Do you know that you can add your business to Google Maps? There are more than a billion active users on Google Maps each day and that if your business is not listed there, you are definitely losing out.
Don’t disadvantage your business
When you have an online presence and reputation, it is crucial that your business has as much exposure as possible. Google handles billions of searches each day and that includes users going about in their daily travels. Hence, your business needs to be involved especially in local searches.
Getting your company registered
To have your business registered on Google Maps, you need to create a GMB or Google My Business listing. This is a free-of-charge service and is very straightforward.
- Sign in to your Google account.
- Enter your homepage and on the left-hand side menu, find the ‘Add New Location’ function
- A new window will appear requesting for your business information. You need to put in the correct information here.
- You will then need to enter the location in which you must include your address.
- And then, you are done. You can always edit the address if needed.
Take note that you can also set a marker on a location if Google is unable to locate the address you have entered. You can do this by dragging the Red pin through the Set marker.
Your business information
Once your business is registered and verified, you need to put in the accurate information so that they appear during a search.
- Address: You must enter the exact address as the one verified. Should you change your address, the verification process is required.
- Telephone number: You can enter a primary business telephone number and an additional 2 more numbers. Take note that you should use mobile and fixed-line numbers only.
- Website: Use the ‘Add URL’ function for this. Your site must be legitimate and not blocked by Googlebot or other restrictions.
Adding photos and pictures
Users relate better with images and you can actually add photos to your GMB account. The best thing to do is to add your company logo as it is the most recognizable image to start with. Then, you can also add cover photos which will be set as your profile.
A brief description of your business
Once you have your pictures in, it is important then to have a brief introduction or description of what you do. You can only put a maximum of 750 characters for this. So, be brief and focus on the important details. Do not use any HTLM codes or URLs here but only what is essential for people to know about what you do. Avoid talking about pricing or promotions too.
Adding Operation Hours to your business
Having your business information on Google Maps is one thing but including operating hours will make a whole lot of difference. This means that someone who searches for you through Google Maps will know when is a good time to visit. To add business hours (when you are open), you need to:
- Click on ‘Hours’ next to the ‘Add Hours’ function
- For each day of the week that you are open, ensure that they are turned on
- Then, click ‘Opens at’ on each day of the week. You might not open at the same time every day, hence make sure you do this correctly.
- Do the same for ‘Closes at’
- You can then click ‘Apply’ for this to take effect
For restaurant owners, Google business is best to be used with our Restaurant POS system for live food ordering.
In the event that you have lunch (or dinner) break, you need to create the entries for the breaks. For instance, if you operate from 9 am to 5pm with lunch from 1pm to 2pm on weekdays, then follow the steps below :
- Next to ‘Monday’, select 9am for ‘Opens at’
- Select ‘Closes at’ 1pm
- Select ‘Opens at’ 2pm
- Select ‘Closes at’ 5pm
- Do the same for Tuesday to Friday
In the event that you are an online site (which is open 24 hours every day), you will need to select ’24 hours’ at the ‘Opens at’ tab.
Your business is almost there
Once you have completed the steps above, your business is almost ready to be listed. This is where you need to be verified by Google. In most cases, you will be verified via mail, email, SMS or other communication channels, depending on your location. This is the most important stage. Once you are verified, you will now be part of the community. And now you can proceed to optimize your listing.
So, what happens next?
When your business listed in Google Maps, you must now start to drive more searches and to connect with your customers. As all this information is linked, every keyword count. Customers who give reviews about your business will affect your rankings. Therefore, a lot of e-commerce companies requests for reviews from their customers. While it might not guarantee being seen, a proper listing of your GMB can improve your chances significantly.
Are you starting out your business and seeking a better online presence? Have you been working on a digital (or integrated) marketing strategy but has not been successful thus far? Use Google My Business today and you can gain more exposure than you can ever imagine.
Let us help you with Google My Business
There is no debate that your online presence is more important today than just selling your products. With a strong and positive digital reputation, your business will go a long way. When you are deriving your marketing strategy, it is imperative to work with the specialists and no one comes close to the Google My Business Management Service that we offer. We will help you unlock the power of this platform and successfully convert searches from potential to actual customers.
What do we offer?
When it comes to Google My Business, our platform will help you in many ways. First and foremost, we do what is most evident. We will expand and amplify your digital presence on the world’s most powerful search engine, Google. This means you get more views and visits. To do that, your online sites and profiles need to be modified and we will draw our experience in this segment to help you get there. Besides that, we also help you to:
- Direct more traffic to your websites and phone calls. This will be done through an integrated marketing plan that will be suited for your organization.
- Improve engagement – Your sites will have better and higher rates of engagement with your visitors. This is done by improving your content to reflect the current and most usable keywords.
How can we help you?
We have a tried-and-tested program that has been adopted by some of the top firms in the world. Our marketing plans on Google My Business have been used, improved, used, enhanced, used until we have perfect it for today’s competitive environment. All you need to do is to:
- Engage with us and we have a dedicated expert to identify how to start.
- Discuss and consult on strategies to move forward.
- Derive and design the strategy through actionable insights.
- Execution of the program.
We will ensure that your Google My Business listing receives the right map especially when a user (potential customer) searches for your industry on the Google platform. Your website (or business information) will stand out among the millions and your listing will surely get noticed.
Your Business Profile.
We will help you to find the right category which will then drive your site up the ranking. Your Business Profile is very crucial here. We have worked on thousands of such profiles so we know what information or attributes that you should include in order to get the exposure you expect.
Once the features are incorporated into your profile, then your site is ready to compete at the highest level. Our team of experts will work closely with you to ensure that such features can be leveraged that will in turn give your brand better and more effective positioning.
Don’t hesitate. Call us today and give your Google My Business profile a boost!
