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Google My business Complete Guide

The fact that these days, the internet has become a part and parcel of each and every individual’s daily life cannot be stressed enough. Apart from that, the way we do business today has, in fact, become revolutionized due to the advent of internet. Your visibility and online presence on the web is everything today.

If any person cannot look you up on their laptops or computers, then the truth of the matter is that you or your business is non - existent for them. Thus, you need to ensure that your business is visible online and easily searchable by people.

Especially if you are a new business or are just starting out, then the first thing that you must do is use Google My Business in order to attract and target more customers. It has been proved that if you are listed on Google, then it increases your presence to the local customers by leaps and bounds.

Mostly, whenever there are people looking for any local business near them, the case is that they have already made up their minds to make the purchase, and are only looking for the correct company or store from which they can buy the product. Even statistics show that more searches like “stores near me” result in-store visits and then, the final purchase.

These kinds of searches have grown by 90% in the last two years. Thus, it is extremely crucial to be present online in order to make more sales.

So, if you wish to know how you can reach out to potentially more people, create a brand name for your company, convert your target customers into actual sales and effectively increase your customer base, then you must definitely read this article!

What is GMB or Google My business?

Google My Business or GMB is nothing but a tool that has been created by Google in order to help small and big business owners to manage their appearance on Google in the search result as well as on Google Maps.

Google My Business succeeds in Google Places since it includes many other features as well. It is nothing but a platform that will give you control as to how you can appear on user searches as well as Maps. When you use Google my Business and create your own listing, you will have various other controls like the name of your business, the location, the working hours of the business, etc. moreover, you will also be able to see what the customers are saying about your store and you will also be able to view their reviews as well as respond to them.

Thus, we can easily say that Google My Business is extremely essential in today’s day and age. Since its launch in the year 2014, it is has become one of the most sought - after platforms by all business owners, and rightly so. Some of the advantages that you will have with Google My Business are:

Will get you visibility - We all know that Google is the go-to platform for everything. Thus, having your business on Google My Business will help you to reach a large customer base in a very short span of time

Brand Portrayal - With this platform, you can portray your brand and company the way you like, Many times, what happens is due to low listings, your brand might get neglected. Thus, you can use this platform effectively to communicate about yourself and your brand.

Easily Available - With your presence on Google My Business, customers will easily be able to look for you and contact you in a matter of seconds, thus resulting in more footfall and sale of your product or service.

Thus, with all the above-mentioned benefits, it is highly suggested to get yourself on this platform. Read on to find out how you can do so!

How to Create Google my Business Page?

Creating a Google My Business Page id extremely easy and very effective. You just need to follow a couple of steps and your page will be up and running in no time at all! Some of the steps that you need to follow are given below:

Go to your Google Account - The first and foremost thing that you need to do is log in to your Google account. This is easy and simple and can be done in a single step. Your Google account will help you to create your own listing which will have all the admin rights of your page. Thus, for this very reason, it is important to have a good account recovery and security measure so that you do not lose the account. So, you must be careful about this parameter.

Visit the GMB Page - The next thing for you to do is to go to the Google My Business page and click “Manage now”. This is the first step and from here on, you will be asked to enter all your business details.

Name your business - In this step, you will be required to enter the name of your business. However, if earlier you have had a listing, then you will only need to select your business from a drop-down menu. But, if you do not have a listing, then you will be able to create a new one.

Location Details -The next step would be to enter details about the location of the business. You will require to confirm if there is a physical location where people will be able to visit and once you confirm, then you’ll have to punch in the address.

Provide the Address - In this step, you will need to provide the exact address of your store. Make sure to be as precise as possible, and make sure that there are no errors here. A wrong address could cost you many customers in the long run!

Additional Location - Here, you will be asked if you operate from anywhere else apart from the address provided. If you do, then you must enter the details as it will only open up more opportunities for your business

Enter the Business Category -This is an extremely crucial step and you must enter the correct category here so that whenever anyone searches for the industry that you belong to, your name also reflects in the searches.

Give your contact details - This is again important and you must provide all the necessary details like phone, email or website so that existing and potential customers can reach out to you.

Submit the details - The last thing needed to do is submit all the details. In case you want to add or change something later on, you can always modify the information as per your requirement.

How to Verify Google my business?

Once you have entered all the valid information about your store or business, you will need to authenticate or verify the details, so that Google can be assured that all the information provided by you is true. Some of the ways in which you can verify this information is:

Through Postcard - This is one of the traditional ways of verifying your information. Google will send a postcard to the address provided by you containing a verification code. The postcard generally arrives within 4 to 5 business days. Once it reaches you, all you need to do is type in the verification code after logging into your account and submit it

By Text Message - This is a speedier way of verifying the account. You will just need to log in to your account and select the option that allows you to verify information via cell phone. Then, you will receive a message with a code. You will simply need to type in the code and then, your account will get verified.

