6 Ways Google My Business Is Good For Business
Back in the day, all you had to do to make sure people could find your business was to place an entry in the phone book.
Alright, maybe it wasn’t quite so simple — but the list of business directories was much shorter than it is today. Nowadays, there are thousands of online directories that cater to any and all business types. From comprehensive to industry-specific to niche only, you can find nearly any list of listings you can imagine.
But even with so many contenders, there are some online directories that stand out amongst the crowd. And of those, the most ubiquitous just might be Google My Business.
GMB is an authority among directories. There are many other directories that pull their information from GMB, or cross-compare their info against the info available from Google. It’s also how Google Maps provides your clients with directions and contact information for your business, and one of the important factors for improving your ranking in Google’s search results.
Not having your business information on GMB is like what not being in the phone book once was. And given that it’s completely free to register, and takes only a few minutes to set up, there’s no excuse for your business not to have a GMB listing.
But GMB also has some other neat features that the savvy entrepreneur can use to get even more out of their listing. What are they, you ask? Let’s find out!
1. Welcome Offers
When people arrive at your business listing through Google, they’ll see your general information first.
In order to see your deals and offers, they’ll typically have to go past the listing into your actual website.
This can be a problem if they are also browsing other businesses, or they’re just not sure about your business yet. It would be much better if you could present an offer up front.
Well, you can! Inside GMB there is a “Create Welcome Offer” option. This allows you to create a customized welcome offer for new clients. And since it gets presented to them up front, you’ll capture their interest right off the bat.
Fun Fact: over half of all online consumers are actively looking for a deal or discount on their purchase.
2. Engage Clients With Messaging
Consumer purchasing decisions are highly influenced by response times.
People want to get an answer to their questions about their potential purchases as quickly as possible.
That’s why today, the preferred way to interact with a business has quickly become Live Chat. It allows customers to get support in real time through the convenience of text.
So it should come as no surprise that GMB has a built-in chat function! It lets you interact with your clients directly, guiding their decisions and building a relationship with them by having a conversation instead of just presenting them information.
Make yourself accessible to your clients via the GMB live chat feature and they’ll want to connect with your business!
3. Let Clients “Request A Quote”
If you’ve enabled messaging as described in the second section, then there’s actually one more thing you can do to get your clients attention.
If you run a business that provides quotes, such as contracting, catering, or most freelancing, then you can let your potential clients request a quote right inside GMB itself.
Save them the time of needing to navigate your website, and put the call-to-action in front of them right away by adding a “Request A Quote” button to your listing!
You can review and respond to your quotes from the GMB dashboard, either via the website or inside the app.
4. Get Your Free Short Name
What’s a short name?
Short answer: good for your business!
The long answer is that it’s a URL abbreviation that people can use to arrive at your business listing. It should be short, catchy, and human-readable — making it perfect for quickly sharing your business information.
By navigating to the “Info” tab in the GMB dashboard, you’ll see an option to “add a short name”. This will let you pick a 5-32 characters handle for your business. Your clients are then able to find your business using a shortened and easily recognizable URL.
It looks like “g.page/yourbusiness” or “@yourbusiness” and it also acts as a keyword to help people locate your listing on Google Maps.
5. Post About Your Business
GMB may not technically be a social media platform, but it has some overlapping features that let you get more out of your listing.
One of those is the posting feature. Just like Facebook or Twitter, you can post up-to-the minute announcements about your business, as well as deals and offers to attract clientele.
These need to be fairly short, as only the first 100 characters are typically seen at a glance. You can use pictures to make your posts more eye-catching as well.
GMB also lets you choose a post type so you can direct customers to take a specific action based on your post, including “Buy”, “Order Online”, “Sign Up”, “Call Now”, and more!
6. Attributes
Most business owners mistakenly assume that their clients’ biggest questions are stuff like “what’s the lowest price you offer” or “do you carry X product?”
The truth is, some customers are just as concerned with other attributes of your business. So GMB has a system for you to present other important information about your business.
GMB can display 2 types of attributes: Factual and Subjective.
Factual attributes are ones which you as the business owner can edit directly. This can be a list of products and services which you offer, as well as important health and safety guidelines, such as:
- Mask requirements for customers and staff
- Temperature checks
- Appointments or reservations needed
Subjective attributes are details which depend on the opinions of people who visit your business. Google will access their feedback and add attributes to your listing based on what they find.
This is a powerful way to amalgamate the recommendations you receive. Be sure to invite your clients to review your business on GMB to help you build the reputation you deserve!
Conclusion
These are 6 of the most powerful ways to use Google My Business, but the number 1 most important thing to do is to start using it in the first place! So get out there and claim your free listing, so your business can get out there in front of the people who need to see it!
Belleville Office
Unit 8, 161 Bridge Street W.
Belleville, ON K8P 1K2
Phone: 613-966-9069
Toll Free: 1-888-401-9636
Fax: 613-966-7357
Bancroft Office
Unit 3 124 Hastings St. N
Bancroft ON
Office: 613-332-3115 ext 202
Mobile Phone: 613-202-1584
Fax: 1-866-705-4520