How Are Your Customers Connecting With You?

May 17, 2019 | By SEO for Growth | BusinessFocus-Business Focus

 

			It is amazing how fast the year has progressed already! We hope you have had some time to implement some of the ideas from past articles in your business. Every little step can hopefully lead to additional business! Speaking of small steps to help your business, we found this month’s article to be extremely beneficial, yet simple. Most people in our small towns know where many of the local businesses are, their hours, etc. However, there is always business to be had from passers by or others out of the area, so it seems to make sense to take the steps outlined below.
				Best Regards,    Keith Knudsen  PRESIDENT/CEO | SECURITY BANK

 

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Google My Business Gets You Found Locally

If you enter an internet search, no matter what browser you use, you usually receive results based on your location. These local search results are critical to getting found and allowing customers to review your business. Also known as Google Places, Google My Business makes it easier for customers to find information about your business online, including hours of operation, contact information and directions – all across multiple devices.

Bottom line is your business MUST be listed in Google My Business if you want to be found online in a local search. A fully complete and working Google My Business page can increase the success, for both your online and offline operation.

It is also critical to make sure that your Google Page is complete and accurate, and optimized for best results. Having one that is working correctly can have a big impact on not only traffic to a website, but for visitors to the actual physical location of the businesses as well. Put simply, a fully complete and working Google My Business page can increase the success, for both your online and offline operation.

When users search for your product or service, the local search listings are the ones that dominate. In most cases, these local listings will be accompanied by markers for the lucky few, along with their addresses and phone numbers. Google also displays a map that points to each business highlighted in the actual search list.

Google My Business (GMB) Page Setup

Setting up a GMB page is relatively straightforward. It’s free to set up and will enable you to appear in local search results for queries specific to your products or services.

The first step is to claim your page if you have not done so already. If you are unsure whether this has been done, you can do a quick search on Google Maps to find out if there is a page for your business already created. See below for an example:

If you have no page, then sign in with your Google Account and simply create one using the easy instructions provided. You will need to get your profile up to as near completed status as possible, then verify it through a phone call or postcard code. Until you have verified your listing, you will not be able to hit 100%.

Optimizing Your Google My Business Page

Optimizing your business website is very important for online presence. So too, is optimizing your Google My Business page if you want to appear on local search results. Google’s goal is to help people find businesses close by to where they are located. This can make it difficult to attract customers from a location outside the boundaries set by Google. The closer the searcher is to your business, the higher up you may appear on the search results.

So how do you optimize your Google My Business page to get found by people outside the specified range? It can involve a complex algorithm, but also requires your business to be on other third party directory listings, like Yelp, Trip Advisor, Citysearch, and other smaller, high quality sites. You will need to make sure your Name, Address and Phone (NAP) information is consistent across all these sites for the best results in search engine rankings.