The Google My Business Listing is Critical for Businesses

January 20, 2019 By John

If you do not already know, Google My Business is a free tool for businesses and organizations to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps.

“Claiming or improving your Google My Business Listing is the singular, most important step you can take for your local business if you want to maximize results from Google Search.” I wrote that in this blog post on September 8. 2017. It is even more true today.

The Google My Business concept is not new. On July 29, 2008 (Yes, over ten years ago.) I wrote a post named Google – Get Local, Get Traffic Quickly about using Google Maps Local Business Center if you want to increase local traffic.

Since 2008, its name has changed several times and Google My Business is much more robust than it was back then. In 2008, there were roughly 173 million websites online. As I write this, there are over 1.9 Billion websites! Obviously, the competition for prominent display space in Google Search results has increased immensely.

Today’s Google My Business (GMB) Listing affords businesses several opportunities to enhance their presence in Google search results and Google Maps. Here is some information directly from Google:

Manage your information:

First it is imperative to “claim” your listing. If you have not, you may do so here: www.google.com/business If someone has claimed your Google My Business listing, go to
Request ownership of a business listing.

Be as complete and accurate as possible when entering your business information. Businesses offering the most detailed and accurate information will be easier for Google to serve your listing in searches.

It’s important to enter your business hours, but equally important to update them whenever they change. You may customize hours for holidays and other special events, and it is up to you to ensure they are accurate. Don’t make enemies because of incorrect hours.

As it does with website SEO, Google uses a variety of signals to serve search results, and including relevant keywords and search phrases to your business listing will help considerably, since your business website is listed directly within your GMB listing.

Interact with customers:
Read and respond to reviews from your customers, and post photos that show off what you do. Businesses that add photos to their listings receive 42% more requests for driving directions on Google Maps and 35% more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t.

Reviews are now a two-way conversation between you and your customers — be the first to know when you get a new review on your local Business Profile so you can respond right away (this is extremely important).

Photos:
You will likely be surprised how much adding even a couple photos will help the performance of your business listing. Just do it!

Q&A:
Save time by answering your customers’ questions before they ask. With Q&A, customers can easily ask a question right from your Business Profile on Google. To save time, you can pin frequently asked questions and highlight the top answers.

There is much more we could tell you about Google My Business, but the best thing I can do for you is to repeat this: “Claiming or improving your Google My Business Listing is the singular, most important step you can take for your local business if you want to maximize results from Google Search.”

Do it today!

Have a Local Business? Claim or Update Your Google My Business Listing, Now!

September 8, 2017 By John

If you have a business, you very likely have a Google My Business Listing. Your listing appears when people are searching for your business or businesses like yours on Google Search and Maps.

Claiming or improving your Google My Business Listing is the singular, most important step you can take for your local business if you want to maximize results from Google Search.

“Why,” you ask? Google says, “Manage how your business information appears across Google, including Search and Maps, using Google My Business — for free.”

The keyword in the previous paragraph is “manage.” There is little a business can control when it comes to Google. When Google makes it easy to post correct information about your business for free, and that information is displayed in Google Search results and on Google Maps, you should take advantage of it.

With Google My Business, you can:

Increase your online visibility
Show business hours and if open/closed
Your contact details are prominently displayed
Display photos of your business
Publish Posts just like Facebook or Twitter posts
Encourage reviews and interact with reviewers
Answer customer questions — List FAQs, or answer live
Let customers message you

You also can see insights on how customers searched for your business, and their locations at the time of search. You can also see how many people called your business directly from the phone number displayed on local search results in Google Search and Google Maps.

Bottom line: Claim and/or update your Google My Business listing! It is unequivocally the best and least expensive online marketing you can do.

Bring Customers to Your Door Using Google Offers | For Business

November 11, 2013 By John

Find Google Offers In this increasingly mobile world with the rapidly growing use of phones and tablets, attracting the attention of prospects and your current customers is essential. Google Offers | For Business can help bring customers to your door.

Google Offers has been around for a couple of years. Recently, Google is promoting it more, and upgrading tools and delivery systems. Here is what Google says, “Your business benefits from increased awareness when customers find your offer on Google+, the Google Offers website, and mobile apps for Offers and Wallet. The offer can be used instantly, or saved for later.”

