Power Hour 4 | Driving customer engagement with Google Business

If you offer a product or service that is location focused, then Google Business is essential. Even if you do not focus on local business it can help your rankings, profile, and SEO. 

It is free although they have been talking about introducing paid add-ons, this has not been made public yet.
It affects how you are viewed on search and on mobile so please have a look at the information below and contact me for a bespoke assessment. 

Here are examples of how I have optimised Google Business to improve customer engagement and encourage reviews and leads. 

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Step 1: Log into the Google Account you want to link to your google business profile.

Step 2: Go to google.com/business and select “Start now” in the top right-hand corner.

Step 3: Enter your business name.

Step 4: Enter your business address.

Step 5: 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.

Step 6: Choose your business category. Be specific as you are basically telling google which type of customers should see your listing – mine is marketing consultant but I could also be marketing agency website agency etc

Step 7: Add your basic contact info – more on this later

Step 8: Decide how you would like to verify

I normally use the phone or mail option. You will receive a postcard to your business address within 4 days then you log back in

Step 1 – Info – Fill out all missing info paying attention to
• Check Address and remove door number if needed
• Service Areas – Very important if you offer services to a select area or want to enter that market. I service London, Ealing, Chiswick, Hammersmith, RBKC, Brentford & Action for example
• You can update this over time as you understand your ideal customer and work out which areas are best for your business.
• Opening hours – particularly important if you are a store or customer facing business! Worth updating for bank holidays. I said I was working on Easter Monday and got a potential client
• Contact number
• Website
• Appointment link – especially important as google prioritises this so if you do not have one make it your contact or home page!
• Products
• Services
• Highlights
• Description
• Opening Date
• Add Photos

Step 2: Photos
Photos should be at least 720 pixels wide by 720 pixels high and JPG or PNG files.
• Cover Photo
• Logo
• Inside / Outside / Video
• 360 Virtual Tour
• At work
• Team

Step 3: Videos
• Video specs:
• Less than 30 seconds
• Under 100mb
• 720p or higher

Step 4 Google Business Reviews
This is a crucial part of GMB – all google reviews are verified as the creator must be logged in and therefore, they are much harder to fake than most review platforms. They can then be repulled onto your website or other marketing

Theo Ruby Google Reviews[/caption]

Always remember to respond to every review as keywords used in the review / response help to build your SEO profile!
If it is a positive review, thank and if possible, mention your favourite part of working with them
If it is a negative review, be sincere apologetic and try to find a way to resolve the issue. Negative comments will hurt your business faster than you may realise. I only take the final payment for any job once the client is 100% satisfied that the job is complete, and they are happy with the work that has been done for them. Therefore, any niggles can be worked out in the final stage and you can leave them with work you can be proud of and that they will rate you for.
You can also create a testimonials page on your website and include any google business reviews or reviews from any other platform

Step 5: Posts
Free and simple way to share content to google and improve your rankings – 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 image – headline, brief description, and button. Strongly

Step 6: Free Website
Basic 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 something like WordPress

Add to your email signature, share links with clients and potential business.

Use the free google ad’s credits to promote your business – you will get around £75 free ads credit which can raise your business profile but will also give you analytics on important

Share your link with customers for a quick insight into your business and option to leave review or learn more. For example, I completed some SEO work and then got hosting and website design work after they saw the other services, I had to offer

Note Google Places is the legacy version of google business so you may see places referenced in old posts and guides

Google+ is an outdated social media platform so you can ignore Places and Plus and focus your energy on Business

Bonus: Connect to Bing places for business