In today’s internet era, I think that pretty much anyone that has access to the internet understands the impact that it has on our lives – be it an advertisement, general information sources, how fast do news spread, or online businesses, the impact of the internet is undoubtedly huge. In this article, we will primarily focus on businesses and their online presence, with a focus on google my business.
No matter the type of your business, you should know that people are generally much more inclined to work with companies that have an online presence. Not only does an online presence offer more information and advertisement about your business, but it gives you credibility as well since people are able to see your reviews.
What is google my business and how to create your profile?
Quite simply, Google My Business is a free business directory that is provided by Google. It is a very powerful way for you to improve your business’s online visibility. So, the goal is to help your business by showing up on Google Search, as well as Maps while containing crucial information about your business. Google has made it pretty easy for businesses to create their own listings which allows the visitors to get information without you even needing to open a website. All that’s required in order to add your business to the directory is your business name, its category, and where it is located. Next, you have to wait a bit for Google to confirm that your business is not a duplicate, and then your Business Profile for that location will be officially created. In order to find out more about the details, you can check out this useful GMB article to help you out. And after you have created your Business Profile, it is further open for consumers to leave their reviews, add photos, and ask questions.
Posts
You can use Google My Business in order to post pretty much everything concerning your business, and it will be published on your Google My Business profile when users search for you or happen to discover your profile. The structure of the post is pretty simple, comprising from an image, the text, and a possibility to add a link. It’s important to mention that these publications expire after seven days. There are four different types of posts from which you can choose, depending on the content, those being: what’s new, event, offer, and product. Also, you can access the insights the information about views and clicks right under the post, and here you can also find a button that shares your post on the social media platforms of choice. Of course, you can edit or delete the post as well.
Adding photos
Adding photos is a great and direct way to show your products as well as services that you offer. You can help by directing the personality of your business and how it will be seen by others by adding high-quality photos to your Google My Business profile. Customers can contribute with their own photos to your listing, and Google doesn’t allow you to remove the customer added pictures – unless they violate Google’s terms and conditions.
You can add your profile photo, your cover photo, the logo of your business as well as additional photos of choice. Moreover, you should also regularly update the images because not only it shows to the potential customers up to date images, but it also shows Google that you’re an active business.
Reviews
At this point, you should understand why the reviews are critical since consumers tend to trust a business a lot more if there is an abundance of positive reviews. On the other hand, negative reviews tend to make consumers more distrustful of the business in question. It’s also important to mention that people often find Google reviews more credible than other review sites, since these reviews are the first that they stumble upon, and most often, people tend to leave more reviews on Google. Responding to reviews is very important, be sure to check if there are any new reviews regularly. It is a great way to shows your current as well as potential customers that you value feedback, are listening to them, and are open to suggestions.
In the end, it really is up to you to figure out which marketing strategies work best for you. But since the free advertisement that allows you to show your business in an honest, true way is really not all that common, and Google My Business really does give you a great platform, you should probably give it a try. You quite literally have nothing to lose.
Photo credits: Unsplash