We all know that offering coupons and discounts will drive foot traffic to stores. With Google Offers, consumers can find, use, or save offers to their Google account. Google has made it easier to find Google Offers on mobile devices with their new Google Maps and Google+ apps. Consumers can simply click or tap the ‘Get offer’ button to save the offer and use it in stores.

Your offer can reach customers on Google Maps when they are searching for places nearby or looking for local businesses like yours. Your business will be prominently displayed with a blue tag icon next to it, alerting customers to your offer.

With Google’s new tool, you can now, “Create your offer in minutes and see it go live in just a few hours. Simply choose the type of offer you’d like to create and assign a budget.”

Google Offers shows your offer to customers based on their location, what they like, and what they’re looking for. You’ll only pay when a customer saves your offer.

When a customer saves your offer, Google brings them to your door by sharing an offer reminder when they are near your store. Google will help remind them when your offer is expiring too, through email and mobile alerts. It is simple to redeem your Google Offers.

Google says, “You must create and verify a Google Places for Business listing or local Google+ page (it’s free to add your local business information if you don’t already own a Places for Business listing or local Google+ page)”

The holiday season is nearly upon us. Take advantage of Google Offers today!

Google Local Search Results “Carousel” Display

June 26, 2013 By John

Google Local Search Results “Carousel” Display was rolled out last week for desktop users. Some iPad and Nexus tablet users have seen this new look since December, but now it will significantly impact a much wider audience and a larger number of local businesses. Here is an example search for Italian restaurants Madison, WI; you will see results similar to these.

Google says “searches for local dining, nightlife, hotels, and other attractions” will display carousel results. Try it for yourself to see what displays in your area.

The “carousel” is interactive, so we all know that those businesses, restaurants in this case, with the most attractive photo or logo are very likely to be clicked on first.

“While we can’t guarantee inclusion in search results, we can say that the carousel will show results from listings in Google Maps using categories. Just as in regular ranking, Google’s algorithms take into account many factors to select the places and results that are most relevant to the user. This algorithm based approach is also used to decide which businesses are in the carousel.”

“The Google business listing is one of several sources we use for the photos in the carousel, and making sure high-quality images are posted to it will help improve your photo. However, the image selection, like the actual ranking of businesses, is primarily decided by algorithms and so we can’t guarantee complete control over the image.”

How do you get your business photo there? It all starts with your Google Places Listing, which we have written about previously. If you currently have a Google Places page (where you can upload photos, your logo, business hours, etc.), Google wants you to “upgrade” to a local Google+ page (some of you may have already done that). There are some advantages including the ability to understand customer feedback and respond to Google+ Local reviews.

In an upcoming post, I’ll write more about the somewhat confusing two types of Google Places pages, help you understand the differences and the actions you can take to maximize your visibility in local searches.

Five Reasons You Should Claim Your Google Places Listing, Today!

April 17, 2012 By John

If you have not, and many of you have not, claimed your Google Places listing, here are five reasons you should claim your Google Places listing today!

1. This Google quote, “97% of consumers search for local businesses online.”

2. Google’s Universal Search results

In today world of Google’s Universal Search results, nearly every time a potential customer does a Google search that contains your community’s name (or the region where your business is located) and the type of product or service you offer, they will see a Google map with pins on it, and a list of businesses represented on that map. Is there a pin for your business there? There is no easier nor quicker way to improve visibility in Google SERPs, than claiming, and using your Google Places listing.

3. Make sure your listing is accurate and thorough. Did I say thorough?

You may add photos and videos; custom categories like your service area, brands you sell and how to find parking; and coupons to encourage customers to make a first-time or repeat purchase.

4. Customer Reviews

Google and prospective customers both love customer reviews. You don’t have to do many test searches using Google to see that websites of companies who have several reviews on their Google Places pages, do very well in Google SERPs.

5. It is easy, and takes a very few minutes.

You may verify your phone number, address, and add business hours. After you have claimed and verified your Google Places listing, you may go back and take advantage of the features.

To make sure the basic information you submit is accurate, Google will ask you to verify it first by entering a PIN that will be sent to either your business address or phone number. (We recommend using the phone number. It automated and is nearly instantaneous as opposed to weeks.)

Now, go claim your Google Places listing!

Here is some help from Google:

Getting started with a local business listing on Google Places

Google Places quality guidelines

Should You Be Using Google Places Tags?

