Google My Business Optimisation - How to Turn Your Listing into a Client Magnet 🧲 in 2020

in 2019 Google introduced a ton of new features to his Google my business product turning it into a crucial marketing tool for any local business owner in today's video I'm going to show you how to optimize your Google my business listing for 2020 so you're ready to take over your local area and get that phone ringing hold your breath because we're diving in now hi there my name is Luke Duran the founder of Reiki Academy Co UK where I'll talk about best tools tips and tricks to help your small business grow online step by step and click by click if it is your first time here consider subscribing and clicking on the bell button so you don't miss a thing for those of you who haven't yet climbed your Google my business listing do it now just watch my video how to create a Google my business listing for everybody else let's just get cracking and let's start with a basic this is going to be a very hands-on video so the first thing you need to do is log into your Google my business panel so you can modify your listing as we go through each option to do this head over to google.com slash business and signing your profile using the gmail address you registered your business with once logged in click on the info option in the left hand side menu this will give you access to all the options you can tweak to create the ultimate Google listing let's start off with your business name make sure the business name you use on your Google my business listing is the name that people see on your shop front your business cards your website etc don't try adding keywords in there in your hope you will rank higher like in the example of this bail bond firm located in Orlando the business name is bail to go but they are using bail to go Orlando Orange County bail bonds as their business name this goes against Google's guidelines and it is considered as spam if you have done this by mistake when you first created your listing simply correct it otherwise there is a risk you might get penalized if you need to modify your business name just click on the pencil icon right under the image at the top of your Google my business panel next to your business name and modify your name if needed business category the business category you choose when you first create your listing is key to how well you will rank in Google Maps for the services or products you provided since your primary category tells Google what your business is about it is important you choose it very carefully the category option is located in your Google my business dashboard right under your business name there are many categories to choose from and some of them are very closely related so it's easy to make a mistake for example air conditioning contractor and air conditioning repair service are two very distinct categories pick the one that is most relevant to your business you can add secondary categories so if you are a dentist for instance but you also offer services such as teeth whitening and dental implant you can add these categories in there as long as they are relevant to your business whether your listing is brand new or not make sure you review your choice every now and then as Google updates its category lists very regularly business address when adding your address you are faced with three possible scenarios scenario number one you serve customers from a brick and mortar business if so make sure you add the precise address of your business location I know this sounds obvious but many business owners make mistakes here which could be very costly for those of you who want to add a suite number you can do so but it is recommended you add it on a second address line to do this go to your Google my business panel click on info and then on the pencil icon next to the address in there you should have the option to add a line where you will be able to enter your suite number it won't influence your rankings but visitors coming across your listing will see it making it easier for them to find you quick tip if you run a website and have added your business address on your home page which you should have done make sure it is consistent with the one you have added to your Google my business profile so now your number two if you are running a service based business such as a plumbing or a food delivery business and serve customers at their home you shouldn't add a specific address to your listing but instead specify which areas your business serves to do this click the pencil icon next to the service area option and simply add the areas you cover you can choose between country city region and metropolitan areas and combine up to 20 options which be more than enough scenario number three you run a brick-and-mortar business but also serve customers at their home if this is a case just fill in the details as specified previously using the location and service area option from the panel opening hours add your opening and closing business hours do not try to add extra opening hours hoping Google will list your business over another it doesn't work and will mislead visitors who will end up being frustrated if they turn up at your premises only to find out you are closed I've seen business owners do this and it's totally ridiculous to add opening hours click on the pencil icon next to hours in your Google my business panel and add them for each day of the week quick tip use the special hour option to preset irregular opening and closing times around special occasions such as Labor Day weekend Memorial Day weekend or if you decide to go on vacation once again you don't want to end up frustrating potential visitors worse getting a negative review you already know when most of these special occasions will happen so my advice is to set this up now for the rest of the year so you don't even have to think about it what number this is a straightforward one in your Google my business panel add your primary business number in the primary phone field you can add two more secondary phone numbers this is useful if you have a free tool number for example or other numbers you can be contacted at quick tip if you use a cool tracking number it is recommended you use it as your primary number otherwise you won't be able to track calls coming from your Google my business listing if you do you must add your main business number in a