Google My Business (GMB) is an essential marketing tool that works with your website to make your business appear in search results. These days, it’s important to have a GMB listing and keep it up to date. You may be surprised to find out that there’s more to it than getting your business on Google Maps and earning customer reviews. Here are four ways to use GMB to its full potential:
1. Share Post Updates
Like social media platforms, you can post updates, links and events to your GMB listing. These posts can include an image or video and a call to action button that links back to your website or landing page. Treat your GMB feed like a Facebook feed and add posts frequently. Sharing valuable content, such as blog posts, can also assist with SEO and increase your web traffic organically.
2. Booking Functionality
If your business relies on bookings, we have good news for you. Google My Business now enables customers to book appointments directly from your listing and connect with select third-party booking services. An eye-catching call to action button will then be displayed in your GMB listing.
3. Direct Messaging
Live chat function has become the norm on most social media platforms and websites. Direct messaging enables consumers to contact a business instantly and expect a quick response. To take advantage of direct messaging you will need to supply a text-enabled mobile phone number. Consumers will be able to see your average response time, so only enable direct messaging if you can respond quickly. To make life easier, you can set up an automatic reply to give yourself a bit of leeway.
4. Users Can Update Your Listing
Be mindful that other users can and possibly will update your GMB listing. Google users can upload images of your business and product offerings, answer questions, update store hours, revise contact details and add reviews. While you should receive a notification when someone requests to update your information, these changes may go live without review. The solution: regularly monitor your GMB listing.
Just like social media, GMB is constantly evolving to improve user experience. The digital marketing experts at Sims Advertising in Burlington stay on top of the latest trends and updates, so you don’t have to. Reach out to our team today for best practices and advice.