January 17, 2011 By John

If you are looking for more self-qualified local traffic to your website, and have claimed your Google Places page, you should consider using “Tags” to make you local listing stand out. If you have not claimed your Google Places page for your business, scoot on over to Don’t Lose Your Place – Claim Your Google Places Page!

What are tags?

Tags are yellow markers that allow business owners to promote important aspects of their businesses. Potential customers can scroll over tags on Google or click on the sponsored link to view offers, photos, or other select features.

You use tags to highlight information in you Google Places listing. Using tags does not affect your search results ranking, but they do help your listing stand out in the crowd.

What are the benefits?

Easily highlight your listing on Google from Google Places.
Potential customers in your local area will see what you think is most important or unique about your business.
Track the effectiveness of your tag with your Google Places dashboard.
No additional work or ongoing management is needed.

What does using tags cost?

Google charges a $25 flat monthly fee, with no bids and no keywords required.

What tags can you use?

The tag types available for your listing are based on information you’ve already included in your business listing. For example, if you want to highlight a video about your business with a tag, you’ll first need to add the video to your business listing. Once you’ve added the video, the video tag option will show up in the menu for your enhancement types. Types of info you may tag:

Coupons for your listing
Photos of your business
Videos of your business
Menu for your restaurant
Reservations page for your business
Posts for your business

Example Place page Posts

Specials: “Free chips and salsa today from 4-6. We’ll even throw in free guacamole.”
Posted 3 hours prior to the start of Afternoon Special
Events: “Come to “Anything Goes – Poetry or Prose ” Today from 7:30 pm to 9:45 pm.”
Posted 4 hours prior to the event, linking to the Facebook event page.
New products: “Have you checked out our newest pastries? they are yummy!”

You can only pick one tag at a time, but you can change or remove the tag whenever you’d like.

The bottom line:

If you have a business that depends on local traffic, and it is the type of business your prospective customers search for, you should, as we have talked about before, use your free Google Places listing, and many of you should consider using “tags.”

This should be a no-brainer for many of you.

Read Google Help to learn more about using “tags” for Google Places.

Of course, we are always happy to talk about how we can help you with Google Places tags.

Don’t Lose Your Place – Claim Your Google Places Page!

November 23, 2010 By John

If you have claimed your Google Places page, please feel free to skip the rest of this. If you have not claimed your Google Places page. Do it! Better yet, talk with the people you trust most with your web presence about why and how. That may be someone on your staff, your webmaster, or your web marketing people. Oh, by the way, if they haven’t been telling you to use Google Local Business Center (before it morphed into Google Places) for the last few years, you should ask them why not.

Why is claiming your Google Place Page important? On April 20, 2010, while introducing Google Places, they said, “One out of five Google searches is related to location.” Seven months later, the frequency of local searches has surely grown.

Google says, “More people search for businesses online than anywhere else, so it’s important to make sure your business listing can be easily found on Google.com and Google Maps.” They obviously believe it, as demonstrated by their blog post, “Place Search: a faster, easier way to find local information.”

After you claim your page, you may enhance the Place Page for your business by adding photos, videos, tags, hours of operation, coupons, and even real-time updates like weekly specials. One of the “features” is “ Reviews by Google users” which presents a compelling reason to “claim” your business Places page. Business owners that claim their listing may respond to negative (and positive) reviews. Here are some guidelines for managing your listing.

When is your Google Places listing displayed? Your listing will display when someone does a search on Google Web Search, Google Maps, Mobile search, 1-800-GOOG-411 voice directory search, or Google Earth. On any of these services, a search directly for your business name and city, will most likely display your listing. If your listing is well crafted, searches for your business category or services will trigger a display of your listing.

There is a lot more to be said, but I’ll just close, by telling you, this is the most important local business search-related action you can take. Google Places is free, and you can easily claim and enhance the listing yourself. Invest a little time, and do this today!

Learn more about Google Places, and remember, Don’t Lose Your Place!

As always, feel free to post a comment or question, or call John at 1-800-281-9993 or 608-822-3750.

One out five Google searches is related to location

April 26, 2010 By John

Google says, “One out five Google searches is related to location.” Considering that a very high number of SERPs (search engine result pages) will display a map with a list of locations next to it, it behooves every business to take control of their renamed “Google Places” page.

