Boosting Your Brand’s Online Presence for Free

1. Search “Google my business” and sign in with either a pre existing Google account, or a new one. You should use your busines email domain.
2. Enter your business name. It might appear but if not, click on add your business to Google.
3. Enter your location.
4. If you go to your customers’ locations, rather than having them come to you, check the box “I deliver goods and services to my customers.” And if you work out of your house or another address you do not want publicly shown, Check “Hide my address (it’s not a store) Only show region.” Finally, select your Delivery area.
5. Choose your business category. Be as specific as you can as you are basically telling google which customers should see your listing – mine is marketing consultant but I could also be marketing agency etc.
6. Enter your basic contact information. Make sure it includes your website.
7. Decide how you would like to verify. I usually use the phone or mail option

1. Click the website option on the left sidebar
2. Customize your website
3. Click publish

You can choose from 8 themes. The website builder will automatically generate an initial website for you with the business name, location, hours, contact info and some photos.

Google my business offers a free landing page site that you can use to link to your actual site or just include contact numbers. I have always had one setup but never got any traffic or leads from it so would strongly recommend that you create your own branded website using WordPress for example.

You can build your website powered by Google for free, and it is easy to do and very basic. The design is standard as you can’t change it.

You can customize the theme, photos and language.

When you press edit, you can choose from a few CTA’s to place on your website. You can also edit the headline, description, summary header and summary body.

Photos – You can upload up to 9 photos, product images or other pictures to the section on your website directly below the summary. You are also able to upload your own cover photo to your website.

Language – It allows you to write the copy in over 60 languages

The reviews are a crucial part of Google My business as all google reviews are verified because the creator must be logged in and therefore are much harder to fake than most review platforms. They can then be repulled onto your website or other marketing.

Customers rely on verified reviews as they give credibility and will earn more trust from customers, which is a key factor when making a purchase decision.

Its important to respond to every review as keywords used in the reviews and response help to build your SEO profile. If it is a positive review, thank them and if possible mention your favourite part about working with them.

If its negative, be sincere apologetic and try and find a way to resolve the issue. Negative reviews hurt your business faster than you may realise.

Another benefit is that your potential customers can easily find your businesses important details. You can control keeping them up to date and legitimate.

Your Google my business listing includes business hours, contact information, whether you have expanded your services or you are temporarily closed, and other essential details.

This will give you a very strong local SEO as potential customers will be able to find you much easier.

Not having your essential details visible can lead to missed opportunities and potentially a prospective customer choosing a competitor because they seem more legitimate. By using this, your customers will be able to have a better customer experience.

A lot of your customers will be online and having a Google my business account makes sure that when someone tries to search for your company on Google or Google Maps, they find it. After that, they will also be able to see when and how to get to your website or shop. It ensures that you show up on page one of the Google search pages.

Photos will help you stand out and show people what your business is about. These images help people to recognise your brand.

 should be at least 720 pixels wide and 720 pixels high. They should also be FPG or PNG files. You should include

• Cover photo
• Video of the inside and outside of your business
• 360 virtual tour
• At work team

Videos  should be:

• Less than 30 seconds long
• Under 100mb
• 720p or higher

How to add photos:

1. Sign in
2. Open the location you are managing
3. On the menu, click photos
4. Choose the type of photo you want to add
5. Upload your photo from your computer

Posting content on Google my business is a free and simple way to share content to Google and improve your rankings. Your latest posts will be featured under your map and helps to build your company profile on Google. Simply repurpose any content or major social media update with an image – headline, brief description and button.

How to create a post:

1. Open the location you are managing
2. Click posts on the left-hand menu
3. Select which type of post you’d like to create from the given options
4. Enter the relevant information in each field, including details.
5. Click preview and double-check the formatting
6. Publish

Google my business offers special features for some business categories. You can also add factual features to your profile to share features that your customers may care about for example free Wi-Fi or outdoor seating.

If you are a restaurant or a bar, you can upload menus and popular dishes, as well as adding a link for online reservations.

Small and medium sized companies can add product catalogues.

These are just some examples. If you think your business is eligible for some of these features but they do not appear then you might have chosen the wrong category. You can change this and add up to 10 categories for your business.