5 tips for getting the best from your Google My Business profile
Looking for top tips to get the best from your Google My Business profile?
You’re in the right place 🎉.
But first up – what is Google My Business (a.k.a GMB)?!
GMB is a FREE tool that you can use to manage your online presence across Google including search and maps.
It’s predominately used to improve rankings in local search results and a great tool to include in your marketing strategy as is home to all the juicy information consumers are looking for such as :
Opening times
Phone numbers
Directions
Web address
Reviews
Special offers
Products
FAQ’s
But I have all this info on my website I hear you cry
I know it might feel like you are adding yet another thing to your ever growing to do list, however the way we search is changing.
Current research shows that less than half of google searches now result in a click. This is because the information we need can be found in Google property such as GMB, Google Maps, You Tube and via the “People also asked” section in the search results.
So, having all the info people need about your business in your Google My Business profile will mean you are reaching more potential visitors than if it was only available via your website.
Should it replace my website?
No, your website is still very much your shop window and should still be home to all your important information, blogs and the place your outreach pieces and campaigns link back to.
Treat your GMB profile as an extension to your homepage and a place where people can find key information quickly whilst still on the search results page.
Your website should be regularly updated with content that keep your customers / clients engaged and informed as this will not only strengthen your brand but also help you to rank.
Where do I sign up?
Click on the button below and follow the sign up process then Google will send you a post card with a verification code in the post.
Once you get it you need to log back in and enter the code and then you are away.
Now that you’re all signed up let’s get down to the fun part - getting that GMB profile working for you.
1. Reviews
Once you are all signed up, start thinking about how to get reviews in from your customers as they can really help to increase your rankings.
To rank well on Google, one of the things you need to do is to build brand awareness by generating content that showcases your expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. Reviews show that your customers are talking about your business and show that you are an expert in your field.
Consumers also love a review, in fact, research shows that over 80% of consumers read a review before making a purchase. Of that 80% people aged between 18 and 34 make up 90% of that figure, which is a huge chunk of the population.
How do you get reviews?
Well there isn’t a super snazzy way of getting a review, it really is a case of doing a fab job and then asking your customers to shout about it.
Reviews are keyword searchable, so think about using an ‘enhanced ask’ to help you gain reviews that contain the keyword / phrases you would like to be found for.
An enhanced ask is essentially a list of questions that prompt customers to talk more about their experience with you. It’s against Google’s content policy to discourage negative reviews or solicit positive reviews from customers so keep the questions neutral. For example:
What services / product did you buy?
How did we do?
What did you like about working with us?
Have you tried any of our other products and services?
Did you work with anyone specifically you’d like to mention?
Would you recommend us to friends and family?
Whilst the reviews we want are in depth, keyword rich and give potential customers a good idea of the customer experience they will receive we don’t want to discourage people who are short on time to leave reviews. When reaching out to your customers make clear that you would also love just a star rating review to.
When your reviews start rolling in make sure you review them on a regular basis and reply to them all with bespoke answers.
A few of things to avoid …
Don’t review yourself – It’s not really the spirit of reviews, Google doesn’t like it and savvy consumers will be able to tell it’s you.
Don’t review your competitors – same reasons as above
Don’t delete bad reviews – We pour our heart and souls in to our businesses so I know it’s not nice to get a bad review but don’t delete them. Take on board any relevant feedback and then reply addressing the issues raised honestly and fairly. People understand that you can’t please everyone all the time, in fact 4.2 – 4.5 is the ideal average star rating for purchase probability.
2. Choose the Right Categories for your business
This element needs a little thought for some businesses as it is a little ‘Americanised’. The category needs to represent what you do as closely as possible so you are showing up in the relevant searches.
You can select more than one category, for example if you owned a car dealership that also had a servicing department, you would select car sales as your initial category and car servicing / parts as your secondary category and you would be visible in searches for both.
Make sure you choose categories that are as specific as possible, the primary category carries the most weight so make sure that it reflects your core services.
