Understand Google My Business (GMB) In Under 10 Minutes
When you’re starting an eCommerce business, a primary concern is getting your website visible to your core audiences, which can be a daunting task for most startups, especially if you don’t have an expert local SEO agency on your side.
To make your business visible online, you need to know everything there is to know about Google My Business (GMB). It will enable your e-store to become visible online, gain traffic, and boost sales – this article contains all the necessary information you need to get started with GMB.
What Is Google My Business?
A vast majority of prospects use Google to lookup local businesses online. Over 75% of these searches end up in a sale, provided your eCommerce store is visible in the top searches within Google. GMB helps you do that. It is the list of relevant local businesses Google showcases upon a search. Businesspeople often hire affordable local SEO services companies to optimize their eCommerce pages and end up on that list.
The best part of Google My Business is that it does not cost you a dime. All you need to do is optimize your online pages to rank in GMB local business listings.
Setting Up A GMB Account
You need a basic Google account that will have the right to administer your business’ information within the listing. You can either create a new Google account or use your existing business account for this purpose.
Once signed in, you will be required to enter all the relevant information of your business, which will include:
- Your company’s name
- Your company’s address (both online and offline) – note: by entering an offline location, your local prospects will be able to find your business location on Maps, which can increase footfall.
- Your company’s official contact details
You can also tell Google if you provide delivery or other home-based services like repairs, etc.
The provided information can also be edited later, which comes in handy if you wish to update your address or business hours.
Google will verify your business address through a postcard which may take around four to five business days to arrive. Further details for authentication can be found on that card, including a verification code to be entered at www.google.com/verifymybusiness.
You can also verify your business through email or phone. However, Google will tell you if you’re eligible for any other sort of verification other than postal cards.
SEO for Google My Business
Bear in mind that there are multiple other businesses in your location, including your competitors, who will be verified on GMB. This is why you need to optimize your pages so your audiences can find your business listing on top of a relevant keyword search.
Here are a few pro-tips:
- You can always hire an affordable local SEO services company to help you with your SEO, so your online pages and business listings enjoy the larger share of traffic for industry-specific searches.
- Include as much information on your GMB page. The more information you offer, the better your chances are to land in the Local Pack-3 of GMB listings (basically, you’ll be among the top-3 in the list of local businesses).
- Add photos and videos of your business to increase your online visibility through GMB further.
- Solicit authentic reviews from your customers on your GMB listing. It will affect your business’ ranking in the GMB list.
There you have it; everything essential you needed to understand about GMB, so your business pages are visible to your local audiences.
