Approximately 53% of consumers visit a business within 48 hours of performing a local search on Google. If you are a business with a brick and mortar location then Google My Business (GMB) is an essential marketing tool for your business. It is the first place people turn to when they need something and, if you aren’t aware of this already, Google has been on a mission to make their search results a one-stop shop when it comes to answering consumer needs. Google is going to continuing rolling out new features and finding ways to monetize Google My Business.
Gain more local business, outshine your competitors and be more favorable in Google’s eyes by being an early adopter of Google’s latest features.
It’s not difficult to achieve success with your Google listing. By optimizing one of my clients listings we increased their listings calls by 133% and now average about 700 calls per month!
Google My Business Listing Features
If you have ever or recently asked why your Google listing doesn’t show in the results more often it’s most likely because you don’t have an optimized Google listing utilizing all of the newest features.
When was the last time you updated your Google Listing?
If your answer is more than 6 months ago it’s been far too long. Honestly, if your answer is anything over a month ago it’s been too long.
HOW MANY OF THESE FEATURES HAVE YOU OPTIMIZED?
BASIC INFORMATION | INFO.
This is typically the most completed section of any Google Listing as most of the sections have been around for years. Below are the sections that have remained relatively unchanged (it’s still a good practice to review these every few months – for example, if you switched to an secure site with https did you update your website URL in your Google Listing?)
- Business name
- Business categories (you get a total of 6 categories; however, the first one is the primary category so select the category that most broadly and accurately describes your service(s).
- Address
- Phone number
- Hours of operation
- Special hours (such as holiday hours)
- Website URL
- Opening date
BUSINESS DESCRIPTION | INFO.
Removed by Google a few years ago, it was relaunched again in 2018 under the Info section. Use this section to provide a brief description about your business and what sets you apart from your competition. You get 750 characters to tell consumers why they should choose you. In the search results, this shows as part of your listing beneath the Review snippets section.
ATTRIBUTES | INFO.
The Attributes section allows consumers to see what your business has to offer. This can include but is not limited to accepted payment types, if your business is woman or man-led, accessibility, amenities like wi-fi, offerings such as same-day delivery, and if you are accepting new patients or LGBTQ friendly. The business category you select determines which attributes are available for your business. It is good to check this section often as Google continues to update available attributes.
Example Attributes section for dental practice:
SERVICES | INFO.
One of the newest additions to the Google Business Listing is Services. While it is only available to some businesses, this section allows you to create custom service categories with full detailed descriptions of your services with pricing.
Currently, this section isn’t visibile on the desktop version of the Google Business Listing but it is visibile on the mobile version of the listing.
This is definitely a feature that is in-line with Google wanting to keep consumers on Google instead of utilizing your website to learn more about your business. Do not abuse this section by ridiculously stuffing it with keywords. Instead use it to provide consumers with useful information about the services you offer.
PHOTOS.
60% of consumers say local search results with good images capture their attention and push them towards a decision. Photos showcasing your business, team and products or services will enhance your Google Listing presence. People want to get a real feel for your business so it is best to use photos that are overly professional. Google provides multiple photo categories, it is recommended to have at least 3-4 photos in each section. These categories can include:
- 360
- Interior
- Exterior
- Team
- At work
- Identity
- Food and drink
- Common areas
- Product
Start with making sure you have a few photos in each category then add new photos to the categories every few months. Encourage your customers to also upload photos of your business. It is worth noting that Google Listings with photos receive 35% more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t have photos.
VIDEOS | PHOTOS.
In 2018 Google added a new feature to the Photos section – the ability to upload 30 second videos to your listing. This is a great way to show consumers more information about your business in a fun and engaging way. Some great videos to add to your listing include:
- Office tour
- Product demos
- Service highlights or demos
- Customer testimonials
While most businesses will easily capitalize on the other new features available for their Google Listing this is one that can really make you stand out as most businesses are not creating video content yet.
POSTS.
With Posts Google enables you to share daily specials or current promotions, promote events, showcase your top products and connect with your existing and potential customers. Yet few businesses are taking advantage of this great new feature even though they require little time to create and can convey important information about your business including special offers. There are currently 4 types of posts:
- What’s new
- Event
- Offer
- Product
Acting quickly while posts are still a newer feature gives you an inherent advantage. Try out the different post options to see which types and messages get the best results. At the bottom of each post Google will show you how many views and clicks each post received. Your published posts show at the bottom of the listing below the description.
MESSAGING.
Now there is a free, user-friendly way for your customers and potential customers to contact your business when it’s most convenient for them – Google Messaging. This allows customers to text messsage you directly (without any personal phone numbers being given out). Enabling messaging also allows you to respond to questions and share additional information about the business.
PRODUCTS.
Google has been testing a new feature that lets businesses (when applicable) to add collections of products to their listing. For each product, you can display the name of the product, a 1,000 character description, the price and a photo. Like Services, this not a feature that is enabled for every business but if it is enabled for yours it’s an easy way to get ahead of your competitors.
QUESTIONS and ANSWERS (Q&A).
Launched in 2017, this feature has been surprisingly underutilized by businesses even though roughly 25% of listings have been asked at least 1 question. This section features crowdsourced questions and answers about your business. Customers can both ask and answer questions about your business. It’s important to answer the questions posted on your listing because if you don’t, consumers will and the answers may not always be correct or favorable. The Questions & Answers section shows below the basic business information and above the Review snippets. Google has yet to add this feature in the Listing dashboard so you have to check your listing on the search results in order to see any questions you have received.
BOOKINGS.
The Bookings feature allows customers to book an appointment directly from your GMB listing. These buttons help your business stand out and make it easy for people to become customers. Plus, you can easily track how many bookings you get from your listing. The only drawback is that you have to use one of their scheduling partners – click here to view a list of their partners. Currently, this feature is not available for every business or in every area.
REVIEWS.
Google is the number one review site which means you need to not only be getting reviews on Google but responding to those reviews – good and bad. The easiest way to manage reviews is to set up your listing to notify you via email every time you get a new review then respond to each review in a timely manner. Make sure you not only have a strategy in place to generate at least 3-5 new reviews each month on your listing but also encourage customers to mention specific services or products and location in their reviews as this helps with your listing visibility.
Example of why you want customers to mention products and services specifically in the reviews because they will show as snippets when someone searches for that product or service like the search for “acne facial near me.”
FINAL THOUGHTS.
As local search continues to evolve and Google shifts away more from wanting to send consumers to your website, you need to be aware of the latest updates in Google My Business. Google is going to keep optimizing and finding ways to monetize Google My Business (directly or indirectly). Make sure you are taking advanage of the current features as well as new ones as they roll out to stay ahead of your competiton and win with Google.
Have you achieved amazing success with your Google Listing? Share your best practices and what changes had the biggest impact for you.