Try not to use too many categories and if you can’t find more than one category straight away don’t panic. Google constantly adds new options so just review every so often to make sure you are up to date.
Depending on what category you sit in there are different features available. For example make-up artists and hairdressers would come under the health and beauty category. One of the different features on there is that you can add a booking button and have a menu of services. Hotel listings include a class rating and amenities section you can populate.
3. Use Google Posts
Google posts are a great way to drive pre-site conversions and interactions. They are visible for seven days unless you are using a template with a date range and there are four post templates you can choose from.
Whats new
Event
Offer
Product posts
To build momentum I tend to recommend posting once a week and use them to support campaigns you are running just as you would Google Ads / Display campaigns. However as everyone audience is different so experiment with your posts and see what works best for your business.
Make sure you keep the content attention grabbing and use UTM tracking (more on this later) so you can see in Google Analytics where the traffic / sales are coming from.
4. Images!!
We are visual creatures and you are more likely to get conversions if you have some nice images for people to check out (research shows that there is about a 40% increase).
There are different options for service led business and product led businesses so if you work from home think about sharing action shots, images of your team / yourself and use the video section to post an quick intro video which tells potential customers more about you. (30 second limit)
If you do have a physical premises take lots of shots of the different customer spaces you have and upload a 360 shot, so potential customers can take a virtual look around before visiting you.
For the 360 view images Google can either provide you with a list of photographers that offer this service or if budgets are tight you can follow the step by step guide and do your own.
Get that golden user generated content
Customers are also able to post image to your profile which is great because let’s face it user generated content is glorious! Google loves it, it’s relatable, engaging and makes you customers feel like they are on your business journey with you.
GMB gives third parties the option to upload images to your profile so ask your customers to upload pics and make it easy for them. Think about having posters on site with a call to action and all the info and links they need.
5. Q&A
On GMB anyone can ask a question about your business and anyone can answer it so make sure that you review the questions section regularly and reply to any that are on there.
Plus, you may find opportunities to pick up leads / further upsell. E.g if someone is asking if you sell notepads, you can reply to say you do and that you also sell personalised notepads.
You also have the option to ask and answer your own questions – kinda like a FAQ’s page on your site.
Creating a selection of your own questions helps you to control the conversation about your business and make a better first impression.
When creating the list of FAQ’s think about the information potential customers may be interested in and questions you have been asked before. Using that information create keyword rich questions and responses but don’t include numbers or URL’s in answers as Google will filter them out.
Don’t forget to measure success
Let’s not let all that fab work go to waste so make sure you are tracking activity in Google Analytics.
Google Analytics is another free tool which is really handy for your business. You just need to add a bit of code to the back end of your website (most platforms have a section in settings where you add it in) and then will track visitors, referrers and also holds demographic info.
You can also set up goals that tracks your ecommerce conversions, video plays on site and clicks on certain content and a host of other metrics. These goals are great as they enable you to see if your content is landing with your ideal customers or if you need to think about tweaking your content strategy.
UTM link builder
As mentioned in the Google posts section UTM links are a great way of helping you track activity across your whole digital marketing mix.
A UTM link (a.k.a Urchin Tracking Module) is essentially a bit of code which is added to the end of your URL to track information. E.g https://www.marketingmixologyservices.com/?utm_source=Google&utm_medium=Organic&utm_campaign=Google%20My%20Business
Luckily Google have a Campaign URL Builder tool which you can use to generate a campaign UTM link and I have popped a link below for you.
When the link is clicked on these will be tracked in Google Analytics. In the campaign section you will be able to review which UTM links have the best conversions, giving you insight into what campaign content is working the best.
For your GMB profile I would create a UTM link to use in the info section, listing the Campaign Medium as organic and the Campaign Name as Google My Business so you can see how many visitors convert from the profile.
Well there we have it my top five GMB tips, appreciate it’s been a bit of a long post so thanks for sticking with me, hopefully you have learnt a bit more about GMB and have some ideas to take away.
If you need help with setting up and managing your GMB profile or any aspect of your marketing please do drop me a line for a no obligation chat.
