-round marketing and lead generation tool. Optimizing your Business Profile is a necessary step to stand above your competitors, getting found in local searches and successfully gaining more customers. 

Local SEO agencies can optimize your Business Profile and websites flawlessly and help you to engage more customers frequently. Local SEO services can surely cut out your work for you.

Starting Your Google My Business Listing

To create an account in Google My Business, visit the site https://www.google.com/business/ and sign in using your regular Gmail account you have for your business.

Completing every section in My Business account

A detailed Business Profile urges people or customers to take more actions when they find your business. Completing every section in the Google My Business account also signals Google to rank your Business Profile higher in local search rankings or when SEO near- me keywords are used.

Information like address, working hours, active contact numbers etc. urges people to look into your profile and take action.

There are a lot of sections that need to be filled in the My Business account. 

General information –

• Name 
• Address
• Contact information (number, email, website etc.
• Working hours

 Specific information – 

• Category and attributes
• Products and services
• From the business section
• Owner- generated question and answers (FAQs) 

Gallery and reviews information –

• Posts and pictures
• Customer reviews
• Consumer-generated questions and answers (FAQs)

Be consistent with your business information

Being meticulous when completing the sections like name, location or contact information plays a big role. Note that, using keywords in these sections is considered spamming, in doing so Google might penalize you.

Make sure you fill out the sections using the information exactly how it is in the real world like the name of your company. There should not be any changes in the name, location, contact details etc. of your business because changes in these details can mislead your customers. 

For example, you wouldn’t want your customer to drive all the way to your business location only to find it closed, so paying attention to these details is of utmost importance. This also means, being consistent in all your listings or websites across the internet. Google picks up the inconsistencies like ‘company and co’, ‘street and st’ and so on when analyzing your company’s credibility.

Write a “from the business” description

This section of the My Business account allows you to write a brief description of your business. You will find this section lower on your profile page, near the reviews section. Optimizing your ‘from the business’ description will attract more customers as it allows clients to connect with your business in a better way. 

Keep in mind to –

• Use all 750 characters; highlight the main information within the first 250.
• Use keywords from Local SEO services.
• Reuse content from your “About Us” section on your website.
• Don’t repeat content already mentioned in other sections of your profile. 
• Describe how you are different from your competitors and mention your unique features.
• Don’t use links or HTML.

Category Selection

Selecting a category for your business helps potential customers to discover your Business Profile in search results. We know that there are tons of businesses and companies of a similar type so by adding a category in your Business Profile, you will set apart your business from your competitors. 

It was found that 84% of Business Profiles of companies are discovered through discovery searches (people using Local SEO keywords to search for businesses instead of the specific name of the business) whereas, only 16% of the Business profiles are found through direct searches (searched using address or name of the business).  

After choosing the category of your business, Google gives you more options to select category-specific details. For example, if you own an ice cream shop, you will be able to add the menu or the types of ice creams you sell.

Important points to note here are, 

• Businesses fall under multiple categories, be specific with your business type
• Always add second or additional categories to make it explicit.

Attribute selection

Attributes are special features of your business that potential customers would want to know about, for example, if your store has Wi-Fi or AC. After you add categories to your profile, Google gives you a list of attributes to check off to further describe your business. This step is important because customers also seek for special features in your business.

Add photos

Regularly adding good photos to your Business Profile ensures Google and your customers that you’re active in your business, potential customers also find it appealing. 

Customers are more likely to visit businesses that have quality images in their profile. As a matter of fact, anyone can add images to your Business Profile. Adding your own good quality, real-time images will make your profile look more appealing and attractive. 

Acquire reviews

Customers always prefer businesses that have more reviews and ratings. Ask your customers to add reviews and ratings to your profile. Google also gives preferences to businesses that have more ratings. Your business is going to rank higher if you have more reviews.  

Updates and posts

You can post in your Business Profile just like on any other social media handle. This section is available in the “updates” section near the bottom of the page. Posting regularly signals Google about your activity status. This is a local search marketing technique that engages more people to your profile and helps it to rank higher.

Add FAQs to your profile

Adding FAQs to your Business Profile ensures quality engagement with your consumers. Answering questions that the customers have in mind shows that you have a sense of responsibility towards them. It has also been studied; customers engage with the businesses more that answers their questions frequently.

Add your products and services to your profile

97% of customers research products and services online before going for offline purchases. The list of your products and services in the Google listing will help the customers to research what they want. This will again ensure quality engagement and generate more leads. 

This strategy is especially required for businesses whose names do not mention their products or services (eg. Netflix).

Plan a solid SEO strategy

An optimized Business Profile is a local search marketing tool having the potential to generate leads for you 24/7. So, a solid strategy to maintain your Google My Business account will require the help of the best Local SEO agencies.

A good strategy should include the following –

• Updating every detail regularly
• Adding more photos, reviews and posts weekly
• Responding to FAQs and reviews
• Updating yourself with information regarding new features to utilize your profile at its best.

Conclusion

Maintaining all your websites and Google listings as well as your business can be a bit overwhelming at times, we understand that. That is why Jaguar Solutions is here to help you with all your demands and needs. We can look after all your problems related to SEO and find out efficient solutions like generating more leads and rankings. 

Looking for a SEO company in Pune? Contact us at 9225561643 immediately to have a chat with our Local SEO service team or visit us at our location to discuss what you have in mind.