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Your Essential Guide to Google My Business (GMB)

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your essential guide to google my business gmb

When you’re looking for a product, service or answer to a question, your first thought is usually, “Let me Google this.” That’s why your presence on Google is critical and where having a consistent Google My Business presence is essential.

*We’re going to refer to Google My Business as GMB in this article.*

What is Google My Business?

Google My Business is a free tool for businesses and organizations to manage their presence on Google’s properties, including Search, Maps, Ads and more. GMB can help your customers find you, increase your reach, drive traffic, and make sure you’re putting your best foot forward. 

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With GMB you can:

  • Manage your information: Manage the information that Google users find when they search for your business, or the products and services that you offer. Businesses that verify their information with Google My Business are twice as likely to be considered reputable by consumers. 
  • Interact with customers: Read and respond to reviews from your customers, and post photos that show off what you do. Businesses that add photos to their Business Profiles receive 42% more requests for directions on Google Maps, and 35% more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t.
  • Understand and expand your presence: Find insights on how customers searched for your business, and where those customers are coming from. You can also find information like how many people called your business directly from the phone number displayed on local search results in Search and Maps. 

Maintaining a Consistent GMB Presence

It can feel like you have to schedule content across every single platform. GMB can feel a bit like it’s yet another place that you need to post to.

But here’s where GMB is most valuable: any business where people often search for you. In particular, we’ve seen this in retail, hospitality and tourism businesses.

For businesses who use GMB (or agencies who want to offer it to their clients), Sked Social makes it really easy to schedule GMB posts, along with scheduling Instagram posts and stories, and other social channels. If you’re ready to start scheduling, Sked offers a 7 day free trial

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Useful Features

Here’s a look at the GMB dashboard. There are tons of different features you have control over. QydXwoIUp6AuUW7Xxh INm gJ5KS OYJqSJ47ct0TcZZz n0Jg6nLfUd0edQBetQ022S2iGLEPiQndvSjezHW0SRNQsWBamhMhtvTeO bydxT T2gCwoJVYVvGziySEa2Ghdqtcf

Posts

Posts are where you can share offers, updates, event information and other details with your customers. You can schedule GMB posts from inside the Sked Social dashboard. 

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There are a few different kinds of posts you can add to your Google listing including:

  • What’s New: general information about your business, COVID-19 updates
  • Events: event posts have dates and times so you can promote upcoming events
  • Offers: having a sale or promotion? This is where you’d share the information
  • Products: adding product posts to your GMB will show customers your offerings
  • Hours Update: make edits to your hours so your customers know when you’re open

Posts will remain on your Google listing for 7 days unless you enter a specified date.

Info

Info is where you will add all of the details of your business for your Google My Business. This will contain your name, category of business, where you’re located, hours of operation and more.

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You can also add contact information here like address, phone number and email. This makes it easy for customers to get in touch with your business because they don’t have to go searching through your website to find it. 

Insights

Under Insights, you’ll get analytics like:

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  • How customers search for your business
  • Queries used to find your business: the most popular queries for your business by unique users
  • Where customers view your search on Google
  • Customer actions: are people clicking your website or calling you? What buttons are they clicking on in your listing
  • Phone calls: how many people are calling you directly from your Google listing
  • Photo views: the number of times your photos have been viewed

You can view your analytics over the past week, past month or past quarter.

Reviews

Reviews is where you can see and respond to customers who have given reviews of your business on Google.

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It’s important to read and respond to reviews (especially negative ones) to determine areas of improvement and confirm what’s working for your business.

Engaging with your customer reviews also shows people that you care about the product or service that people are buying from you. It shows potential customers that you are willing to do what it takes to ensure a positive experience with your business.

Photos and Videos

Here you can add photos and videos to your listing on Google.

Photos can be beneficial for many reasons. They can help show people your location, your staff, what your products look like and more. Be sure to use high-quality images! 

You can also include videos in your GMB listing which is great for promotions, introducing your business or how-to videos that customers might find helpful.

Products and Services

Showcase your best selling products and let people know what they’re going to get from you.

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Add services you offer to your listing so people can easily tell what to expect from your business.

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Post Best Practices

In order to use GMB posts, you need to have created your GMB location and verified your account. Also note that Google limits who can use Google My Business posts to only some businesses, so you should also check if you can create Google My Business posts in the Google Business Dashboard.

According to Google, “A post to your customers on Google should be brief, useful and inspire action, and photos should be well-lit and in-focus.”

Here is what you should do

  • Be precise: What are the three things that your customer needs to know? What do you want them to remember, for how much and when?
  • Be personal: Show what your business values
  • Highlight: What makes your business, product or offer unique
  • Be timely: Use a key selling point or popular item as the hook for your post
  • Make sure that you include any redemption instructions, unique codes or restrictions on offers or sales
  • Use common abbreviations: For days, months and hours to save space

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Snapchat Explores New Messaging Retention Feature: A Game-Changer or Risky Move?

