Google Your Business:
The 7 Keys to Success on GMB with Yoel Gutierrez
Google My Business is an incredibly relevant and useful tool during this Covid-19 world. It is utterly critical for businesses primarily serving a local audience to optimize this tool to its full potential. When done right, GMB can help generate more traffic to your website and social media and will essentially become another platform to interact with your customers. Unlike Yelp that is very much “pay to play,” Google is not looking to make a ton of money from its users. Google has become the single most important change in digital media in the last six months since Covid-19. It has invested a ton of money in new features and upgrades that make it more intuitive and easier to use. As a business owner it is crucial to know how to make it work for your business.
In his #BizHackLive webinar Yoel Gutierrez, BizHack certified instructor and owner of Mosquito Joe of Miami, shared how he uses Google My Business to drive more customers to his business. By implementing the 7 steps in GMB that Yoel shared, your business can see a dramatic increase in organic (free) traffic to its website.
Recap of "Google Your Business: The 7 Keys to Success on GMB" with Yoel Gutierrez
Scam alert: Google My Business is a desktop search product, there is no mobile GMB. There are people out there selling mobile optimization for GMB. It’s a scam!
Step 1: NEW Covid-19 features
- Update your business profile directly from Google search or Maps
- Set more hours: If your delivery or curbside pick-up differs from your regular store hours, you can notify viewers.
- Marketing kit- Covid-19 materials: New printable posters and digital social post templates that focus on business updates – https://marketingkit.withgoogle.com
- Store affected by Covid-19: Used to provide the most accurate information to your customers [ex: if you are temporarily closed, or hours have changed due to pandemic]
[TIP FOR RESTAURANT SLIDE]– to find out more here
Step 2: Your Business Listing
It is important to correctly fill out as much information as possible about your business in GMB. Choose the category that best fits your business and use keywords in your description, especially if your category is not directly related to your business.
PRO TIP: Keep your NAP [name, address, phone number] consistent across all your listings, not just GMB.
Also, make sure to keep an eye on the Q&A portion of your listing so that you can answer the questions correctly and in a timely manner. Anyone can answer these questions, meaning a competitor can come in and answer a question incorrectly that may hurt your business.
Pro Hack: If the correct answer to a question is below a few incorrect answers, all you need is two “likes” on the correct answer to move it up.
Step 3: Images and Videos
The images portrayed in your listing will give your business culture and personality while simultaneously creating social trust. Having a variety of authentic images of your business will help you stand out from the crowd, achieve higher rankings and attract the attention of potential customers.
60% of consumers say that local search results with good images capture their attention and push them towards a decision.
Step 4: Reviews
[STATS SLIDE] – to find out more here
The trick about reviews is to respond to positive and negative reviews. When it comes to negative reviews try to be empathetic and solve the problem. Many times this personal touch will turn a negative review into a positive one, or the customer will simply take down the review completely.
To keep your reviews relevant and up to date, continue to come up with creative ways that encourage customer reviews (ex: host relevant giveaways / contests for your customers).
Step 5: Posts, Events, Offers and more…
[POST SLIDE] – to find out more here
When it comes to your GMB posts, make sure you use a CTA (call to action) whenever possible to help with SEO and to drive more business to your website. There are several post options on GMB making it easy to post, and to post often which is strongly recommended.
Step 6: Insights
Just like many social media platforms, GMB has a place for analytics. There is valuable information to be learned on the “Insights” tab about your business and how it is being interacted with through Google.
- How people are finding your listing
- Where people view your listing
- Actions they are taking
- Top keywords used when they found you
Step 7: Messaging
Google has recently added messaging as another way to connect with your customers. Only customers searching for your business on a mobile device will have the option to send you a message. The message will come through the GMB mobile app keeping your phone number and the customer’s phone number hidden.
It is recommended that you respond within 24 hours. Google may deactivate messaging for your business if you don’t respond to your messages in a timely manner.
Inside Scoop! Google wants you to use GMB and will push more traffic to your site if you use the platform.