On these pages and in countless recommendations to clients, we have, for years, stressed the importance of using the Google Maps Local Business Center (remember, we talked about using coupons, and Click-to-Call phone numbers) to take control of and optimize what Google displays next to a map when Google users do a search related to location (aka “geographically qualified search”) for your business or a product or service you may sell. As of April 20, 2010, the poorly-named Local Business Center is now named “Google Places.”

As usual for Google, the newly named Google Places comes with several new features. Unfortunately and as usual for Google, the search users and clients they serve in rural, lower-populated areas, cannot take advantage all of the new features. I understand the business decisions by Google to concentrate where they get the most return by targeting large population areas with the most potential customers. That said, I sometimes wonder if some of the people at Google don’t overlook that many areas with small populations and what they have to offer are destinations for those in metropolitan areas. I digress.

Some of the newest Google Places features:

Service areas: You can now show which geographic areas you serve. And if you run a business without a storefront or office location, you can now make your address private.

Others include:

A new, simple way to advertise: For just $25 per month, businesses in select cities can make their listings stand out on Google.com and Google Maps with Tags. (Select cities are the keywords here, so this won’t be available to many.)
Business photo shoots: In addition to uploading their own photos, businesses in select cities can now request a free photo shoot of the interior of their business. (Again, select cities are the keywords here.)
Customized QR codes
Favorite Places:

You may read all about it here in Google Pages announcement.

The bottomline is that you should, as before, enhance your listing with the map when it is displayed in Google’s SERPs. Now it is easier and you can do much more with your new Google Places page.

If you haven’t taken advantage of this, all it costs is a little time, and you will get start getting more self-qualified traffic from searches related to location. Sign up today!

Click-to-call phone numbers in Google AdWords local ads on mobile devices

March 11, 2010 By John

As is the case here, most of the time what we post in this blog isn’t breaking news, nor anyone’s trade secret. It is usually just stuff that makes sense and works. Well this does both.

Many times, when people using their mobile devices search for local businesses, they are looking for phone numbers, not just addresses. Well, don’t disappoint them, When they are looking for a restaurant or a business, serve up a phone number where they can “Click-to-Call.” Don’t lose that opportunity to talk with them!

Google says, “you can make it even easier for potential customers to reach you by adding a location-specific business phone number in ads that appear on mobile devices with full internet browsers. Click-to Call Ads Users can click the number to call you just as easily as clicking to visit your website. And, since ads can be served based on user location, a potential customer will see — and can click to call — the phone number of your store location that’s nearest to them, not one that’s across town.”

You may display the phone number from your Google Maps Local Business (If you have been reading this blog, you know we feel you should have a Google Maps Local Business listing.) listing by linking to that account. Additionally, you may manually enter a display phone number in your AdWords account.

Customers will not only be able to click (or push) on the number to call, you will be able to track the calls in your AdWords account. Please remember these will only show on mobile devices with full internet browsers, not all cell phones.

Jump over to the Google Inside AdWords to read how to track your callers, and more details about Click-to-Call.

According to Google, “Advertisers who participated in the beta trial have seen improved click-through rates. Plus, many advertisers received more visits to their websites in addition to incremental phone calls.”

If you are thinking this would be great for ads other than local ad delivery, well Google thinks so as well. A few days ago they rolled out their “Enhanced click-to-call phone numbers.” To display your national business phone number on mobile devices with full browsers, follow the two steps listed in this Inside AdWords post.

Just a few clicks on your part, will have self-qualified, potential customers clicking to call you!

Using Google Maps Local Business Coupons

February 24, 2010 By John

We have talked about Google Maps Local Business before. The feature I want to encourage many of you to use is not new. In fact, it has been around since 2007, but definitely is under-used. I am talking about offering online coupons in your Google Maps Local Business listing. I expect the “under-used” aspect is likely to change as now you can have mobile coupons. Yes, that’s what I said, “mobile coupons.” Google Maps Local Business Coupon Google says, “This new form of coupon allows your customers to search for savings via phone. A customer can pull up the coupon on his or her smartphone device and present the device at checkout to redeem. It’s easy for everyone!”

With the proliferation of smartphones (I love my Droid Eris.), more of your customers and prospective customers are viewing your websites from a mobile device. Take advantage of it.

If you use coupons in print advertising, you certainly know their effectiveness. Google’s “mobile coupons” have all the same advantages with much less hassle. And, it’s not as likely that you’ll forget your phone as you do the paper coupons as you hurry out the door.

Simple to use, and another way to get customers in the door!

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