secondary number field create a short name this new feature which was introduced only a few months ago give you the ability to create a short link which when clicked on sends visitors directly to your Google listing on Google Maps the format is straightforward and looks like this this simplifies the way you can connect with your customers and makes it easy to share your Google my business profile with potential customers so they can easily find directions to get to you read your reviews and so on use it just like you would use a social media profile link and add it to your business cards your email signature and everywhere else you think is relevant it works both on desktop and mobile to claim your short name go to your Google my business panel and click on the pencil icon next to the add a short name option choose a relevant short name your business name should be an obvious choice here your short name must be between 5 and 32 characters and can only be changed three times a year so choose carefully once you're done just click on apply the additional benefit of creating a short name is that it also creates a short length you can use to ask customers for reviews just add a slash review at the end of your short name link and then use this link whenever you send a review request to a client it makes the process a lot simpler and should help you get a lot more reviews add a link to your website to add a link to your website on your listing just click on the pencil icon next to the add a website option and your Google my business panel quick tip if you use Google Analytics to track your website activity visitors will click on the website link from your Google listing will be considered as organic visits making it impossible for you to truly understand how many people click through to your site it's important to understand how much traffic is coming through your listing over time to measure the effectiveness of your listing the workaround is to add a special code at the end of the link so you can track your listing activity accurately so before you add your link in your Google listing profile add the following tracking code at the end of it traffic coming through your listing will be visible in Google Analytics under acquisition all traffic source medium appointment links depending on the type of business you run you may have the option to add an appointment booking link which will be visible on your listing if you are an appointment based business you should use this opportunity and your Google my business banner will click on the pencil icon next to the appointment link option and simply add a link in there pointing to a Contact Us page or other relevant page on your website you can take this step further and integrate a book online button this however can only be done with a scheduling provider approved by Google you can find the full list of providers right here the link is also in the description below add your services if you are a service based type of business you can include the services you provide as part of your Google my business listing it will give visitors a good idea about what you do and it's a chance for you to showcase your services in details you can include a description for each service of up to 300 words and add a price all of which will be displayed in your profile this only shows up on mobile phones but is a great addition to your listing to add a service just click on the services option and your Google my business panel by default you should see an existing category google has already created based on the primary category you already have chosen for your business to add a service to this category just click on the add custom service repeat the same process to add multiple services for the same category once you're done click on apply to add a description and a price to the service just click on it add the price the description then click on apply then repeat for the other services if you want to create another category with multiple services just click on the add another business category option and repeat the same process add your products to your listing some of you may have the option to manually add a product infantry directly into your listing currently in beta version it allows small business owners you can't use the product feed via Google merchants to list the products they sell if the product option is available in your Google my business panel you should seize the opportunity and use it here is how you can add product click on the product option in your Google my business panel on the next screen click on get started add a product name and create a relevant category at the same time add a price you can choose between a fixed price or a price range add a description of up to a thousand words to describe your product choose a button type to add to your product and add a link pointing to where it can be found on your website finally and your product photo the ideal dimension for the photo should be 720 pixels by 720 pixels once you're done just click on save repeat this exercise to add more products and more categories add attributes to your listing attributes are used to let customers know what specific features your business has to offer for a hotel for instance typical attributes would be something like wheelchair access free Wi-Fi pet friendly etc attributes get displayed on your Google my business panel the attribute option available for your listing will depend on your business type do you see what attributes are available to you just click on the pencil icon next to the attributes section and select what is relevant add a description to your listing adding a description to your listing will help visitors find out what your business is all about think of it as the equivalent of an about Us page this will have no impact on ranking whatsoever but more on the overall customer experience to add a description simply click on the pencil icon next to the add a business description option and add it into the field few things you need to be aware when writing your description it's limited to 750 characters you can't add any link in it and there is no need to add keywords you are trying to rank for it will not work but your business opening date you can add an opening day to your listing to let customers know when your business first opened you can even claim a Google listing and add an opening date even