Through Email - Email is another option by which you can verify your account. The instructions are same - you will only need to punch in the verification code that you may have received in your inbox and then your account will get verified.

By Bulk - Multi verification - This method is for stores that are present in more than ten locations. For this process, you will need to fill a verification form containing various other details regarding your brand or company. Then, a Google Manager will get in touch with you for further completion of the process.

Thus, by opting for either of the options mentioned above, you can easily get your account verified by Google. But google has disabled by text message, email and other multi-verification methods long back and made available only for postal verification method.

Optimize Google My Business:

Once your profile has been verified, the next step that you must follow is to optimize your Google My Business Account. This step is extremely essential as it helps you to attract more clients and customers by providing as much information possible about your business, thus, giving the clients more clarity and assurance.

So, it is highly recommended that you do as much as possible so that you can optimize your account and take full benefit of your Google My Business Account.

Some of the things that you need to do in order to optimize your account are:

Add business photos and Cover photo - A cover photo is the most important photo that you can put up in your account. A cover picture talks a lot about your brand and company, and so you must choose this picture very carefully. For example, this picture should communicate with the clients about the work that you do and must be such that they are convinced about your work.

A cover picture is the first picture that any person sees on your account, and so, make sure that it is a clear and good picture that is relevant to your business and shows to them the kind of work that you do.

Some other photos - The cover photos can also include some pictures of the interiors as well as the exteriors of the business or your office. Moreover, apart from that, you can put up more pictures that may be relevant to the work you do. For example, you can put up pictures of your products - showing to the customers and potential customers the quality, design, and style of the products you offer.

Also, you can also add pictures of the team, your office, places near to your office and other such related photos to your business. Putting up relevant pictures makes the customers believe genuinely about your company, and so, you must add relevant photos to your profile.

Add videos - One of the best parts about Google My Business id that apart from photos, you can also add videos. You can use this for your advantage as videos are so much more engaging than photos. However, there are some basic rules that have to be kept in mind when uploading a video to the account.

The video must not be very long, and the maximum duration should not exceed more than 30 seconds. Also, when the size is concerned, it must not be more than 100 MB. Also, the resolution of the video must be 720p or more than that. The videos must talk about your business and its mission and vision and must be engaging and interesting. Follow these instructions and upload your video, and you will have no problem.

Add other information like Timing Hours, Website, Phone number, etc - Apart from photos and videos, you can add other information like the timing, your website URL, the phone number and other information. All these contribute immensely to the credibility of the company and also enable the client to have more trust in you. Thus, you must be as transparent as possible and furnish all the details that you possibly can about your business and your brand.

How to claim a business on Google?

One thing you can do via your account also claims your business on Google. In order to do this, some of the steps that you need to follow are:

The first step that you need to do in order to claim business is having your own Google My Business account. This is very simple and can be easily done. Once this step is completed, the next thing to do is log in. After logging into your account, you will have to search either by the name of the business or by the address. You can do this by typing either of the information in the search box.

Once you have hit search and the results have displayed, you can choose from the displayed options. If there are no results matching with your search, then you will need to click on ‘Add your Business” and then follow the next steps in the process.

Once you are done with the steps that are mentioned above, the next and final step that needs to be performed is the verification step, where you need to verify the fact that the business that you are trying to claim genuinely belongs to you, and that you are not committing any fraud. In order to verify this information, Google will send you a verification code that will be mailed.

This will take about one to two weeks. Once you receive the code, do enter the verification code and complete the process. Once done, you will have the right to manage your business on Google!

Manage Reviews on Google My Business:

Once you have created your account, provided all the relevant information, verified and claimed your business, the next thing you will need to do is engage with the customers online on a regular basis. Once there are a few customers that you deal with, you will see many online reviews pouring in about your business.

These online reviews are very important as they are an insight into what the customers are thinking about your business, whether or not they are liking the product or service provided by you, and if they have any suggestions to offer. So, you’ve understood that these reviews are a gateway to the mind of the customers.

Thus, it becomes utmost essential to keep monitoring these reviews and getting feedback. So, in order to do this, Google My Business is extremely helpful as has the ability required that helps in monitoring and responding to all the customer reviews about your business.  You can respond to all the queries, questions or complains that have been posted by the consumers.

It is very necessary to respond to these queries - be it a general comment or a review. This shows that you are concerned about the consumer and are responsive to their needs and demands.

You can also bond with your customers, nurture long-lasting relationships with them which can also lead to a re-buy of your product or service. Thus, you must make use of these reviews to take your business to greater heights.

Conclusion

Google My Business is a very helpful tool for increasing your presence on the web and to reach more customers. It is also a great way to maintain and foster relationships with your customers.

So, now that you have read this article, you know all about how to make use of Google My Business. So, if you do not have an account already, do make one right now and get started with increasing the online presence of your business!