Google is the world's most-visited website. The site currently holds more than than 92% of search engine market share. Creating a Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) is an important way to attract new customers to your business concern through Google search and Maps.

Bonus: Get the free template to hands craft a detailed contour of your ideal customer and/or target audience.

What is Google Business Profile (f.thousand.a. Google My Business concern)?

Google Business Profile is a free business listing from Google. It allows you to provide details and photos of your concern, including your location, services, and products.

Creating this free profile is a nifty way to increase your visibility across Google services. Information from your Google Concern Profile may announced in Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Shopping.

Google Business Profile is simply available to businesses that have contact with customers. This includes businesses with a physical location (similar a restaurant or store) and businesses that provide services by meeting with clients in other locations (similar consultants or plumbers).

If you have an online-only business, you'll accept to stick to other Google tools like Google Ads and Google Analytics.

Why you need a Google My Business business relationship

Get discovered in Google (and Google Maps)

Whether you're looking for pes traffic or web traffic, Google is the ultimate search referrer. A Google Concern Profile helps ensure that people notice your business when looking for products and services similar yours in their local area.

Your Google My Business listing shows searchers where and how to visit your concern. A Google Business Profile likewise improves your local SEO. In particular, a list for a local business is more probable to appear when people search for a nearby business using Google Maps.

Mary's on Davie Google My Business listing

Control your online business data

Your Google My Business contour allows yous to control and update your contact data, business hours, and other essential details as needed.

You can mail service updates to share that yous've expanded services, temporarily closed, or fully reopened (an specially useful feature during emergencies like COVID-19). Google Business Profiles accept strong local SEO, and then the information you share volition rank higher up third-party sites that might have out-of-engagement details.

Build trust through reviews

Reviews are a key element of social proof, and a meaningful fashion to build trust and credibility.

Google'southward combined star rating and infinite for detailed reviews allows customers to share as much or as little data about their experience with your business every bit they like. All of information technology helps futurity potential customers decide which businesses to visit and products to buy.

It can exist scary to think near reviews coming in on such a public platform, peculiarly since you can't pick and choose which Google My Business reviews to share. (Although you can respond to all reviews, equally we'll explicate later.)

Only don't panic: Google finds that a combination of positive and negative reviews is more trustworthy than page after page of glowing recommendations.

How to fix up a Google Concern Profile

Step one: Sign in to Google Business Profile Manager

If you lot're already logged into a Google business relationship, you're automatically logged into Google Business Profile Director. Otherwise, enter your usual Google account login details or create a new Google account.

Step ii: Add your business organization

Enter your concern name. If it does not appear in the drop-downwards bill of fare, click Add your business to Google. Then select the appropriate category for your concern and click Next.

Google Business Profile Manager business category

Pace 3: Enter your location

If yous have a physical location customers can visit, select Yep. Then add together your business address. You may besides be asked to position a marker for the location on a map. If your business concern does not have a location customers can visit simply offers in-person services or deliveries, yous can listing your service areas. Then click Next.

create profile and add business location

If you didn't enter a physical accost, Google will enquire you to specify which region you're based in. Choose from the drib-downward carte du jour and click Next.

select region where business is based

Stride iv: Fill up in your contact information

Enter your business organisation phone number and website address so customers can achieve you. If y'all prefer non to be reached by telephone, you don't accept to enter a phone number.

When your info is complete, click Next.

add contact info including phone number and email address

Pace 5: Verify your business

Enter your real concrete address, not a mail service office box. This information is simply used to verify your business and is not displayed on your Google Business organisation Profile or shared with the public.

enter mailing address to verify business

Enter your address and click Next. You'll be offered the applicable options for verifying your account. Concrete businesses will demand to get a postcard past postal service to verify their location. Service-area businesses can exist verified through an email address.

One time you receive your 5-digit lawmaking, enter it on the adjacent screen (or get to https://business organization.google.com/) and click Verify or Verify business.

enter five-digit verification code

You'll get a confirmation screen showing you're verified. On that screen, click Next.