if your business is not opened yet up to 12 months in advance although it won't show up in Google until 90 days before the date itself if this is the case make sure you choose the verify later option when creating your listing so Google doesn't show it unnecessarily to add an opening date just click on the pencil icon next to the opening date option fill in the details then click on apply photos 60% of consumers confess that images will grab their attention and are likely to trigger the decision to do business with you or not this means photo are the most important aspect of your profile photos will bring your listing to life and give viewers a visual representation of what they can expect if they deal with you once again depending on the type of business you run and the category you have chosen your options will be different if you run a brick-and-mortar business you can expect to see the following categories if your business is a service based business however you will see a smaller range of options in any case I recommend you lord as many relevant images for each category as you can to maximize your chances of converting viewers into customers check and publish your own pictures as it feels more genuine than professional shots obviously make sure they are well taken photos and inspiring ones do not publish stock imagery because a it won't look genuine and be Google will find out and delete them if you can add a 360 degree tool this is very effective for brick-and-mortar businesses such as a spire hotel a restaurant etc as viewers will want to check out facilities before booking no need to break the bank if you have little to no budget you can literally make your own tool using your phone and a Google app in a few minutes if you want to know how watch my video tech 360 degree photos with your phone for your Facebook and Google my business pages the option to add videos is also available I feel this is even more powerful than 360 degree tool mobile phones are now it is equipped with awesome cameras so make the most of that and start shooting videos which you can add to your listing don't just add photos once this should be a regular exercise especially since Google has just recently added the ability for searchers to search for local businesses through photos on mobile phones check out this example for the query car dealership near me it shows an automated selection of images for local dealerships which include the name of the business the distance of the dealership from where the search was made along with the star rating that's how important images are becoming in 2020 you add photos videos or 360 degrees tool to your listing click on the add photo option and your Google my business panel then select the category you want to add a photo for and click on the post photo link advanced information in your Google my business panel there is a section called advanced information this section is particularly useful for businesses with multiple location store codes store codes enable you to specify an ID for each location separately so it makes it easier to organize your listing if you run multiple branches each ID has to be unique not including spaces or special characters and can be up to 64 characters so let's say I have four locations across London I could simply call them ranking Academy - Richmond ranking Academy - Chelsea you get the jist labels labels are very useful if you use AdWords to promote your business using labels you can synchronize your Google my business profile and your Google ad campaigns I won't dwell too much on this as it is mainly aimed at marketing agencies and people who run many locations Google ads local extensions phone this is again very useful if you are running Google ads as it will enable you to show a different phone number in your ads then the one you use for you google my business listing very practical if you use call tracking in your Google ads campaign we've now covered all the basic optimization options of your Google my business listing time to take this to the next level and capitalize on all the powerful features you can use to make your listing really stand out starting with reviews reviews are not new but there should be an important part of your digital strategy in 2020 why because according to a bright local survey 86% of consumers read reviews for local businesses and reviews are the biggest driver of click in local search engine results and if this is not reason enough to convince you reviews are the third most powerful factor that will influence the ranking of your listing in Google Maps the question is how do you get more reviews the answer is simple just ask once you finish dealing with the client make sure you ask them to give you a Google review I find the best way to do it is via email simply send an email to your client and ask for some feedback in the form of a review if you don't know what to write just download my review email template all you need to do is replace the few bits of copy in blue to make it your own I have crafted this email specifically to encourage customers to include relevant keywords in their reviews which now also play a part in your business visibility if you've claimed your Google short name use the short link review I described earlier to direct people to the Google my business review pop-up you can download the template from the description below last few tips respond to all reviews positive and negatives don't incentivize reviews don't write or ask people to write fake reviews do not settle any dispute via reviews remember you won't please everyone no matter how hard you try let's have a look at our next feature questions and answers overlooked by most businesses the FAQ section is another feature available in Google my business which you should pay attention to in 2020 anyone can ask questions about your business on your listing and anyone can answer them which could mislead potential customers worse damage your reputation like in this example for a car dealer visitors assume business owners will respond instantly to a question they submit this can often results in leads being completely overlooked if you don't monitor it regularly like for this hairdresser anyone asking a new question will see automated suggested answers source from your Google reviews existing answers and your Google posts so if you don't have any decent answers in there it could result