Google Business Profiles offer a prime opportunity to interact with customers and grow your business. Accurate information is the cornerstone of a positive customer experience and increased sales.
Following to recent changes of the Guidelines for representing your business on Google, here are 5 tips to guide to update local business profiles.
Accurate Info is Key
Ensure your contact details, hours, and directions are all up-to-date. Verify everything looks good in an incognito search.
Open an incognito window and search for your local business profile. You are seeing the information in the same way your clients are seeing it when searching to navigate to your location, to contact you or while searching for the products and services you are offering. Is there a contact phone number and is it the correct one? Are the working hours accurate? Click the directions to navigate you at the address. Does it work as expected?
Edit your Business Information with Ease
Log in to your verified profile at https://support.google.com/business/answer/7039811
and make edits. Schedule special hours for holidays or maintenance.
To edit the information go to Edit Business https://business.google.com/locations while logged in with your Google Account with Manager/Owner permissions for the verified profile ( How to verify your business location) and make the relevant changes item by item. When you have the opening hours announced, Google gives you the option to add Special hours. It is an opportunity to add dates when you are closed for equipment maintenance or for holydays and vacations.
Review the Reviews
Respond to customer feedback and prioritize positive reviews. Check your ranking in search results against competitors.
Read the Reviews customers have been giving on your location. Check again in an incognito window in the Search is your location showing first before the competition or do others rank better? The number of reviews are a ranking factor, so it’s worth following Google’s instruction for receiving more reviews. You can choose to print the QR code after you generate it with Chrome or even order a physical plate for best attention grabbing at your store. The most results I recently gathered is by publishing a post on the Facebook page of a client asking their followers to add a recommendation via the link generated from the Google Business profile.
Harness the Power of Products with Merchant Center
Showcase your offerings through Google Merchant Center. This free feature increases search visibility and drives traffic to your online store (if you have one).
Add Products via the Merchant center. This is the most recent update Google has opened for local business listings globally. When users search for specific items, they find them across Search, Google Maps and more places. This feature is free with Google Business Profiles. It is visually appealing. It is boosting new customers to the online shops of businesses too where those e-shops are in operation in parallel with phisocal stores. The local business profiles have even more options to feature items via Offers, Updates and Events.
- Promote Events and Offers: Utilize Google Business Profiles features like Offers, Updates, and Events to highlight promotions, demonstrations, and special events.
Book It In with Bookings
Leverage the new Appointment Scheduling feature for easy customer bookings for consultations, demos, or other appointments.
Are you doing demonstration days to educate your customers how to use the products your are selling? The Appointment Schedule is a new best practice Google has opened to all who wish to optimise their customer interactions. Local Business Profiles can add the appointment schedule and welcome visitors for their demo days.
Bonus Tip: Build Online Trust with Video to Connect with Customers: Talk directly to your audience through short video messages. Create a welcoming presence online and highlight important customer information.
Talk to your clients on camera online. Sales is a trust relationship between you and your clients. If you love welcoming peope and talking to them at your physical store why ignore your individual presence online? Add short appealing calls to action, reminding about important aspects customers can relate to.
I was a speaker at the livestreamed event from the OnEBoard Chat Series “OnEBoard Chat Nr.171: Locations Reinstatements with Molly Youngblood”. We had an informative conversation, including these Key Takeaways:
- Regular Profile Maintenance: Regularly review and update your profile with accurate information.
- Space Out Changes: Avoid making numerous changes simultaneously to prevent triggering spam filters.
- Utilize Local Guides: Encourage genuine customer interactions and updates through Local Guides.
- Make your profile visually appealing. Utilize high-quality images and showcase awards and media mentions. Create and upload short video featuring particular steps from the customer experience at your local store, seasonal highlights etc.
To learn about the Google Business Profile Resinstatements, read OnEBoard’s dedicated article.
I have have experience with Local Business listings since 2015. Check “Local Businesses on Google Maps”
