Lucy Pearson
Google My Business is a really great free tool for business owners that helps them to monitor and manage their online presence.
For a small business, having a Google My Business listing is a vital ‘must-have’ FREE way to boost the presence of your business and increase your new client numbers.
When used effectively, Google My Business can easily allow potential customers to find and contact you quickly and successfully. To help you excel, we’ve put together a short guide on how to use Google my business to skyrocket your small business presence.
To make the most out of Google My Business, and to help maximise your search presence, it is recommended to implement it into your marketing strategy very early on, so ensure you keep it up to date and don’t neglect it.
You don’t have to update your listing every single day, however, checking it on a weekly basis to add any business updates or new images/offers is a good routine to get into. If you have urgent information or news that you want to add, then of course updating it sooner rather than later and adding it to your marketing priorities is good practice.
It’s important to remember that having a Google My Business listing can significantly increase your business’ SEO and place you in an advantageous position to competitors. To maximise your SEO using Google My Business, you should make sure to include as much relevant content as possible, such as images, videos, and text.
Ensure you’re using keywords throughout your listing that you want your business to rank for, and link to your website and social media pages where possible to direct traffic and encourage external engagement with your business.
As well as adding updates and news to your Google My Business listing, you should also ensure you regularly update and manage your contact information. This is vital to allow visitors to easily reach you and will encourage them to enquire about your services if they can see you’re available and easy to get hold of.
Even during unprecedented times where you may have to temporarily alter your business hours or locations, its essential to publicise these changes on your listings to keep your visitors up to date. As well as keeping them informed, it also conveys a high level of professionalism that you want your business to reflect.
In order to encourage people to engage with your business, you should put out as much relevant and engaging content as possible. Start by writing a detailed business description that includes key factors such as your services and location.
Then, add photos, videos, and posts that reflect the vibe of your business and will catch the eye of google searchers. You could even add exclusive offers, or link to your latest blog posts, to direct traffic to a specific landing page or call to action.
This is an excellent way for anyone to check out how others found their experience of your services. It's free and easy to send out links to existing happy clients and in a couple of clicks they can leave a review and give you a star rating so others can see what a great service you offer.
The more you can get, the more Google love you and they will then push you higher up the page. This can really help when you have competitors in your location offering the same things. If you have a Google presence for your business and with great reviews, it will rank you higher than other businesses without these things.
Your Google My Business reviews can play a large role in whether someone decides to engage with your business or book your services, so you should go out of your way to respond to any reviews and interact with the people leaving them.
Even if you receive a not-so-positive review, responding shows the reader that you value feedback and care about your clients. Avoid getting defensive, and instead respond by apologising and offering a valid explanation.
If you find you’re receiving a lot of the same messages or questions about your business, then you could even create a Frequently Asked Questions section on your listing to instantly provide visitors with the information they’re looking for.
Caro Syson is the Founder of Pocket PA and is passionate about helping small business owners to reach their full potential in the easiest possible way.
Pocket PA is a super easy system to manage your finances, accounts and gets you organised in your business to ensure you love your work and shine your light brightly.
