Many business owners want to know how to get customers to visit their physical stores, websites or just get in touch for a conversation and a Google maps listing could be part of your strategy for success. Google Maps is a huge driver of clicks for businesses as people are spending more time searching using their mobile phones and map results appearing at the top of searches.
Google My Business is the most important aspect of any Local SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) campaign to help you get your business found by more people. This makes creating your Google My Business Account one of the most important things that you can do to start with and guess what? It isn’t that hard to DIY or you can always get in touch with us and we can help you out!
Why is your Google My Business listing so important?
With the internet becoming part of our lives every year, more and more people are turning to Google over traditional methods to find businesses and services. If I wanted to find an electrician, I could just type into Google Cessnock Electrician and I would find the following.
(Sneaky shoutout to J Catt Electrical as they are actually one of our clients and are listed second which is impressive!)
The very first thing to appear in the search results after any paid ads are businesses on Google Maps. This appears before hipages and yellowpages which are all paid advertising whereas Google My Business is free AND appears first in search results so there is no better place to start.
So we know that having your business on Google Maps is really important and even better it is free. But how do you get your business listed?
That is where we need to learn about Google My Business.
What is Google my Business?
Google My Business is a free online platform run by Google that allows you to list your business and manage how it appears on Google Maps.
It is worth noting here, that you don’t have to have an account in order to be listed on Google Maps as sometimes other people have added your business however, you do need to have an account with Google My Business in order to claim your business and manage how it appears for people to see.
You also don’t need to have a website to appear on Google Maps but it will definitely help with your conversions and sales if you do have a website.
How to setup Google My Business in 3 easy steps
- Create your free Google My Business Account
- Check to see if your business has already been listed and if it has claim it
- Verify your ownership of your business
1. Create your free Google My Business Account
All you need to do is head over to Google My Business – Drive Customer Engagement on Google and click sign in. You can create a new Google account or link it to an existing account. This would have to be the easiest part of the process!
2. Check to see if your business has already been listed and if it has claim it
When you click manage now you are able to search for your business and find out if it has already been listed. Often, other people will have added the information of your business to Google Maps including images but it is better if you are able to control and manage these details.
During this step you also want to make sure that your details are correctly listed or enter in your details correctly. This is vital as Google cross references your details with our places online to find out how accurate your listing is and to assist in ranking your business higher or lower. Make sure that you select the correct category, services, address and locations that you serve. This will be different depending on the type of business you have. For example, an electrician may service Cessnock, Maitland, Singleton, Newcastle, Port Stephens and the Central Coast and should like all of these areas.
3. Verify you are the owner of your business
Once you have entered all of the details and information for your business you should verify your business. DO you have to verify? No. Should you verify? YES!
Why should you verify your business on Google My Business?
The verification process is simple to complete. You simply select to be verified and Google will post you a postcard with a code on it that you enter online. Yes, you read that correctly. Even Google sometimes takes advantage of snail mail still.
By verifying your business, you are letting Google know that you are serious about your listing and it gives your business more credit to be listed higher in the search results. It also allows you to have access to more features and more ways to manage your business listing.
We recommend that you spend time looking through your Google My Business Dashboard once you have registered so that you can fully understand the possibilities of your listing as Google is always adding new features such as appointments, bookings, accommodation bookings, video calls and many others.
Want some help with listing your business on Google Maps? Why not get in touch with us today to discuss your digital strategy and how we can help you to maximise your opportunities in your business.