Pace 6: Customize your contour

Enter your business organization hours, messaging preferences, business clarification, and photos. (Nosotros'll go into the details of how to optimize your profile content in the next section of this postal service.)

When y'all're prepare, click Keep. You lot'll discover yourself in the Business concern Profile Managing director dashboard.

Google My Business Profile Manager overview

From here, y'all can manage your business profile, view insights, manage reviews and messages, and create Google ads.

How to optimize your Google My Business profile

Google determines local search ranking based on three factors:

  • Relevance: How well your Google My Business listing matches a search
  • Distance: How far your location is from the search or searcher
  • Prominence: How well-known your business concern is (based on factors like links, number of reviews, review score, and SEO)

Here are some steps you tin take to maximize your score for all three factors.

Complete all elements of your contour

Customers are 2.7 times more probable to consider your business concern reputable if you accept a complete Google Business Profile. They're also seventy% more likely to actually visit your location.

Google specifically says that "businesses with consummate and accurate information are easier to match with the right searches." This improves your score for relevance. The cardinal here is to tell Google visitors "what you do, where you are, and when they can visit."

Bonus: Get the free template to easily arts and crafts a detailed profile of your ideal client and/or target audience.

Get the gratuitous template now!

If your concern hours change around holidays or seasons, brand sure to keep them up to date.

Verify your location(s)

Verified business locations are "more than likely to show in local search results beyond Google products, like Maps and Search." Including a verified location also helps ameliorate your score for the distance ranking factor.

If you skipped over verifying your location in the account creation steps higher up, asking your verification postcard now at https://business.google.com/.

Add real images and videos of your business organisation

Your Google Business Contour includes a logo and comprehend photo. Use images consistent with those on your social profiles to get in easier for people to recognize your make.

Only don't stop there. Add together images and videos to showcase your location, work environment, and team.

If you run a restaurant, post pictures of your meals, menus, and dining room. Make sure they look flavory, professional, and aren't low res. According to Google, businesses with photos receive more requests for directions and more clicks through to their websites.

How to add or edit photos to your contour on Google:

  1. From the dashboard, click on Photos in the left menu.
  2. Offset by adding your logo and embrace photo. Yous can upload an image, choose one from your Business Profile albums, or cull a photo in which your business is tagged.
  3. To add more photos, click At Work or Team in the peak menu of the photos page.
  4. To add videos, click the Video tab at the tiptop of the photos page.

photos overview including cover photo and video

Include keywords in your profile

Using the right keywords will improve relevance. Not sure where to start? Try Google Trends or Keyword Planner.

Google Analytics, Hootsuite Insights, and social monitoring tools can also help you uncover terms people use to search for your business. Incorporate them in a natural way into your business clarification. Don't stuff keywords or apply irrelevant ones – this tin actually hurt your search ranking.

Encourage and answer reviews and questions

People trust other people more than than they trust businesses. A good review tin can be the deciding gene that tips prospective customers in your favor. Reviews also meliorate your Google ranking.

The all-time fourth dimension to ask for a review is after providing a great experience. To make it easier, Google provides a straight link to ask customers to review your business.

To share your review asking link:

1. From the dashboard, scroll down to the button that says Share review form.

Google My Business Profile Manager share review form

2. Copy and paste the link into a bulletin to customers, or into your autoresponder and online receipts.

You cannot turn off reviews for your Google My Business page. And it wouldn't be in your involvement to do that anyhow, equally reviews show customers that your business is legitimate.

But, y'all can flag and report inappropriate reviews.

Also, you can (and should!) answer to reviews, both positive and negative. According to a survey past Google and Ipsos Connect, businesses that respond to reviews are considered ane.7 times more trustworthy than those that don't.

Respond professionally in your brand voice. If responding to a negative review, be honest and offer an amends when information technology'southward warranted.

To view and reply to reviews, click the Reviews tab in the left menu of your Concern Contour Managing director.

