Google My Business Account – Why YOU Need One!
24th Sep 21
Whilst there are other search engines out there, I don’t think anyone can dispute the power of the almighty Google. A Google My Business account is free for any business and is essential. Let me explain.
SEO
There are three strands to SEO
- Technical SEO
- Off-site SEO (entries in directories, social media, and on other websites)
- On-page SEO
I won’t go into these now, I’ll cover them in a separate article, but as part of the off-site SEO you have Google My Business… or GMB as its affectionately called.
Why affectionately? Well, it’s worth a whopping 25% of your local SEO. No business can afford to miss out on that!
What is a Google My Business Account?
I’m sure you must have done a search for a company on Google. When you did you would see a box over on the right hand side of the screen that had an image of their location, or perhaps a map, with links underneath to their website, address, phone number, etc (see image for mine).
If a company has their Google My Business account completed correctly then they can collect reviews for prospective customers to check out, detail their opening hours, their services and products, and use it like social media and post on it.
Keep it updated and add posts (inc images and short video clips) and Google will love you!
How do I get a Google My Business Account?
It’s really simple. Simply head over to this page on Google and pop in a few details. You will then receive a postcard through the mail to verify the address you have given. Complete the verification process and you’re good to go.
Once I Have It, How Should I Use It?
As I mentioned above, try to keep it updated regularly. Add products and services. Keep your opening times updated (if you have them). Link booking services. Ask your customers to leave reviews (you can get a link to send to them so all they have to do is click and type). Oh yes, and when you do receive a review, always reply to it.
If you have a social media scheduling tool, see if it will link to GMB. But even if not, post to it as though it were any other social media platform.
Remember your Google My Business account is 25% of your SEO… you can’t afford to ignore it… but I’ll tell you a little secret… it’s amazing how many businesses don’t understand its importance so you can easily get ahead of the competition if you use it correctly!
