Google My Business - Know Everything about Optimization of GMB Listing

Google My Business - Know Everything about Optimization of GMB Listing

October 20, 2020 | 11 min read

Google My Business - Know Everything about Optimization of GMB Listing

Use this guide to make sure your Google My Business is correct and tailored to each part, and that you're using the latest GMB features. Google My Business (GMB) is a free Google tool that helps business owners to manage their online presence with their search engine and suite of utilities. Experienced and Certified Digital marketing expert or SEO professionals use GMB listings to take advantage of location-based strategies. Creating a GMB listing is the first step in the success of a local search. GMBs have the greatest impact on brands seeking local exposure. A feature like Google Local Search highlights the need for GMB listings for both new and existing businesses. It provides a list of nearby businesses and requires a lot of information about the businesses, these information are as:

  1. Office address.
  2. Working time.
  3. Category.
  4. Review.

Google Knowledge Chart greatly helps us to verified information about Google My Business. It assists to generate information for your database of related enterprises and different niche related to specific searches. When a new list is created, a Google Maps site is created. This coincides with traditional Google search for easy access and search. No doubt it helps vast majority of natural searches come from Google - about 90% of the global search engine market share. It also shows the value of GMB listings and effective local SEO optimization. Use this guide to fill out the "Google My Business" list correctly and optimize all possible aspects of the tool. By doing so, your business will benefit most from Google and third-party platforms that use the Google Maps API to generate location information for your users.

Some Basic Information about Google My Business

If digital marketing is a fairly new activity for you and your business, you need to know a few basics. It's a good idea to understand Google My Business and the value it provides. First, yes, you can use Google My Business for free. No, GMB listings are not a substitute for your business site. Google My Business complements existing brand site (s) by giving it a global identity and presence on Google listings. Google My Business information for your business may appear on Google Search and Google Maps. Or any third-party platform that uses the Google Maps API will also display a "Google My Business" list, regardless of the device used for search.

If you've previously used some Google tools to supplement your business like Google+, or if your business has been around for a while, your business may already be included in Google My Business. The Google Business Locations and Google+ Pages dashboard used to be the best way to manage your business information. Both were automatically upgraded to Google's global platform, Google My Company.

Get started with Google My Business

The first step in getting your Google My Business listed and running is to actually do a Google search to make sure your business doesn't already listed on. You can use the Google My Business search feature to find your business GMB. If your business has been around for some time several years or more, it probably already has a GMB list, and you just need to apply. Once you are motivated to succeed, you can manage the information as if you were starting the GMB list yourself. If you already have a list of your business, it will let you know. It can also inform you that someone else has requested your business. If this happens, follow these steps.

  1. If your business listing has not yet been created, you can set it up very quickly.
  2. Verification takes a little longer to complete, but it can usually be done within a week.
  3. Before entering important information, start with the official brand name.
  4. You can change it and add it later, but it's an important part of filling and improving your brand page.
  5. Make sure you get the best rating for your business.

There are many changes to choose from, but there should be at least one that summarizes your work better and more accurately. You will then be asked if you want to add a site that customers can visit, such as a store or office? This is valuable information because many companies operate as a service sector and do not require customers to live in a physical location. In these cases, the location of that business will not appear on Google Maps. However, the business will still show for related searches in its service area. For businesses that work in a specific service area and do not want the actual physical location to be shown on the map, select the business area (s) associated with the business.

You can then add business contact information, including the contact's phone number and current website URL. For businesses that have this physical location that people can visit during business hours, you'll need to add a business address later. Once you've set up an address, Google My Business will ask you if you "serve customers outside of this site. This allows you to determine where and how far a company really wants to provide goods or services. If so, you will be able to see similar business information in the services industry. You can add or change service area information at any time. If you don't serve customers outside of the real business, select No and enter your contact information at the next prompt. You can then click Finish to publish the list. Finally, look at how to make it direct and visible.

How to Verify your Google My Business listing

You need to verify your Google My Business listing. This is done with postcard, which takes five working days. This proves to Google that you can manage and effectively represent the business you requested. Checking your business is important for visibility and performance on the list. It's important to know that Google won't show your business or its modifications unless it's verified. Without verification, you will not be able to access insights and analysis information or business feedback from the back of the page. The test usually takes less than a week. Google will send you a postcard with a verification code that you will use to verify your card, and your business will be officially published.

Publishing my business listing on Google

Use all the resources provided by Google My Business to track your business locations to get the most out of them. Here are some basic but important tips for improving your listing:

1. Enter complete details for your listing

Local search results prefer the results that are most relevant to your search queries. Companies that provide more detailed and accurate information will be easier to find. Don't leave anything to guess or believe. Make sure your list describes what your business does, where it is located, and how they can get the goods and / or services your company offers.

2. Include keywords

Like traditional site SEO, Google uses a wide variety of signals to serve search results. Including important keywords and search terms in your business listing will be extremely helpful, especially since your business site is right on your GMB listing. Use it to describe your business and every time you publish a local publication to your audience.

3. Set accurate business working hours

It is important to set your working hours, but whenever they change, it is also important to update them. Google provides the ability to adjust business hours for holidays and other special occasions. It should always be updated so that your site is accurate and users are satisfied. In the COVID-19 era, GMB offers potential customers more flexibility with regard to clocks and messages.

Note. Your business will not show overtime until normal business hours are set.

4. Add photos

Images help show more business listings than most business owners and traders expect. According to Google's listings, businesses whose images contain images receive 42% more requests for driving directions on Google Maps and 35% more clicks on their sites. Continue reading below for more tips on GMB photos.

