Put your business in the map: Use Google Business

Google Business is a free tool by Google that enables you manage the way your business appears on Google search and maps when a user searches for keywords related to your niche.

It is especially effective for local businesses and start-ups as it helps people near you locate your business. Studies have shown that when people search for a service near to them, there is a high probability that such person wants to purchase that service either immediately or in the near future.

Like what are the odds that someone who searched for “Salons near me” doesn’t want to get their hair done or has someone that does? This is especially why it is more effective for local businesses as it is easier to optimize your website so that people who are looking for you and your services would find you easily and as at when needed.

Optimization in this sense means providing basic information about your website to enable the search process go seamlessly.

Required information include things like business name and location, opening and closing hours, adding quality and not misleading pictures, customer reviews, and so much more.

Opening a Google business account is very easy. All you need do is log into your preferred Google account, visit google.com/business and select the “Start now” option located at the top right hand corner, and proceed to fill in all the necessary information.

Once you are done filling in all the required information, verify the information provided and you are good to go!

Once you have created your Google Business account, it should be part of the communication strategy of your business in conjunction with your social networks.

What this means is that you should use both channels to communicate important information to your customers.

For example, if a holiday approaches and your business closes, you can inform Google Business about it and put a message on your Facebook wall. This way you get a consistent message in all your communication channels.

Why Is It Important?

As talked about earlier, Google business is very important (especially for local businesses) as it helps potential customers with immediate and future needs locate you easily. It doesn’t end there, however, as Google business has so many importance in the form of benefits and we shall itemise them

• It is free. You really have nothing to lose if you use it or not. You do, however, have nothing to gain if you don’t use it
• It encourages interactions and engagements with visitors and clients
• Google business also helps monitor website traffic and number of visitors
• Shows your customers useful information about your business or brand
• In the long run, it helps increase and improve your website’s SEO rankings

Top 5 SEO features of Google Business in 2019

• Opening Days & Hours: you should enter this data to inform your customers.
• Google Business Posts: it's a simple blog system for Google Business. It's one of the most underated feature, allowing you to create a news feed to keep informed the potential visitors of your business.
• Questions & Answers: special section to answer people's questions about your business. It requires to be polite and be up to date in answering questions.
• Direct Messaging With Your Customers: with SMS, you can answer your customer's messages from your phone.
• Booking button in your Google Business profile: it works only with a few Booking providers, but if you use one of them it may be a very interesting feature to turn on.

Did you know? You can write and make posts on Google Business. In addition to the posts, you can add videos and pictures to make your local business page on Google search and maps more detailed and beautiful.

Expert’s suggestion: Photos should be at least 720 pixels wide by 720 pixels high and JPG or PNG files. Your Google Business cover photo is one of the most important, as it shows up front and centre on your listing.” – Aja Frost (https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/google-my-business)