Tag: google my business

Why It’s Important to Have A Google My Business Profile

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“Google it!” We’ve heard it. We’ve said it. A staple in the cultural zeitgeist, we are all very familiar with Google as consumers. From a business standpoint, the importance of a Google My Business Profile cannot be understated. It is integral for every business; large and small, brick-and-mortar or exclusively online.

You may be curious why it’s important to have a Google My Business profile. Google controls about 92% of the search engine market share across the world. That means if people are searching the web, they’re almost certainly googling. Google connects people to businesses they may normally not have found and connects businesses to decision-makers that can elevate their status from good to great. When considering why it’s important to have a Google My Business profile, consider the impact of starting with trust, being seen, and increasing lead generation.

What is a Google My Business profile?

A Google My Business profile provides you with the ability to list your business and appear in local search results. You can display pertinent information on your business: location, hours of operation, and contact details. A link to your website can be listed and attract web traffic. There are even features available to link upcoming events or articles. With a Google My Business profile, you choose how you are seen in Google search and maps and can even accept online orders.

Plus… it’s free!

Start with Trust

When people are searching your business, knowingly or otherwise, they are beginning their relationship with your business. One of the reasons why it’s important to have a Google My Business profile, is to be in control of your first impression.

It can be frustrating to receive mixed messages from a business, especially after a simple introduction. When information is difficult to find, incoherent, or inconsistent, it turns away potential leads from engaging further or turns away potential customers seeking your goods or services.

There is also the possibility that your business does not get fair or accurate information posted online. Without claiming your Google My Business profile, you will not be notified of reviews of your business or any information that is listed that is inaccurate or outdated.

By having a Google My Business profile, you get to speak for yourself. You can visit your profile anytime to edit or see how many people have seen or clicked on your listing. There is even a question and answer feature that can connect you with your community. What better way to start a relationship of trust and competence than with being available and transparent with people from the second they’ve found you in a search.

Start with trust. Build a reputation for being clear, informative, and up-to-date as a business.

Be Seen

With the Google algorithm being directly linked to your company’s SEO, a Google My Business Profile puts you in a position to improve your likelihood of being seen just by optimizing your profile. With a Google My Business profile, your reviews and location improve your likelihood of being seen.

When questioning why it’s important to have a Google My Business profile, an immediate asset is the ability to be seen in Google Maps. More and more search queries are based on geography. This makes sense. With the immediacy of information available in search engines like Google, searching “restaurant near me” or “law office near me” is an efficient and concise way of searching to get relevant results. Whether or not you know it, you’re being shown businesses first that have a Google My Business profile. In fact, it’s got a cyclical benefit. A Google Business Profile improves your local SEO. A local business listing is more likely to appear when people search using Google maps.

Engaging with feedback from your community is another reason why it’s important to have a Google My Business profile. With a profile, you are able to see, respond, and contact people who leave you reviews. Reviews add to your credibility as a business. While branding yourself with legitimacy is integral to successfully running a business, reviews also benefit your SEO. The Google algorithm favors this and it highers your ranking in search results. Simply put, reviews on your Google My Profile listing improve your likelihood of being seen.

Improve your SEO

Google uses vivid phrases and keywords to help users find businesses in search results. Like traditional website SEO, implementing these keywords and relevant phrases in your content improves your visibility. Therefore it is increasingly important to add keywords that match your business and services to help potential clients find your business in all places possible – your business description, your comments, and your posts. The algorithm favors the specific. Take advantage of the profile tools like Question & Answer, Messaging, and GMB posts to consistently put yourself in the best position to be seen.

The importance of your search engine result page rank increases daily. More and more people are becoming less and less likely to keep scrolling and instead choose to click and engage with top results.

That is the difference between making a connection, completing a sale, or doing business.

To conclude

As our world becomes more insular and our online activity becomes increasingly targeted toward our habits, it’s integral for businesses to stay current on all of the opportunities available to them to gain and maintain people’s attention. With Google’s ever present impact on our daily lives, it is essential to think seriously about the benefits your company can garner from starting with trust, being seen, and improving your SEO with a Google My Business profile. All of this is at your fingertips when you make a profile with a few simple clicks, totally for free.