5. Manage and respond to customer feedback

Interacting with customers in response to their feedback shows that your business values customers and their comments. Positive feedback will positively impact potential customers searching for your business. It also increases your company's visibility in search results. Encourage customers to leave feedback by creating a link they can click to write a review about your business.

6. Let customers send you messages

It can be a little awkward at times, but notifications to and from customers are only enabled through the Google My Business app. To do this, tap the customer, then tap the message and then launch the app. Once enabled, customers will be able to send messages to businesses using their business profiles using the message on the button that appears. Messages can contain an automated response to customers for incoming messages. This helps to ensure professional responsibility and visibility, as the response time will not be badly affected. For maximum performance and visibility with GMB records, it is important that message response times are less than 24 hours.  Customers do not want to wait for a response, and often a quick response is the difference between a customer and a non-customer.

7. Use of local posts

You can post offers, events, products, and services directly to Google Search and Maps to Google My Business. News lets you interact with your audience and update your presence on the Google Network. It can be sent when you leave your phone, tablet or computer. Companies can also influence knowledge card violations by directly commenting on their own and other companies. Here are some tips from Google to make the most of local sharing: Make sure every message is high quality, with no errors, mistakes, nonsense, or useless information. They should be respectful and not abusive. The best news includes views and links, but the links should always be to trusted sites. Links that lead to malware, viruses, phishing, or pornography are not allowed.

Companies that work with regulated goods and services are allowed to use the news, but they can't post content related to the products themselves. These industries usually include:

  1. Adult services.
  2. Alcohol and tobacco.
  3. Pharmaceutical products and recreational drugs.
  4. Health and medical equipment.
  5. Gambling services.
  6. Fireworks.
  7. Weapons.
  8. Financial services.

These messages can and do appear on the Google Network, so your PG must be saved.

8. Stay Connected during COVID-19

This year has brought us many surprises. The largest of these was COVID-19 and the madness against it and still continues. If stores operate differently than usual due to COVID-19 restrictions, mandates, or security guidelines, companies can update their GMB profiles to provide customers with the most accurate information. Recently added features make it easy to communicate with existing and potential customers during epidemics. In addition to adjustable business hours and local commitments, an enterprise may:

  1. Mark sure to close the store temporarily.
  2. Manage delivery options.
  3. Add healthy and safe features.

9. Use special attributes 

The new features allow GMB to feature black and female-led companies in its profile. They also allow you to use other options, such as outdoor seating and the like. If the job is related to health, additional options may be available: 

  1. Your business offers online sponsorship.
  2. Providing customers with an easy way to get online schedules and care.
  3. Edit your gender information.

10. Use a product Catalog

The GMB Product Editor allows you to show merchants who have products. Most companies are qualified to demonstrate products, as long as they are small and medium-sized businesses; And some business sectors. Larger companies need to use local stock ads to showcase their products. Providing product information, including prices, descriptions, and images, allows customers to better understand the products on offer and interact more with businesses. These product descriptions also give Google a better understanding of your business.

Photos and videos for your Google My Business listing

Obviously, the most important part of the images for the GMB menu is the logo. No image may receive a large exposure, and no image may have a large effect. Google encourages companies to use their logo to help customers recognize your business with a square image. Other types of digital assets that need to be added to your GMB list are:

Cover Photo

The cover photo should reflect the personality of your brand page. The cover photo is a large image that appears at the top of the brand profile and will always be cropped to fit a 16: 9 aspect ratio.

Interior photos

This helps customers better understand the in-store experience. It allows entrepreneurs to share their look and feel, so leave a good impression! This allows potential customers to get a visual idea of the store, its layout and all possible restrictions in it.

Video

Video is one of the most popular forms of multimedia on the web. This is because they tell the story very effectively and / or explain something that might otherwise be difficult to formulate.

Additional photos

Other types of images are used to highlight features of your business that customers take into account when making purchasing decisions. These images will differ from the rich media mentioned above and will depend on the type of business you run.

Where customers find you on Google

This section shows you how many customers you've found using Google Search or Google Maps. In addition to search entries and map entries, you'll see how many views of each product on your list have been in the specified time period. According to Google, "views" are similar to "impressions" on other analytics platforms. To see how many specific products someone has found on a given day, hover over the relevant part of the schedule for the day you're interested in. The consolidated statistical reports are referred to in these sections as:

  1. Total views.
  2. Search views.
  3. Map views.

Customer actions

This section describes what customers did after they found your listing on Google. The following are common types of work you have done:

  1. Visit website
  2. Request Directions
  3. Call you
  4. View Photos

The following terms are available as reports in this reporting section:

  1. Total actions
  2. Website actions
  3. Directions Actions.
  4. Phone call Actions.
  5. Direction request.

This insight uses a map to show where people are requesting directions to your business. Your business is on a map and shows some of the most popular places people ask for directions to your business. It even divides the total number of direction requests by city or neighborhood.

Phone calls

This section describes when and how often customers contacted your business using your Google listing. At the top of the section, Total Call shows the total phone call for a specific time period. The chart allows you to display directions by phone according to any day or day of the week. This allows merchants and business operators to know when customers will contact you after viewing your GMB listing.

Pictures

Finally, GMB lets you see how often your business photos are viewed using photo viewing timelines and photo zodiac schedules. The chart also has lines that compare your company's image data to other companies' image data.

This section of the report components contains information on most of them

  1. Total owner photos.
  2. Owner Photos view.
  3. Total number of customer photos.
  4. Customer photo review.