Should your business use Google My Business?

Google My Business is one of the many tools you can use to promote your business online. To get started, you can work with your managed IT services provider (MSP) to set up an account. But if you don’t have an MSP, don’t fret. Setting up Google My Business is easy, and this guide will give you an overview of its functions, features, and benefits.

What is Google My Business?

Google My Business is a free tool that allows you to claim ownership of your Business Profile, or the profile that online users will see when they look up your business. Google My Business also allows you to unlock other free features that would be helpful in increasing your business’s visibility on Google. Creating a Google My Business account is a necessary step when building your Business Profile.

What are the benefits of Google My Business?

One of the most important benefits of Google My Business is increased visibility, allowing businesses to become more discoverable to users online. Here are other benefits of properly setting up your Google My Business account:

• Ownership – Aside from allowing you to gain control of your Business Profile, activating your Google My Business account also lets you highlight specific information about your business. You can provide your operating hours, products and pricing, website, contact information, and other unique selling propositions in your Google My Business profile.
• Local marketing and drive engagement – You can utilize your Google My Business account to enable direct messaging that will allow you to answer questions, respond to reviews, and even publish posts to your Business Profile.
• Important insights – The analytics tab on your Google My Business dashboard allows you to analyze different kinds of data such as how your customers found your business and how they interacted with your listings. It can also show you how your business photos are performing compared to other profiles. These kinds of data help you answer questions like “What makes a buyer click?” or “What are my potential customers frequently searching?”.
• SEO implementation – Properly implementing SEO not only improves your business searchability and visibility, but it can also help you gain organic traffic, build user trust and credibility, and find ways to better connect with your audience. You can incorporate relevant keywords into your Business Profile through the Google My Business dashboard to optimize your business’s SEO. Reflecting accurate business information on your Google My Business profile is also important as it would positively appeal to the trust component of Google’s algorithm, which can help your ranking on the search engine.

How do I set up Google My Business?

Now that you know the benefits of Google My Business, it’s time to set up your own. Follow the steps listed below:

1. Log into Google My Business (www.google.com/business) using your business email domain and click Manage Now.
2. Provide your business name and information.
3. Choose your business category. Pick the one that accurately describes your business as this will help Google’s systems determine what type of customers should see your business listing.
4. Choose a verification option.

Note that setting up your Business Profile doesn’t automatically activate your Google My Business account. You can also check out Google’s guide on how to sign up for and review your business information on Google My Business.

Once your Google My Business account is verified, you can start optimizing your Business Profile. A verified account allows you to edit and add as much important information about your business as you want.

By using Google My Business, you can be assured that you are maximizing your marketing efforts. For more tips on everything IT, reach out to us at Online Computers. We offer a wide range of services that will take your business to the next level.

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