The learning, tips and practical application continues at the Local, Search and Social Summit 2015!
After Bernadette got us in the mind-frame of needing to be prepared to interface with the mobile marketplace, Justin Liles, SVP of Local Search at Advice Interactive Group (who has been in the local search industry since before they had a name for it – so he knows what he’s talking about) walked us through claiming and optimizing our Google My Business listing.
Why You Need to Be On Google My Business
Bottom line = Want to rank in search? You cannot ignore your Google My Business Listing.
Why does it matter? Having a Google My Business Listing is important because it will help you rank better locally, which will drive traffic to you.
This is especially important if you have a business that sells products or services to a local/community client base. Below are the steps you can take to help you get through the verfication process.
How To Get Your Business On Google My Business
Preparation – Below are the steps you can take to help you get through the verification process. He also gave a list of all of the materials you will need to properly fill in your listing information.
Items needed to complete your listing:
- Images – Justin recommends having AT LEAST 10 images ready.
- Your Name
- Your Business Name (do not add location-specific information. For instance, Rocks Digital would be fine. Rocks Digital – Addison would be something you want to avoid). This is especially important when you have multiple locations.
- Business Address – Make sure this matches what’s on your website and also what is on your Articles of Incorporation. Don’t ever add your suite number to the 1st address line and don’t use the word Suite or Apartment, just use # sign (#1010)
- Phone number – be sure this is your BUSINESS line, not a cell number or a toll-free number.
- Website URL
- List of Keywords
- Email account set up in Google
Advice when completing your listing:
- Better to use ZIP codes than a radius when selecting the areas your business serves.
- Don’t have overlapping service areas on the map.
- Better to put “call for appointment” if you don’t keep standard hours or work from home.
When completing the description area about your business:
- Use bold for the brand name and services, but use sparingly.
- Use bullet points and not comma separated lists.
- Link to specific product pages within the description, not just your website.
Make sure you keep your information up to date and consistent across the Internet for the best results in getting and keeping your Google My Business listing verified!
This session was a great way to get started on listing and verifying your business if you weren’t sure how to do it. Have you verified your business on Google My Business?
