Having a Google My Business listing isn’t just a box you need to tick. It’s something you need to nurture so that in turn it will bring you the best results.
So what is it?
When you search for a product or service on Google, the results that come back will list all the relevant listings as Google sees them.
So at the top of the page you get Adverts. These are relevant adverts to your search, and the only way to get listed there is to pay Google. In essence, to get the top spot you have to bid more per click than the competition.
Next is the Google my business listing, where the most relevant businesses to your search are shown. On the front page of your search, only the top 3 are shown which makes these highly sought after. I’ll discuss how to improve these later.
After that you get the organic results. These are the results that Google sees as most relevant to your search. The only way to get to the top of this list is good SEO. Having a paid advert and a strong Business listing help a lot, but SEO is a whole lot more involved than this article can cover.
Why should I care?
Simply put, no matter if you are B2C or B2B, most of your future customers are finding you through one of two places, your Google listing, or referrals. These days, for a lot of people, the first thing they do when someone gives them a referral is look them up online via social media or Google search. If you’re not in that top 3, then you are being a well kept secret.
So how can you improve your Google My Business listing?
The first and most obvious step is to make sure you have control of your listing. Google will create one automatically if your business appears on Google Maps, which it will. So it’s important to make sure you are in control of what it says.
Go here to register yourself as the business owner if you haven’t already.
Google covers three main areas with Business listings.
- Company info – Make sure this is up to date and matches your website. Inconsistencies in this information will harm your score and push you out of that vital top 3 spot.
- Reviews – It can’t be understated how important genuine reviews are to your listing, and business in general. It can feel awkward and un-British to push people to drop you a review, but Google values them highly. It’s also worth noting that not all reviews are scored equally. As a high scoring Google Local Guide, my reviews carry more weight, and reviews that go over 200 characters, even emojis, are worth more points.
- Media – Show people who you are. Have photos, video and StreetView (panoramic 360) images. And don’t be afraid to prune. More people are using the media section of your Google listing to make judgments about you before they contact you. Make sure what they see shows you in a good light. You can delete photos from your Google My Business dashboard. Google scores video highest, but as this service is still not fully launched, only certain people can upload these for you. They also have a 30 second time limit.
Don’t miss out on free exposure and make sure your Google My Business listing is up to date, active and attracting people to your business.
If photography and video isn’t your thing then give us a call at Blackfire Films. We offer a Media Pack service that gives you everything you need to get Google to love your listing.
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