Win new customers with an optimised Google My Business profile

Optimise your business’s Google My Business profile so that potential customers can find you through search engines. In this article we have set out the key guidelines. Optimising business information 1. Open Google My Business and click “Manage now”. 2. Sign in to the Google account you use to manage this business. 3. Click the […]

Optimise your business’s Google My Business profile so that potential customers can find you through search engines.

In this article we have set out the key guidelines.

Optimising business information

1. Open Google My Business and click “Manage now”.

2. Sign in to the Google account you use to manage this business.

3. Click the “pencil” icon next to the business you are going to optimise.

4. In the menu on the left, click “Info”.

5. Make sure the business name is spelled correctly. Update it if necessary.

6. Click the edit icon for the business category.

• Choose the primary category that best describes your business. If you are not sure what to choose, search for your main competitors on Google and see what their primary category is.

• If you offer other services or products that do not fall under the primary category, you can add them as an additional category, but do not try to fill your Google My Business profile with unrelated additional categories. Choose only those that are highly relevant to your business. Choosing irrelevant categories can lead to a high bounce rate, which can hurt your results.

7. Make sure the business address is written correctly. Update it if necessary.

8. Next, edit the business’s opening hours.

Select the days your business is open and enter the exact opening and closing times.

9. Add a phone number that customers can use to contact your business.

If needed, you can add several phone numbers to your Google My Business profile.

10. Make sure the URL of the business website is written correctly. Update it if necessary.

11. Add the services offered at this location.

• Services are specific to the business categories you selected earlier. If you chose more than one category, you will be able to add relevant services for each of them separately.
• For some categories Google will give you predefined services to choose from.

• In other categories where Google does not provide predefined services, or if you want to add a service that is not on the list, you can add your own custom services.

• [Optional] Once you have selected your services, you can add prices and descriptions to each of them.

12. Next, edit the attributes section.

In this section, add relevant details about accessibility, amenities, highlights, payment options, planning and service options. Select only options that accurately reflect the reality of your business. For these options Google will regularly survey people who visit your premises to check whether the information is accurate.

13. Adding photos is an important part of optimising a Google My Business profile.

• The recommended size for all images in Google My Business is 720px wide by 720px high (except the cover photo, which is 1024 x 576), between 10 KB and 5 MB, in JPG or PNG format.
• Logo: this is the image that will be used when you post updates or reply to questions or reviews.
• Cover: this is one of the most important photos, because it will be visible on your business page, in search results and on Google Maps.
• Product: include photos of the products sold in your shop.
• Interior: where relevant, you can include photos of your business’s interior (this is usually a great addition for businesses such as restaurants, bars, cafés, coworking spaces and so on).
• Exterior: if Google already has Street View imagery of the area where your business is located, this image will already be available. It helps users find or recognise your business when they are nearby.
• Other: you can also add other types of assets, such as videos or photos of your team showing your work.

14. Managing reviews

The first time you optimise your new Google My Business profile, you should try to reply to all unanswered reviews the business has (if there are any). Once this first round of replies is done, it is advisable to reply to new reviews as they come in (see the section on managing Google My Business settings to set up notifications for new reviews).

• In the Google My Business dashboard, click “Reviews” in the menu on the left.
  
• Click “Unanswered”.
  
• Reply to all recent reviews.
  
• It is especially important to reply to negative reviews. Do not try to argue with the user. Instead, write a reply that would satisfy someone else who is looking at your business profile and reading the 1- and 2-star reviews — those are the people you are really writing for.

Establish your brand and business name online

In Bulgaria, a local business gets an average of 1,009 views a month. That means you are currently missing out on 1,009 potential customers EVERY month. Still wondering whether you need a business profile?