Go on your concern information up to date

Make sure to edit your business organisation contour if you change your hours of operation, contact information, etc. Nothing annoys customers more than showing up within operating hours only to find you closed. If you have special hours for holidays or even as a ane-off, brand certain they are reflected in your Google Business Contour.

You can also create Google My Concern posts to share updates, product news, offers, and events.

To edit your business data:

Yous tin can get back to the dashboard to make edits at whatever fourth dimension at business.google.com. You can also edit your business concern data directly from Google search or Maps. Merely search your business name on one of these tools to access the editing panel.

edit business information directly from Google Search

To create and share Google My Business concern posts:

  1. From the dashboard, click Posts in the left carte du jour.
  2. Click Create post.
  3. Choose which type of postal service you want to create: a COVID-nineteen update, an offer, data about What's New, an upshot, or a product. Each type of post has different information to complete.

Google My Business create post

Add special features and attributes

Special features are available for Google business accounts, depending on the category you lot've chosen.

Here'due south a rundown of category-specific features bachelor:

  • Hotels can brandish class ratings, sustainability practices, highlights, check-in and out times, and amenities.
  • Restaurants and bars can upload menus, dish photos, and pop dishes.
  • Service-oriented businesses can display a listing of services.
  • Healthcare providers in the U.S. can add health insurance information.
  • Businesses likewise have access to dissimilar types of buttons based on their category, such as appointment bookings, reservations, and orders.

Bobby's BBQ and Catering business overview

If you think your business concern is eligible for 1 of these features, merely yous don't see them, you may have chosen the wrong category. You can choose upwardly to 10 categories for your business organization.

You can also add together factual attributes to your profile to share more info your customers may care about. If you run a shop or eating house, you may want to share that it'southward wheelchair attainable or offers free Wi-Fi or outdoor seating. Yous can even share that your company is women-owned and LGBTQ+ friendly.

How to add or edit attributes:

  1. From the dashboard, click Info.
  2. Nether From the business organization, click Add attributes. Or, if you lot've already added attributes and desire to add more, click the pencil next to From the business concern.
  3. Scroll through all the available options for your concern, check the applicable attributes, and click Utilize.

add attributes from the business and crowd

Add your products

If you sell products, make sure to add together an upwardly-to-appointment inventory to your Concern Profile. In addition to actualization on your contour itself, your products can appear in Google Shopping.

add products from business overview such as paintbrush wool roll and oil paint set

To add together products to your Business Profile manually:

  • From the dashboard, click Products in the left menu, then click Become Started to add your first product.

If you accept a retail business organization in the U.Due south., Canada, the UK, Ireland, or Australia, and y'all apply a barcode scanner to sell products with manufacturer barcodes, y'all can use Pointy to automatically upload your products to your Business Contour.

Accept reward of Google'southward free marketing tools

Google offers businesses access to a gratuitous marketing kit with stickers, social posts, and printable posters. Yous can even create a custom video. (The link will only work after you set up your Business Contour.)

How to manage your Google My Business organization contour with Hootsuite

Once you create and verify your Google Business Profile, you tin integrate your Google My Business account with Hootsuite.

Rather than managing your Google Concern Profile separately, this allows y'all to manage your Google My Business page, create posts, and respond to reviews and questions within your Hootsuite dashboard.

This integration allows you to manage Google similar a social platform, within your social squad, so your messaging is ever consistent, on-brand, and upward-to-date.

Here'due south how to manage your Google Business Profile with Hootsuite.

  1. Install the Google My Business App.
  2. Select whether you want to add your Google Business concern Profile streams to an existing tab, or create a new tab, then click Cease.

install Google My Business app

  1. In your Hootsuite dashboard, click on the appropriate Board under My Streams, and click Login to Google My Business for each stream.

Google my Business streams

Once you're logged in, yous tin can create a post and respond to Google My Business reviews and questions straight from your Hootsuite streams.

Use Hootsuite to communicate with your customers via Google Business Profile and all your other social channels. Create, schedule, and publish posts to every network, get demographic information, functioning reports, and more. Endeavour it free today.

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