Your Google My Business Listing is a crucial point-of-contact between you and your customer. However, with the proper optimisation, it can be much, much more…
Say a customer wants to Google your business. Before they even access your website, they’ll be greeted by a box to the side that lists:
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- Contact details
<li”>Address and location
- Pictures and photos
- Pricing
- FAQs
- Review scores
Additionally, businesses in specific industries may also list unique information in their listings. For example, a restaurant’s listing might also list peak periods, price range and a menu.
While a relatively small part of your digital strategy Melbourne, a well-optimised Google My Business (GMB for short) listing can work wonders for your business’ online presence.
Provided that it’s properly optimised, of course!
Curious? An SEO agency in Melbourne explains how you can go about that.
Tip #1: add images
Good pictures are one of your secret weapons when it comes to creating an attractive, credible and well-optimised Business Listing – after all, a picture says a thousand words.
Adding a good photo to your GMB listing can work wonders for click rates. Here’s the thing, though: uploading a blurry smartphone photo and calling it a day simply won’t do!
If you to maximise the impact of your photos – and thereby improve your business listing – you need to make sure you take good photos. Include photos of your logo, your team, and of your menu or products (if applicable).
Don’t be afraid to use customers’ photos either. In fact, we suggest encouraging them to snap as many pictures as possible.
It doesn’t stop with photos, either – if you want, you can even try your hand at uploading a short 30-second video!
Tip #2: respond to reviews
One of the biggest strengths of a Business Listing is in reviews – not only does it allow customers to leave Google reviews for your business, but it also compiles reviews from other sites such as Facebook, True Local and more niche sites.
Simply having reviews isn’t all however – we strongly recommend responding to each of them too, whether they’re good, bad or middling.
That’s according to ReviewTrackers, a surprising 44.6% of people report being more likely to choose a business if they responded to negative reviews – not to mention, it gives you an opportunity to fix whatever went wrong and turn those negative scores into 5-star reviews.
Not to mention, your reviews directly impact how well your site ranks for important search terms – click here to read more about that topic.
Tip #3: fix mistakes ASAP
In early April 2019, German research firm Uberall released its 2019 Voice Search Readiness Report.
While focusing on online business listings and their readiness for voice search, researchers discovered another interesting result: namely, that many contained errors or mistakes in their Business Listings!
The most common trouble spots, according to the report?
- Opening hours
- Missing website link
- Address errors
- Incorrect contact details
Most of the time, it just slips through the cracks. Maybe you’ve moved and you haven’t had time to update your listing since. It could be a typo that flew under the radar.
Whatever the reason, we strongly recommend going back ASAP to find and fix any problems!
Tip #4: add content on the regular
At iformat, we’re strong believers in content. We believe in the power of content marketing, and that SEO agencies in Melbourne should focus on creating a steady stream of good, high-quality content.
And this isn’t just website updates or a regularly-updated blog, either – did you know that you can add content to your GMB listing?
Enter: Google Posts.
Think of these as a second Twitter feed which you can use to bring attention to:
- Announcements
- Successful jobs
- Videos and gifs
- Ongoing promotions
Not only that, but according to Search Engine Land, Google Posts can even have a mild impact on your page rankings.
Google Posts are a quick and relatively effortless way of giving your SEO strategy that little extra nudge. It doesn’t even have to be long either – taking 5 minutes to write up a short and snappy post might be enough to do the trick.
Tip #5: get granular – tell people exactly what you offer
Think back to when you first set up your GMB listing. If you recall, you were prompted to choose from a list the industries or niche that best reflected your business.
What many don’t realise is that GMB actually goes a lot further than this – hidden in the set-up menu, you’ll find options for extra attributes. Using these attributes, you can provide greater detail about your business than Google’s pre-listed categories suggest.
For example, you can use your GMB listing to tell customers about:
- On-site parking
- Whether you’re cash-only
- Kid-friendliness
- Free Wi-fi
- Amenities
- Delivery options
Tip #6: create an FAQ section
Frequently asked questions? More like frequently overlooked questions!Each GMB listing has a Q&A section which customers can use to ask any questions they may have. However, many business owners don’t realise it exists at all, and end up missing questions and queries.
It’s important that you keep on top of what customers are asking – however, that isn’t the only way you can use your Q&A section.
You can take your Q&A a step further. Instead of waiting for questions to come in however, we suggest going ahead and pre-populating your Q&A section with the questions you receive most often.
You can then answer them yourself, effectively adding an FAQ section to your business listing.
Not only does this preempt customers, but it also ensures that you’re the one answering questions, and not some uninformed bystander (or worse, a competitor trying to sabotage you).
Take your digital marketing game to the next level
An SEO agency in Melbourne can help!
As you can see, creating a well-optimised business listing involves more than just adding your address or phone number. There’s an art to optimising your listing for maximum exposure.
If your goal is to take your digital marketing to the next level, you’ll need a professional on your side.
iformat is an SEO agency in Melbourne. We combine tailored SEO strategies with quality content marketing and advice on all things digital, including your GMB listing.
The goal? To get you found online!
Get in touch with our experts today on 1300 88 64 50, or click here to touch base with us.