in some shocking suggestions answers can be averted by pressing a like button the most up voted answer will show up at the top of the list and in your Google my business panel some time displaying some nasty surprises so how should you approach frequently asked questions monitor your listing regularly to get notified when someone asks a question go to your Google my business panel settings and make sure the alerts about questions and answers posted to your business profile is ticked I am not sure how reliable this is so take the time to manually check it - the good news is you can load your own questions and answer them - so write down the most popular questions your customers ask login - you google my business profile and add your questions and answers straight from your panel hopefully these answers will be the ones suggested when someone does a common search make sure you answer any negative questions or answers in the most professional way just like you would with reviews hot tip avoid the question which you feel is the most relevant so it will be the one displayed in your panel let's move on to our next feature Google posts share your latest news events all offers using Google posts Google post appear as a form of a vignette with a short description towards the bottom of your panel it helps your listing stand out from the competition and extend the size of your panel overall despite being at the bottom of the listing on desktop it's a lot more prominent on mobile devices and since a vast majority of local searches are conducted on mobile devices it is important you use this feature regularly in 2020 if you haven't started yet images and videos can be used in posts the more engaging an eye-catching they are the more likely viewers will click through to load a post go to your Google my business panel and on the left hand side menu click on the post option from there you can choose between three options what's new event and author choose the most appropriate one and start creating your post I'm not going to dive into each example but here is what you need to know when it comes to posts the maximum length copy of a post is 1500 words out of which only up to 20 words will show up in your panel so make sure the first few words are well crafted your post only lasts seven days except for the event type which will disappear when the event is over you can add a call to action button on the what's new and event option so make the most of it each posts must contain at least an image I recommend you use images of 1200 by 900 pixel you can also use videos which i think is more powerful than an image let's now look at messaging generate MOLLE by allowing searchers to message you directly from your Google my business panel enabling the message feature in your Google my business profile will automatically add a message option in your listing when it is displayed in Google Maps and add a large request a quote button on your desktop as long as your business is eligible any potential customers sending you a message would expect you to respond pretty quickly so if you feel you won't be reactive enough use this feature with caution Google states that if you don't respond to messages you receive within 24 hours they may remove the message button from your business profile to enable this feature you need to download the Google my business app this is where you will receive notifications from incoming messages the setup is easy download the Google my business app and login using the gmail account you use for your listing at the bottom of the screen click on customers and then select messages at the top of the next screen a pop-up should be displayed where you can activate the message feature click on turn on which will automatically unable messaging capabilities once activated customers can message you at any time I recommend you also add a custom welcome message which will automatically be sent to anyone messaging you to do this go to the more option at the bottom of the screen of the app and select settings tap the messages up ssin select the edit your welcome message option and craft your message followers did you know users can now follow your business through your listing whenever you publish a new Google post anyone following your business will be notified in the four you tab in the Google map apps this new feature was rolled out recently and is a great way to engage with new customers and encourage existing ones to follow you by giving them a welcome offer you can only set this up through the Google my business absolute once you've logged in the app tap on the customer option at the bottom of your screen then tap on followers in the main menu at the top then tap create a post below the image placeholder scroll through and tap the welcome offer option add an image or a video and a title of up to fifty eight characters description is optional and can be up to 1,500 characters add terms and conditions and a link to your website once you're done click on preview if you're happy with everything just click on publish anyone following you will automatically receive this welcome offer let everyone know that if they follow you they will get a special offer do this through your website your email communication or any social media platform where you have a presence and see your number of followers grow I believe the importance of Google my business is only going to continue growing over the next 12 months and I am very curious to see what other new features Google will be releasing I have a sneaky suspicion that it might become a Payable service very soon so make the most of it while it lasts I hope you found this video useful don't forget to click on the like button and if you have any questions or comments post them below until next time happy marketing

Channel: Ranking Academy

Views: 102,182

Keywords: google my business tutorial, google my business, google my business optimization, google my business seo, google my business 2020, google my business tips, google my business tutorial 2020, google my business explained, google my business for beginners, google maps seo, google my business how to use, google my business tips and tricks, gmb, gmb optimization, how to use google my business, optimize business for google, google my business optimization tips, ranking academy

Id: YSD5vIRR99M

Length: 25min 5sec (1505 seconds)

Published: Tue Jan 14 2020