Historically every household would have had a copy of the Thompon’s Local Directory, a Yellow Pages Directory and probably a copy of the local paper, packed with classified adverts promoting local businesses.
Today Google has replaced all of those local directories and is the largest online directory to find a local business near you. So, if you don’t have your business on Google you need to!
How to start with a Google Business Profile
Add your business name and location into the search bar in Google and see if your business has already been added, if it has make sure you claim your business and if it’s not there begin the process of registering for a business profile.
There is a process to follow to optimise your profile, we can do this for you.
Once you have registered your profile you need to make sure you regularly post on this platform and encourage your clients to provide you with Google reviews.
Check your details are the same on your Google profile, your website, and any other local directory. As you add your contact details to other directories, keep a list and if you change any information make sure you update every site you have registered with. This is called your NAP data (name, address and phone number). It is frustrating for your customers if you have different contact details on different platforms and Google will use this data to verify your business is legitimate, so keep it updated and accurate.
Create regular hyper local content for your posts.
Google provides a space to post and also to upload your photos and videos, this is another way to attract customers to your business. Add content that includes your services, products, events, and your location. We would recommend you post once a week on your profile and regularly update your photos.
Keep a regular check on your reviews and always respond, even if it’s a negative review.
Your potential customers are more likely to contact you, if you have 5* reviews and you regularly responding to the reviews you have been given. Reviews give your new customers honest and objective feedback about your business and interestingly a range of positive and negative reviews can help to authenticate the reviews, especially when you respond in a positive way to a poor review and try to resolve the issue quickly and fairly.
Check out your local competitors’ profiles.
If you want to make sure you are appearing in local searches, see what your competitors are doing on their profiles. The ones that regularly appear at the top of the organic search will be posting every week, updating their products and services, encouraging clients to leave reviews and responding to them quickly and replying to messages as a matter of urgency.
If you need help in getting your Google Business Profile optimised and regularly updated we can help set you up today.