When considering why it’s important to have a Google My Business Profile, remember you have everything to gain and nothing to lose. Make an account today.

Tags google my business, search engine optimization, seo

Search Engine Optimization Tips Small Business Marketing

Are you Missing this Important Opportunity to Get More Clients?

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Word of Mouth (WoM) will always be the best form of advertising, but it’s gone digital. If you’re not prioritizing your Google reviews and actively managing your digital reputation, you are missing an important opportunity to be visible and vetted by more clients or customers. Keep reading to learn more about online reviews and how they affect your rankings in Google.

How Google Reviews Can Bring You Clients

When you enter a local search term into Google, three main factors will affect the ranking of each site displayed:

Relevance
Distance
Prominence

The first two ranking factors are explanatory–Google will attempt to present the most relevant options within your immediate vicinity. Makes sense, right?

Reviews, however, fall into the category of prominence. If you searched for “dog groomer” and found one with hundreds of highly rated reviews, that groomer may outrank a closer local competitor if they have fewer, less positive ratings and reviews.

3 Simple Steps to Get More Reviews and Boost Your Rankings

Let’s say you’re one of the many businesses that doesn’t have a ton of reviews. Here are three steps you can take to bump those review numbers and, consequently, your SEO results.

1. Fix Your Listings

“Near me” searches are growing exponentially year after year. With the rise of voice search, they’ll be even more important. It’s estimated that 22% of voice searches are location-based. That’s a big number and growing by the minute.

If you haven’t done so already, claim your Google My Business (GMB) profile. This is your most visible listing, since it will show up every time someone does a search for your business.

It’s incredible how many businesses don’t take this simple step to boost their rankings and online visibility. Some of these businesses still have their old business address and phone number listed and then wonder why they don’t get more phone calls!

If you want to make sure your Google listing (or Yelp, Bing, or any other listing service) is correct, Google your company and see what pops up. If you think you need help fixing it, give us a shout. We update and optimize Google My Business (and other) listings every day.

2. Send Review Requests

Customers trust reviews. The more reviews you have, the better. That’s why it’s important to ask your customers to leave reviews. This is the kind of social proof that future customers will trust and can ultimately encourage them to convert.

To get the best results, make sure you’re sending review requests via text and email. This makes the process easy for the customer. They don’t have to spend time looking for your business or where to post the review. All they have to do is click the link and write about their experience.

Also, there’s no need to feel weird about asking. Happy customers love to help out. Asking can feel awkward, but more for you than for them. Make it easy for them and you’ll get more reviews. If asking directly is still too much for you, GoBeyond has a cringe-proof process in place to get you those reviews without making you blush.

3. Respond to Customer Reviews

Lots of business owners don’t respond to online reviews. That’s a big mistake. A study by Harvard Business School showed that responding to reviews leads to a higher overall star rating.

But the benefits don’t end there. Genuine responses help build loyalty with your customers. A simple “Thanks a ton, we hope to see you soon!” can leave a positive impression in the mind of your customers and encourage them to come back for more.

Google has confirmed that responding to reviews can help your business rank higher on search engines. What’s not to love about that?

Don’t Stress About Getting Reviews

Word of Mouth will always be a factor when it comes to decision making. We’re social creatures and the opinions of others dictate everything from how we behave at the dinner table to how we make our laws. Word of Mouth has not and will never go away, but how we access those opinions has changed permanently.

Don’t stress about the review process. These days, having the occasional bad review is not a business death sentence. The far worse outcome sounds more like this: “Acme Products and Services? Never heard of ‘em”.

Want to automate your review process to make it easier and less painful to get more reviews of your business? Contact GoBeyond SEO to learn more about our process for getting reviews without the hassle.

Tags google my business, google ranking factors, search engine optimization, seo

SEO Tips

How to Deal With Fake Negative Reviews of Your Business

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Negative reviews are never fun to deal with, but fake reviews can be even worse. However, by handling reviews the right way, you can protect the reputation of your business.