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Snapchat Explores New Messaging Retention Feature: A Game-Changer or Risky Move?

In a recent announcement, Snapchat revealed a groundbreaking update that challenges its traditional design ethos. The platform is experimenting with an option that allows users to defy the 24-hour auto-delete rule, a feature synonymous with Snapchat’s ephemeral messaging model.

The proposed change aims to introduce a “Never delete” option in messaging retention settings, aligning Snapchat more closely with conventional messaging apps. While this move may blur Snapchat’s distinctive selling point, Snap appears convinced of its necessity.

According to Snap, the decision stems from user feedback and a commitment to innovation based on user needs. The company aims to provide greater flexibility and control over conversations, catering to the preferences of its community.

Currently undergoing trials in select markets, the new feature empowers users to adjust retention settings on a conversation-by-conversation basis. Flexibility remains paramount, with participants able to modify settings within chats and receive in-chat notifications to ensure transparency.

Snapchat underscores that the default auto-delete feature will persist, reinforcing its design philosophy centered on ephemerality. However, with the app gaining traction as a primary messaging platform, the option offers users a means to preserve longer chat histories.

The update marks a pivotal moment for Snapchat, renowned for its disappearing message premise, especially popular among younger demographics. Retaining this focus has been pivotal to Snapchat’s identity, but the shift suggests a broader strategy aimed at diversifying its user base.

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This strategy may appeal particularly to older demographics, potentially extending Snapchat’s relevance as users age. By emulating features of conventional messaging platforms, Snapchat seeks to enhance its appeal and broaden its reach.

Yet, the introduction of message retention poses questions about Snapchat’s uniqueness. While addressing user demands, the risk of diluting Snapchat’s distinctiveness looms large.

As Snapchat ventures into uncharted territory, the outcome of this experiment remains uncertain. Will message retention propel Snapchat to new heights, or will it compromise the platform’s uniqueness?

Only time will tell.

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Catering to specific audience boosts your business, says accountant turned coach

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Catering to specific audience boosts your business, says accountant turned coach

While it is tempting to try to appeal to a broad audience, the founder of alcohol-free coaching service Just the Tonic, Sandra Parker, believes the best thing you can do for your business is focus on your niche. Here’s how she did just that.

When running a business, reaching out to as many clients as possible can be tempting. But it also risks making your marketing “too generic,” warns Sandra Parker, the founder of Just The Tonic Coaching.

“From the very start of my business, I knew exactly who I could help and who I couldn’t,” Parker told My Biggest Lessons.

Parker struggled with alcohol dependence as a young professional. Today, her business targets high-achieving individuals who face challenges similar to those she had early in her career.

“I understand their frustrations, I understand their fears, and I understand their coping mechanisms and the stories they’re telling themselves,” Parker said. “Because of that, I’m able to market very effectively, to speak in a language that they understand, and am able to reach them.” 

“I believe that it’s really important that you know exactly who your customer or your client is, and you target them, and you resist the temptation to make your marketing too generic to try and reach everyone,” she explained.

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“If you speak specifically to your target clients, you will reach them, and I believe that’s the way that you’re going to be more successful.

Watch the video for more of Sandra Parker’s biggest lessons.

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Instagram Tests Live-Stream Games to Enhance Engagement

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Instagram Tests Live-Stream Games to Enhance Engagement

Instagram’s testing out some new options to help spice up your live-streams in the app, with some live broadcasters now able to select a game that they can play with viewers in-stream.

As you can see in these example screens, posted by Ahmed Ghanem, some creators now have the option to play either “This or That”, a question and answer prompt that you can share with your viewers, or “Trivia”, to generate more engagement within your IG live-streams.

That could be a simple way to spark more conversation and interaction, which could then lead into further engagement opportunities from your live audience.

Meta’s been exploring more ways to make live-streaming a bigger consideration for IG creators, with a view to live-streams potentially catching on with more users.

That includes the gradual expansion of its “Stars” live-stream donation program, giving more creators in more regions a means to accept donations from live-stream viewers, while back in December, Instagram also added some new options to make it easier to go live using third-party tools via desktop PCs.

Live streaming has been a major shift in China, where shopping live-streams, in particular, have led to massive opportunities for streaming platforms. They haven’t caught on in the same way in Western regions, but as TikTok and YouTube look to push live-stream adoption, there is still a chance that they will become a much bigger element in future.

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Which is why IG is also trying to stay in touch, and add more ways for its creators to engage via streams. Live-stream games is another element within this, which could make this a better community-building, and potentially sales-driving option.

We’ve asked Instagram for more information on this test, and we’ll update this post if/when we hear back.

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