Do you know how to go about setting up Google My Business in 2022? Maybe you’ve done it already. But have you set it up to ensure you actually achieve results from it?

I’ve had more than a few clients become frustrated trying to rank a new website in Google. It’s definitely not an overnight strategy, so it’s an easy one to give up on soon after starting.

But the idea that you can have people come to your website without having to pay for it keeps many people trying.

You can work on SEO (or search engine optimisation) for months, or even years, to get a website to rank for certain keywords in Google. It’s kind of like building a spider web, where different threads are woven together to strengthen your chances to get on page one. And that spider web is like a game of snakes and ladders – one minute you’re up and the next you fall!

Not everyone has the time or patience for that.

But there is another means to getting to the top of Google results faster. That’s Google My Business.

Benefits of Google My Business

There are so many benefits to setting up Google My Business for your organisation. Here are a few GMB benefits:

• It’s what you need to do to future proof your business, because it requires no budget to set up, run and be found at the top of Google
• You don’t have to be a big brand to rank number 1
• It’s a platform that will allow you to leverage content you’re already creating elsewhere and is easier to manage than most social platforms
• Ideal clients don’t need to already be “following you” to find your website, phone number or how to message you
• It not only shows you analytics, but compares your analytics to others that are similar to your business
• It will strengthen the rankings for your existing website

How to best set up your Google My Business page

Google My Business is by no means new. So you may have already set it up.

If not, you can start by creating a Google Business profile here.

Follow the prompts to help you set up your account. It may say it will send you a verification code in the post before you can start using your page. My experience of late has been that you can start without the code. And in many clients’ situations, no code was needed at all.

Inside, you’ll want to focus on a few areas (if you didn’t already complete them during set up).

Info Section

When setting up Google My Business you should complete all sections, including your title, location, service area, service hours, description and services.

Common questions from businesses that aren’t “local” businesses but rather are in a “work from home” situations is what to put in the address field if you want to keep your home address private. If you want to appear on the maps, you’re best to at least put in your state. For me, I’ve put in New South Wales.

Some areas of note:

Share Your Business Profile

Make sure you grab the URL for your page in the top right hand corner. You can use this link to encourage people to view your profile and even share a review. You’ll notice in the top right of the Info page a “Your business is live on Google” section with links.

Products and Services

There are separate products and services sections to fill in. Obviously, if you’re a product-based business, you’ll want to add your products and prices into this section. If you’re a service-based business, then it’s all the services you provide. You can add a lot of services to this section.

However, if you’re a service business, you can add some of your programs and service offerings as products too.

An example for a real estate agent might be:

Services: Book An Appraisal, Home Improvement Concierge Services, Rental Property Appraisal

Products: 10 John St, Your Town

The more information you can provide, the greater chance your page will be found. You’ll notice there are dedicated Google My Business Products and Services pages.

Do you need a Google My Business Website

My thoughts on this one is that no, you don’t. You’ve got very little control or design options, so stick with your own website. Drive as much traffic to that place – your “online shopfront”.

When Google is well optimised, it will send traffic to your website anyway. So stick with that strategy. This way you’re getting two platforms – your business website and your Google My Business profile – helping you rank on the front page of Google.

If you don’t have a website and you’re not in a position to create one just yet, then this is a good little work around for the meantime that’s free when setting up Google My Business too.

How to get more views of your Google Business Profile

The goal once set up is to get found in the search results and drive as much of that traffic to take action with you as possible.

There are a few Google My Business tools to help you do this.

Posts

Posts are like the posts you might create on other social media platforms. And, in fact, I’d be leveraging that content and repurposing it here.

It can feel like just another social media platform to manage, but the beauty of this one is that 1. you can schedule content through third party apps like SocialBee and 2. there are no comments to have to manage. There is simply the opportunity to share the post or see how many people viewed it.

Google wants regular content, so create a schedule and stick with consistently uploading posts.

Photos

You might wonder what the difference is between Posts and Photos. With Posts, you can add copy and share the posts. Just like you might do on social media.

With Photos, there is no copy to add. You simply select which of your photo categories you want it to go in. I have noticed that different business types tend to have different Google My Business Photo category options. Some have more than others.

Like Posts, you’ll want to be consistently adding to the Photos section. There are a few things to think about when it comes to uploading photos. Don’t upload ALL your photos at once, or Google will start thinking you’re doing something shady. Drip them out regularly.

I’ll share some ideas on what photos to use in a coming post, including an advanced strategy that will increase your views.

Communication

When you’re out and about and want to find a business in a particular field, you’ll Google that niche and location on your phone. What happens is, a Google My Business profile can appear at the top of those results. That profile comes with a few buttons, including:

• Call – when you press this button, your phone will instantly call the business’ number. The call is tracked as part of the profile’s “call analytics” for the month.
• Chat – this opens up a message feature where you can talk directly to the business via written text messages
• Save – if you want to save the details of the business for later
• Website – so they can click and go through to your website. Of course, if you built your website using the Google My Business website tool, then it will go to that site instead.
• Request a Booking – this is a call to action button that you can tailor for your business. Mine goes to my booking calendar.

It’s worth taking advantage of these services. If you don’t, you’re simply making it easier for people to do business with your competition. Instead, make it easy for customers to do business with YOU.

Google Reviews

Encourage reviews. The more Google reviews you have, generally the higher you appear in the Google business search results when someone is searching for a specific business. For example, one of my clients – One Agency JD Property Agents – has 84 reviews and so when you search for the keyword “real estate agent Fairy Meadow”, she appears at the top of the map results.

Now, this isn’t always the case, but encouraging Google My Business reviews certainly helps.

On the Google My Business homepage, you’ll noticed a “Get More Reviews” section, where you’ll have a “Share Review Form” button you can click to copy your unique review link and share.

What’s next for setting up Google My Business 2022?

Do you have a Google My Business page set up? If so, are you using it to its full effect for discoverability? 

I’ll share more on important tips to get the absolute most out of your profile in another post. Can’t wait? Book a session for $350 AUD (+GST for Australians) so we can set it up together quickly.