Prioritizing reputation management should be an important part of your process whether or not you receive the occasional fake review.

Most businesses have to deal with a fake review at some point. Even GoBeyond got a fake review on the Better Business Bureau website. The person leaving the review was very disappointed that we had not sent her the supplements and diet shakes she ordered.

For those just tuning in, GoBeyond doesn’t sell supplements. Or shakes. Or products of any kind.

When we found the review and the woman who left it, we had a lovely conversation and sent her our website, showed her our faces, and demonstrated that we were not the culprits. She agreed to amend the review.

But had this bad (although fake) review been on Google, it would have been easier for her to recognize that we were not the offending company.

So what happens if you do get a negative, fake review on Google? Are you stuck with it? Not necessarily. Here’s how to deal with fake negative reviews on Google.

Flag the Fake Review for Google to Remove

Google will not just remove a comment because you say you want it removed. That said, if a comment violates Google’s policy, and you flag that comment, Google will step in and remove the flagged comment. Here’s a short list of violations that can be grounds for removal:

Spam and fake content. Content should reflect genuine experiences and should not be placed in an attempt to manipulate ratings.
Off-topic. Content should be related to the specific location being reviewed.
Restricted content. No calls-to-action for materials restricted by law such as alcohol, tobacco, guns, etc.
Conflict of interest. Business owners, employees, and employees of competing businesses cannot review your company.

If you have a bad review that fits in the criteria above, here are the steps you can take to flag that comment:

Find your business listing on Google Maps. If you have not claimed and optimized it, do it now! Not sure how? Book a time to meet with us to find out how.
Find the review you’d like to dispute.
Do not respond to the comment. Not yet. If the review is mean or rude, of course you want to politely and professionally respond to that. However, if it’s simply untruthful, don’t respond. It’s hard to make a case for Google to remove it if you’ve engaged with the comment.
Click the three vertical buttons on the right side, then flag as inappropriate.

Remember, reviews posted on Google My Business are meant to represent the genuine experiences of customers. If Google believes a review doesn’t represent a real experience, it will be removed.

What Happens If the Review Isn’t Removed?

If the review doesn’t get taken down, there are a couple of other steps you can take.

Contact Google by phone to ask about the status of the flagged review.
If that’s not enough, you can fill out a legal removal request if the review can be considered libel.

There’s never a guarantee that Google will remove a fake review. Being proactive, building a process, and responding to negative feedback is usually the best way of dealing with reviews whether they are good, bad, or ugly.

If you think it’s time to automate some of that process, we can help you at GoBeyond SEO. Find out how by booking a call with us here!

Tags google, google my business, negative reviews, reputation management, seo

Marketing

How to Add Users to Google My Business, Google Analytics & Google Ads

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How to Add Users to Google My Business

To invite someone to manage your Google My Business account, you must be the owner of the account. You can simply add a new manager by signing in to your account, then selecting the location or location group you’d like to add the manager to from the menu on the top left.

For location groups, open your group, then go to “group settings”:

For single listings, open your listing and navigate to “users”:

Click on “Manage Users” and then “Add Users”. Next, enter the email address of the person you’d like to invite to manage your account.

Once that person accepts the invitation, they will have managing capabilities, including being able to add and remove users and locations in the group you selected.

How to Add a User to Google Analytics

To invite someone to your Google Analytics account, you must be the Administrator of the account, whether at the account, property, or view level.

If you’re an administrator, you can add or change users on the level where you have that role. To delete users, you must at least be an administrator on the account level.

When you want to invite someone into Google Analytics, begin by signing in to your account. Next, click on Admin, and then on the Account, Property, or View permissions you’d like to access.

Once you’re in your desired column, click on “Access Management”. There will be an Account Permissions list, where you can then click “Add Users”. Enter the person’s email associated with their Google account, then invite them by selecting the “Notify new users by email” check box.

Here, you can also select which permissions you want the user to have, and finish up by clicking “Add” when you’re done. The user will then be able to access your Google Analytics account and utilize it based on the permissions you selected.

How to Add a User to Google Ads

To invite someone to access your Google Ads account, sign in to your Google account. In the upper right-hand corner, there will be a tools icon (a wrench). Click on this, and then click on “Setup”, then “Access and Security”.

