Google my business is an essential tool for all local businesses. Google My Business it is a free tool that enables your business to appear in local search results that relate to your services or products. And if you want your bricks-and-mortar store to succeed, you need GMB.
You probably understand that marketing for local physical stores is a bit different than marketing for the digital ones. Which is why Google My Business is one of the best marketing resources for local businesses. Combined with Google maps and Google search, GMB is one of the best and most recommended tools on the internet to expand your business locally, increase visibility in search, and attract more clients.
Whether you own a bakery or a photography studio, local clients are the most important part of your audience. Which means, you want them to find you as easily as possible.
Read the article below and discover the three most important tips on how to make the most of Google My Business in 2019.
Here are 3 tips on how Google My Business can bring you more sales in 2019.
1. Give customers information that they want (and a lot of it)
In business, the first impression is the most important. As a small business owner, you need to leverage this to your benefit. Once you’ve claimed your GMB listing, log in and provide every single bit of relevant information possible.
You need to provide your business name, a photo of your store and working hours very clearly, so your potential customers have all the information they need to buy your product or service. Make it easy for people to contact you in every way- never add any barriers to their communication with you. The more your customers know about your business, they more they will trust it, and the more likely they are to buy from you.
These points of information are displayed in every Google My Business profile in the panels called the knowledge panels. You should provide all the information a potential customer needs to decide to visit your store, including:
• Your business name
• Business type (flower shop, photography services, a bakery)
• Address (street name, street number, your town and the postal code)
• Hours of operation
• Phone number
• Link to your website
• Photos of the exterior and interior of the store
• Link to Google maps
• Reviews
Don’t forget to write a clear description of your business too. Keep it simple, clean, straight to the point and full of relevant keywords.
Don’t forget to link your Google My Business listing with your website so if your potential buyers want to know more about you or the business, they can easily click through to your site and browse for more information. Andrew Sterling, digital marketing blogger, notes that this is the most underutilised tip for making the best use of your Google My Business.
Your website should be up to date and mobile friendly. Most of your clients are probably browsing their searches on their phone. Welcome them with a responsive site that loads fast. There are many tools around the web you can use, such as Google Search console, to assess your website and make sure it’s running smoothly on mobile.
Be very specific when choosing your business categories. They are strongly connected to the keywords people use to look for what they need.
Providing verified information about your business to Google can help its crawlers understand more about the services and products you are offering, where you are located and what your business is about.
2. Encourage clients to leave you a review
Reviews provide legitimacy and evidence that you supply an excellent product or service. This inspires trust in your business and will result in more customers. Do you trust a business with 200+ positive reviews over a business with none?
If you have regular customers or you had a positive experience with a client, encourage them to leave a review for you. People love being asked for their feedback. Make sure you respond professionally to every review, good or bad. Even if the review is fake, answer it politely.
Also make it easy for people to review you- if you have a menu or physical flyer, ask people to review you on Google. Also link from your website or Facebook account to your GMB and ask for a review. Marketing pipeline expert Roxanne Carah Marante noted that just from adding a Google Review link within her signature, she was able to double her number of GMB reviews within 12 months.
3. Provide photos and videos on your listing
It is important to do some research on your own now. Who else appears on Google My Business, and who is first or second in the ranking? Where are you? What do your competitors have on their GMB listing?
People love visual information. It’s worth investing in a professional photographer for your store interior or your product. Think of restaurants and their plates of food attractively presented, or a tile store with photos of their finished projects.
If you stock physical objects, take photos of your best sellers or new and unusual items. Add them to your GMB listing.
Also, think about adding videos. These also provide trustworthiness to your business- even a walk-through of your store or short video explaining what you do. A shoe repair store could show how they replace a heel, a music store can record a customer playing their new instrument. The possibilities are endless.
What happens now?
Once you’ve verified your business with Google, follow the three simple steps:
- Add lots of detail about your business so people can easily find all the information they need
- Ask people to leave reviews and then reply to them
- Add photos and videos that are relevant and enticing
Once that’s all in place, just keep adding to it. Make sure you update information, like if your opening hours change over Christmas. If you add new products or services, make sure that’s reflected in your listing. If you’re unsure about anything or need assistance to set GMB up or populate it, hire the professionals, who will take it all off your plate so you can devote your energy to where it needs to be.
GMB is important not just for your online sales, but also your physical bricks-and-mortar store. Make sure you’re getting all the sales you can and maximising opportunities. This is the best free advertising you will ever get, make sure you use it.
