Business Owners agree to lose business – Google My Business Listing

To this day, many business owners do not recognize the power of Google, Facebook and Amazon, and the tools these Tech companies created not just for themselves but also for business owners.

Specifically, for businesses in the B2B segment, business owners and or decision-makers perceived these platforms as being only beneficial for B2C’s (or specialized B2B companies) who are doing online transactions such as e-commerce websites. Most of these business owners do not understand these internet platforms, how they work, their benefits and therefore shy away from using them to their advantage.

And with this mindset, these business owners agree to lose business!

The truth is, even if your company does not conduct business online, customers and potential customers are expecting to see you online.

In this article, we would like to focus on one very simple tool which Google put out there, how it works and how it will benefit your business; Google My Business Listings or GMB.

When you search for a business or place near your location, you will find local results across Google, in places like Maps and Search. Try googling your company, and you should see your company’s Google Business Listing on the right hand of the results page. Please click on this link to view our business listing Creativo DMCC for comparison.

With GMB, you can showcase a wealth of information necessary to your company and potential customers. If correctly set up, this powerful tool can guide potential clients to your site, allow them to call you straight away, engage with them and reassure them that they are making the right choice in choosing your company over your competition!

Let’s dive into Google My Business Listing:

The Essentials

Before you can establish and optimize your company Google My Business listing, you will need to claim it! We will write another post that will guide you on how to claim your Google business listing, especially if ‘verify via phone call’ is not on your list of options.

• Once your listing is claimed, you want to make sure that all your business information is correct and up to date, including your company name, physical address, phone number, website URL, operating hours, service category, etc.
• After ensuring all company information is correct, you can add images to help potential customers “see” what you do. Select pictures of your physical business, your staff, and other photos to help customers choose you and not your competitor.

Call to Action Tabs

Below the photos after your company name you will find 3 tabs on desktop and 4 tabs on your mobile. These are very powerful tabs as they allow direct engagement with your company.

• As m. a. on desktop searches, you will find these tabs
  • “Website” – which will guide you straight to your website
  • “Direction” – which will show you the shortest way to reach your location via Google Maps
  • “Save” – which allows you to save your company search in the browser history
• If you search via your mobile phone, you have an additional tab
  • “Call” – this is an important tab as it allows the searcher to call you immediately

Google Reviews

Now, a lot of business owners do heavily underestimate the importance of reviews. Why are Google Reviews important? 

• They are part of the algorithm determining your organic ranking on Google
• These reviews will help set you apart from other businesses in your industry. The fact that your company’s star ranking shows up beside your name and address on google search results demonstrates the importance potential customers place on reviews when making purchasing decisions.
• Let’s say you are booking a hotel. Before doing so, you will read through the reviews of previous guests. These revues will influence your decision to book or not to book a particular hotel. The same applies to your reviews. Viewers look at the reviews and if they are positive, they are much more likely to engage with you/your company.

‘Ask Questions’ Feature

• This tab enables potential clients to communicate with you directly. You will be notified once someone posts a question so you can answer accordingly and convert these questions into business interests.
• Note that questions and answers are publicly posted.

Google Post

• These can be product post, offer post or an article post.
• Regardless of what type of post, include readily available Call-to-Action such ‘Book online’, ‘Learn more’, ‘Call’ or ‘Visit’.
• Each post will be live below your GMB listing for seven days, so it is a good practice to post at least once a week.

After reviewing all the above features, including the fact that it is free of cost, you understand why GMB is a powerful tool you should utilize.

If you would like to know more, just give us a shout or ask your questions via our Business Listing!