Google My Business

Google is the world’s most popular search engine and has a free tool that lets you manage your presence on Google. It lets you to share the story of your business with photos and reviews. Google has released a suite of updates recently, making Google My Business more powerful than ever for local businesses. Google is making it easy for searchers to do almost all of their research about a company within the search results page. If you are a local business owner, the top three listings that show on a Google search are precious.

BPPM provides you with an easy to follow guide which takes you through creating, claiming or verifying a listing as well as how to use the features that can help you to grow your business and get the most out of your Google My Business page.

Here is a look at my Project Management Business when I search on Google for Project Management Galway.

 

There it is at the top of the pile. When I click into it here is what I see.

 

 

Take note of the BLUE WRITING. In this case “Suggest an edit” and “View previous posts on Google”. There is no need for any action to be taken for this listing.

Now check your listing by entering “Your Business Name” followed by your “town/city/county” to see whether you already have a presence on Google My Business. Even if you do not recall setting up a Google My Business page for your business, it can happen that profiles have already been created but not claimed and verified. If that doesn’t bring up any results, you might want to try searching for your business address or business phone number in both Google and Google Maps to see if they show up in the search results.

If your business has no Google My Business presence, then go to https://www.google.com/business/ and click the ‘Start now’ option.

If you see anything like in the picture below it would mean you have an unverified or unclaimed Google My Business page. In this case you will need to update your listing by adding the requested information shown by the blue writing to improve your Google ranking and appear in a higher position in Google search pages.

 

Update Google My Business Listing

You will need to claim and verify the listing in order to have control over the information published. We can see in the above Picture that this is an unclaimed listing because Google asks “Own this business”? and gives the option to claim and verify it.

If you find a listing that looks like this for your business, then hit the ‘Own this business?’ link and go through the stages listed here to verify your business, update your opening hours, select business category, specify website link (if any) etc.  

Most people have to verify their listing by receiving a postcard containing a verification code addressed to their business postal address. As soon as the postcard arrives in the post, you enter the verification code and the Google My Business page you set up is then yours.

Business Category

Entering your business category will help searchers find you. Only one primary category will be shown on your listing but you may add others that will help define your service and contribute towards your page ranking.

Opening Hours

Include all of your opening hours.

Holiday Hours

Are there holiday periods that you know you will be closed for or have different hours.

Business Phone Number

This needs to be your primary business number.

Website Link

Add a link to your website or create a Google Website.

Business Description

Use this space to tell a bit about your business, your services etc.

Photos

Add photos of your business activity. Photos of the outside of your premises can help people find your business.

Videos

You can now add videos if you have any.  A video is a good medium to show new customers more about your business. Whether it’s a walk-through of your business or a service you offer, video is a great way to show people what you do.

 Google’s video requirements:

•Duration: Up to 30 seconds long

•File size: Up to 100 MB

•Resolution: 720p or higher