What You Should know About Google My Business.



In a business world where smart work often trumps hard work, as a business owner, have you ever wondered about the possibility of adequately engaging a tool that best helps you manage how Google displays your business, in order to enjoy better visibility and increase in sales? If you answered yes, then we’ve got a guide to a tool that meets your needs. What's more, it's completely free, and it's none other than Google My Business. That said, before you get excited about the zero cost attached to this invention, you should know that it requires you to have some level of physical presence besides an online presence. Here's what we mean. As a business owner, besides putting In the effort to be visible online, you also need to have your boots on the ground, and have a face to face interaction with your current and intending customers. Having said that, let's take a look at what Google my business is about, and what steps you should take to best engage it. 

Purpose Of Google My Business. 

Essentially, Google my business is a cost free tool that lets you optimize your business website and profile on Google maps and search. It lets you professionally portray your business through the use of great photos, and well-constructed business details. So, you can connect with more customers and witness their interaction with your business on Google. Also, Google My Business has a mobile app which is totally free and is as effective as using the web. With that said, let's look at how you can properly use Google My Business. 

What To Do To Effectively Use Google My Business. 

1) Generate A Google My Business Listing: 
First things first, you'll need to create a Google account. If it happens that you already have one, then all you should do is to log in. With that done, you should go ahead to Google.com/business and then click on the “start now” tab at the top right side of your screen. Then, go ahead to enter your business name, followed by your business address, and then how you wish to deliver your services and goods to your customers. When that's done, you should select your business category, and it should be as accurate as possible. With your category comprehensively spelt out, you’re basically telling Google the type of customers that you desire your business listing to be visible to. Finally, you should enter your business website or number, and then pick your preferred verification option. 

2) Engage The Verification Options: 
Having successfully created a Google My Business listing, the next step would be to verify your business. This can be done by using one of five verification options. Available are the postcard verification option, the verification by phone option, email verification, instant verification which is useful if you've already used a Google Search Console to verify your business. Just In case you’re confused, a Google Search Console is a free tool that allows you to manage the health and search performance of your website. If it has previously been used for your website, then when trying to do your verification on Google My Business, you may be able to immediately verify your email. However, you should know that some business categories cannot be verified using this option. Finally, the fifth verification option is bulk verification, and is useful if you have over ten locations of a single business, and if you’re neither an agency that manages locations for several businesses, or a service business. 

3) Add Some Information To Your Business Profile: 
By now, you should have a skeletal form of your business profile, and it's about time to flesh it out with information such as your public phone number, business profile picture, attributes that makes you stand out from the competition, your website URL, your working hours, among other things.

4) Pictures And Videos Add A Good Touch: From cover photos, to profile pictures, and thirty seconds videos, you have vast options and ways to get more visits to your website. According to Google, businesses that use photos experience thirty five percent more website clicks, and forty two percent more requests for driving directions in Google maps. How amazing is that? Now, for your pictures, they should be a minimum of 720 pixels wide by 720 pixels high. 

5) Encourage Customers To Leave Reviews: Here’s the thing about reviews. If you have a good number of positive reviews from satisfied customers, it tells prospective customers that they can do business with you. Also, when your customers leave reviews, you should respond to them. It shows the original reviewers that you value their feedback and support, and it encourages new customers to leave their own feedbacks. Of course, you should know that not all reviews will be positive. In the incident that you have negative reviews, you should try and calm down the aggrieved buyer courteously. 

Summarily, the days of going through back breaking stress to get your business off the ground are long gone. With a program such as this, thriving as a business owner is possible. So, go right ahead to create that business listing, verify it, work on your profile, add some pictures and videos, and don't forget to rake in those positive reviews. See you on top.

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