There will be a “+” button for you to click on. Once you click on this, you can select the level you want the new person to access, then, when prompted, enter the person’s email address. Once you’re done, click “Send Invitation”.

Tags google ads, google analytics, google my business

Local SEO Marketing Small Business Marketing Small Business SEO

Three Reasons To Claim Your Google My Business Listing

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If you haven’t already jumped on the Google My Business bandwagon, now’s the time. Leaving a Google My Business profile unclaimed (psst: even if you’re virtual) is like leaving an entire host of free marketing opportunities on the table and willingly ignoring their existence…and you know better than that.

Here’s the deal: 80 percent of internet searches go through Google. Think of the last time you actually searched through Bing or Yahoo. Yet, 56 percent of potential Google My Business accounts have not been claimed. This means the business will not be told when a review comes through, you’re allowing third-party photos to be attached to your business without your knowledge, and you’re missing out on a wealth of leads and potential sales.

Keep reading for the top 3 reasons to claim your Google My Business listing.

1. Claim Google My Business Listing for Local SEO

Claiming your Google My Business profile gives you the ability to boost your ranking, free of charge, by instantly making yourself more of an authority in your space. See, Google’s algorithm primarily considers three features: relevance, proximity, and prominence. By claiming your profile, you are essentially sounding an alarm to the algorithm that your listing deserves a higher ranking because of information you’ve provided. Here’s why:

By adding your website to your profile, you are adding backlinks, which builds up your site’s reliability.
You’ve now provided Google with a location, which tells the algorithm when it should come up in more localized searches.
It makes your business more established and well-known in the eyes of Google.

2. Get Found By Potential Clients

As your SEO improves, your business appears earlier in the search ranking, and, as a result, your website traffic increases. Even simply filling out the information in the profile, however, and turning it into your own, enables your business to share necessary content with your potential customers.

By claiming the profile, you are able to put your ideas, via posts and blogs, in front of them. You give your audience a chance to learn about your business, the hours it operates, any pertinent or new information, and how to find out more. The more information your customers consume, the more likely it is the interaction will end in a sale.

3. Use GMB for Reputation Management

Google reviews are all the rage right now, and it makes total sense. The last restaurant you’ve visited, the electrician you’ve hired, the last salon you’ve entered…I would be surprised if you’ve never checked out some reviews before making a decision. 90 percent of people read reviews. 90 percent.

When you claim your Google My Business profile, you become notified when there’s a review. And, as every smart business owner knows, when there’s a review, there needs to be a response. Without claiming the profile, you don’t know when the review comes in, and you leave it unnoticed. As positive reviews build up, more positive reviews come in, and all this leads to more sales for you.

Beyond that, Google My Business recently added a messaging feature. More customer interaction means more engagement and loyalty which, again, means more sales.

How Do I Claim My Business on Google?

So now you’re convinced, but have no idea how to claim your Google My Business listing. Follow this process, and if you run into an issue, don’t hesitate to reach out for help.

Go to https://business.google.com/create and create an account.
Add your business name.
Add your business category. If your business shows up after this step, it’s possible that your business has already been added via a third-party. This may require a bit more poking around. If you get stuck, reach out for assistance.
Add your location or indicate that you’re virtual.
Different questions will arise based on your answers. Just fill them out.
Add pictures where you can. When adding your pictures, give them names. Most images are labeled with IMG_123 or something to that effect, which doesn’t help your SEO at all. Label your images with a specific name that lets Google know what you’re about, such as “Best-Dog-Groomer-Charlotte”.
Once you’ve completed and reviewed your details, click “Claim this business.”
It typically takes about 24 hours for your business to show up in the Google listings. You’ll receive an email confirmation that your business listing is active.

Don’t leave your business behind by leaving your profile unattended. Google My Business is a fast and easy way to improve your visibility, engage your audience, and provide a ton of content, and it’s all for free.

Tags google my business, local business marketing, local online marketing, local seo, online marketing, reputation management, seo, seo tips, small business marketing

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