Your Google My Business Listing
August, 2021
There aren’t a ton of live-or-die social media marketing rules out there. You’ve got to be authentic, ethical, and engaged on social media - those are definitely truths. You want to be true to your vision and hold principled values - that’s for every business owner. And, most definitely, you want to be active on your Google My Business listing if you have a physical location that customers visit or you travel to your customers.
What is Google My Business?
Google My Business is the red in your shoes that make the hop in your step a little bouncier. It’s what drives people to your location or influences them to sign up for your services. We’re talking local search, multi-unit SEO, and Google maps. Google My Business is essential digital marketing.
Google, at least for now, offers businesses a free Google My Business listing that directs potential customers across Google search and Google maps. A website is the penultimate in your online presence. After that comes your social media marketing presence, and Google plays a huge role.
Claiming or creating a Google My Business listing is usually straightforward but if someone else owns your listing or there are duplicate entries, things can get a little more complicated. Depending on what’s happening in the world with bots and spammy things, Google may red flag certain types of businesses or services, and claiming or changing a listing may need a little more expertise from a Google professional. If that’s your situation, get in touch with us. We work with SEO professionals who have direct lines of contact with the Google gods because sometimes it takes that level of help to get things moving.
Optimizing your Google My Business Listing
When you’re driving around looking for a place to eat or trying to decide which carpet installer you should get in touch with, Google tries its very best to match your search query with legitimate businesses that exactly fit your needs. Google does this by serving you a map along with three top business listings. As a business owner, your goal is to get your business into that local 3-pack presentation and to rank high on Google maps. There’s a lot that goes into that SEO work, but a component of it is your Google My Business listing.
The first thing you want to do is ensure all your “info” correctly reflects your business:
Categories is where you select from pre-fab options how you want to describe your business. This isn’t about the products or services you offer, it’s the umbrella terms that capture what you do. Only choose 2-3 categories that represent your business.
Location is for either your physical location that customers can visit or this field identifies if you are a service that visits customers in their own space.
Keeping your regular business hours and special holiday hours updated allows customers to quickly know if you’re open. Customers can get pretty mad when the Google listing says you’re open, but you’re not.
The attributes you are given is determined by the Categories you select. It’s not a perfect science on Google’s end, so while you may want to label yourself as LGBTQ-friendly and as a Transgender Safe Space, Google may not present you with those options. It’s a you get what you get situation.
Ask for Google Reviews - Immediately
On your Google My Business dashboard, you’ll find a direct link that prompts folks to leave you a Google review. Share this link with everyone. We’ve written about the importance of this before, so read up on it here and take action. Be absolutely sure you are responding to every single review, even the reviews that are only stars. #essentialmedicine
Posting on Google My Business
There are 4 types of social media posts you can do:
Offer posts can be live for a set amount of time and coupon codes can be added for redemption tracking. Use these style posts for coupons, special deals, gift card ads, promoting reservations, etc. Find creative ways to turn anything into an Offer post.
Event posts are for monthly features, special events, workshops, etc. Think about doing event posts when you bring in a new brand, celebrate a new service, hire a new employee.
Product posts are for featuring items or services people can purchase. This is a time-consuming activity, getting everything listed and keeping it updated, but it’s worth it. And if you don’t feel like doing the dirty, ask us.
What's New posts have a 7-day life and are for more quick kinds of topics. These post types should be used minimally or not at all.
Keep it interesting
Posting on Google My Business is one of the easiest platforms to create content because you can directly talk about your business and services. This is straight-up advertising pointed directly at your audience. That doesn’t mean you are allowed to be boring, you’ve always got to be interesting and creative and consistently speaking to your people. Now, go get to work.