Google My Business Listing Set Up - 2021 Step By Step Tutorial For Best Results

as a local business owner setting up a google my business listing should be a crucial part of your online marketing strategy why because a it is the quickest route to be found in google search results and google maps which is where most of your customers will be searching and b the most cost effective way since google my business is free which is ideal if you're just starting out in this tutorial i'm going to show you how to set up a google my business listing step by step and i will also include my personal optimization tips along the way so you have the best chances of being discovered by prospective customers in google in 2021 if you're ready let's get started head over to google.com in the top right hand side corner click on the sign in button you will be asked to sign in using a google account if you don't have a google account just click on create an account choose the to manage my business option and start filling in your details including your first name and last name choose a username i tend to use the business name here if possible and a password then click on next add a phone number recovery email address date of birth and gender then click on next you will be asked to verify your phone number via a code you will receive by text message enter the code then click on verify you can skip the next step choose your preferred personalization settings i recommend the express option here then click on next on the next screen scroll down to the bottom of the page then click on confirm do the same on the privacy policy page and click on i agree you will be redirected to a screen confirming your account is all set up and you can now create your free business profile just click on continue which will take you to the start of setting up a google my business listing if you already have a google account which you are happy to use for your business just log into google using your gmail address and head over to google.com business then click on the manage button on the top right hand side window which will also take you to the start of setting up a google my business listing the first step of the process start by entering your business name to check if a google listing already exists for it if it does it should be suggested as part of the autocomplete function and you should select it this will prevent creating and duplicating an existing listing which could be detrimental later on for the sake of this tutorial i'll use the example of a fictitious plumbing business called plumbing stream so you can see the process from start to finish on the next step you'll need to confirm the name of your business according to google's policy your name should reflect your business's real world name and you shouldn't add additional details like address and or service area business hours etc in this example i could easily add london 24 7 to my name this would help my listing rank higher in google maps and google search but it goes against google's guidelines and your listing could be banned so i wouldn't recommend it once you've confirmed your business name just click on next during this next step you'll need to choose a category that best matches your business's primary activity this is a very important field as it will have a significant impact on the keywords your listing ranks for in google search and google maps results i will cover categories in a bit more depth in a minute but for now i'll go with the obvious choice for my fictitious business plumber and click on next you will then be asked if you want to add a physical location customers can visit like a store or an office so if you run a business such as a beauty salon a restaurant or a retail store where people come to you you need to select yes and fill in your business address details it will then get displayed on your listing and in the form of a red pin on google map showing where your business is if you are more of a service area type of business that delivers goods and services to your customers such as a plumber an electrician or simply work from home and don't want people to know your exact address you will want to choose the no option which is what i'm going to pick now then click on next at this stage you'll be given the option to specify the areas you're able to serve your customers this will help visitors understand how far you're willing to go to deliver your services or products it will be displayed on your listing panel in the form of an area coverage as opposed to a red pin you can specify countries cities regions and postcodes but please note it will not help your listing rank in those areas so there is no need to add areas unnecessarily it will just help google put the right area map on your listing once you're done click on next you'll then be asked to specify the region where your business is based just use the drop down and scroll to find the appropriate country then click next this next step is all about adding information that will display on your panel so customers can get in touch with you you have the option to add a phone number as well as a website address i recommend you add both if you don't have a website you can select the get a free website based on your info option and google will automatically create a web page for you i won't cover this here and instead use the website address field which is a much better option once you're done just click on next you'll then be given the option to receive updates and recommendations for your business on google i'll choose yes here as it can be helpful but obviously the choice is yours click on next we're almost there we just need to finish completing our basic listing just click on the finish button which will take you to the verification process you now need to enter the physical mailing address of your business as google will send you a postcard like this one which includes a code to verify your listing once you're done click on next here you can choose how to verify a business most of you will be given the option to verify your business only by mail and no other options will be available you can choose to verify your listing later but i suggest you verify your business as soon as you can so add the contact name you want to appear on the postcard which should take up to four days to be delivered then click on mail you'll be redirected to a screen confirming the card is on its way congratulations your basic listing is now created but you don't want just a basic listing you want to provide as much information as possible about your business to your visitors so click on continue depending on the business category you have chosen google will add services to your listing by default in this example i can see a selection of related services such as find and repair leak or repair full set which will automatically be added to my listing you can remove each service by clicking on it you can show more or remove them all and even add your very own if you feel none of the suggestions are suitable once you're done click on save this next step is very straightforward just add your opening and closing hours then click on save the following step allows you to provide a short description of your business if you don't know what to write in here think of it as an about us page on your website the first few lines will appear at the bottom of your listing no need to stuff your description with search terms you want to rank for as it has zero influence on google search results once you're done just click on save next step is to add photos that illustrate the service you provide or better even the work you've done with existing customers it's important to add pictures because a lot of prospective customers will decide to do business with you based purely on those images use genuine images and not something you have downloaded from the internet google doesn't like stock images and neither will your visitors once you're done click on next you'll then be offered a voucher you can use for some free advertising on google ads let's skip this page for now time to add the final touches to your profile and make another few updates so you can maximize your chances of being found by new customers click on continue this will take you to your google my business dashboard from the dashboard you can see you've already completed 80 of your google my business listing profile and that it's spending verification this is also the area google uses to convey various messages regarding your google listing such as creating posts claiming your free advertising credits etc i won't cover these today as it would take too long instead i'm going to run through a couple of more options you must add before your listing is verified so you can hit the ground running from the left hand side menu click on the info link this is where all the information you filled in during the creation process of your listing are stored you can see your business name the category you've chosen the areas you serve your opening and closing time the services you provide etc and you can modify them all click on the pencil next to category you should see the primary category you picked during the initial listing setup here i strongly recommend you add secondary categories that are related to your business as they will increase your chances of being found in google for relevant search terms let's say my plumber also provides air conditioning services for example but it's not his main activity i can add it as a second category here that should help my plumber being found for air conditioning related keywords in google search results you can add up to nine categories scroll down and add relevant attributes to your listing here the options will depend on the type of business you run this is particularly useful if you want to inform your customers about the coveted health and safety measures you have in place for instance or if you have wheelchair access final touch click on the add photos link you should see the photos you uploaded earlier on your listing what you also want to do here is add a logo and a cover photo the cover photo will appear here on your listing while the logo is displayed right there the recommended cover photo size is 1024 pixels by 576 pixels your logo should be square and i recommend you make it at least 720 pixels by 720 pixels so let's go ahead and add an image for both of these pictures separately once you've finished adding the images click on the home button on the left hand side menu although your profile still shows it's only eighty percent complete if you reload your page you'll find the message is no longer there which means your profile is actually a hundred percent complete in just a few days you will receive the postcards containing the code you'll need to use to verify your listing log into your google my business panel in the pending verification box click on enter verification code then enter the code and click on verify after this your google listing will be live on google setting up a google my business listing is a massive step in the right direction to get more customers through your doors but online competition is fierce so don't expect to see your listing at the top of search results as soon as it goes live if you're serious about online marketing and want to take your google listing to the next level i recommend you watch my video how to turn your google my business listing into a client magnet it will improve your listing's online visibility further and attract more customers good luck and until next time happy marketing

Channel: Ranking Academy

Views: 542,432

Keywords: Google My Business, Google My Business Listing, how to setup google my business, How To Setup Google My Business 2021, How To Setup Google My Business listing, setup google my business, google my business optimization, google my business seo, google my business seo tips, google my business tutorial 2021, create google my business account, verify my business, google business, create a google my business listing

Id: 81nhmYRTYZM

Length: 12min 15sec (735 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 01 2021