Optimizing Your Google My Business Listing for COVID-19 & Beyond |
Google’s job is to create the best search experience for the searcher. YOUR job (or mine) is to make sure Google has the best, most relevant, and trustworthy information for their algorithm to assuredly put your business listing at the top of it’s recommendations.
Here are a few items we discussed on a webinar with the Hamden Regional Chamber of Commerce about what’s on your Google My Business/Maps listing, why you should care, and how to take control of it.
Google My Business Says I’m “Temporarily Closed”?!
Did you know that Google may have put “Temporarily Closed” on your Google map listing when business were shut down because of the COVID-19 quarantine? If you were a “non-essential” retail store or service, like some of my clients, and were not aware, you likely lost some opportunities to your competitors who figured out how to “go virtual.”
Google My Business Took My Web Traffic
Did you also know that Google is stealing at least 40% of your web traffic by serving your contact info in your Google My Business (GMB) listing? There’s nothing you can do about that, but there are things you can do to enhance your listing and improve engagement.
More Stars, More Customers
Are the reviews in your GMB, or lack of them, keeping potential customers from contacting you? Sharing your GMB link with your client base to solicit reviews is easy and highly recommended.
Earning Google’s Trust
Is your GMB listing verified? This is the most important action item and often the most difficult. Business owners are stymied by past managers, lost passwords, and a variety of other impediments that cause listing neglect.
Are the details of your GMB listing different from your website or other listings across the web that reduce trustworthiness of the information, and therefore your ranking? This one is the easiest to fix because anyone can submit an edit.
“I’m a Business Owner Not an Search Engine Marketer!”
My clients are typically business owners who use their phones to make phone calls and text their kids, and would get the Star Trek reference to Dr. McCoy. If you’re like them, please get in touch, and I can help you claim and manage your Google My Business listing.