A Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up Google My Business
In today’s digital age, where the majority of consumers turn to the internet to discover local businesses, establishing a strong online presence is essential. Google My Business (GMB) is a powerful tool that allows businesses to stand out in local search results and connect with potential customers. In this comprehensive guide, brought to you by TruDigital Marketing Agency, we’ll walk you through what GMB is, why you should create a GMB profile, the requirements for setting up an account, and the step-by-step process to do it effectively.
What is Google My Business?
Google My Business is a free, user-friendly platform provided by Google that allows business owners to manage their online presence across various Google services. It includes Google Search and Google Maps, making it an invaluable resource for local businesses.
A GMB listing typically displays essential business information, such as the business name, location, operating hours, phone number, website link, and customer reviews. It serves as a comprehensive snapshot of your business for potential customers.
Why You Should Create a Google My Business Profile
There are numerous compelling reasons to create and optimize your GMB profile:
- Enhanced Visibility: A well-optimized GMB profile increases your chances of appearing in local search results, putting your business in front of potential customers when they’re actively looking for products or services like yours.
- Trust and Credibility: A verified GMB listing with accurate information and positive reviews instills trust in potential customers, increasing the likelihood of them choosing your business over competitors.
- Improved Customer Engagement: GMB offers features like posts, reviews, and messaging, allowing you to engage directly with your audience, share updates, and address inquiries promptly.
- Analytics and Insights: GMB provides valuable insights into how customers discover and interact with your business online, enabling data-driven decisions and strategy adjustments.
Requirements for Creating a Google My Business Account
Before diving into the setup process, you’ll want to ensure that your business meets Google’s eligibility criteria:
- Physical Location: If you serve customers at your business location, you’ll need to provide an address that customers can visit during your stated business hours.
- Compliance with Google’s Guidelines: Make sure your business adheres to Google’s guidelines, which include accurate information, representing your business faithfully, and following community standards.
Steps to Create a Google My Business Account
Now, let’s dive into the step-by-step process of setting up your Google My Business account:
Step 1: Sign into Your Google Account If you don’t have one, create a Google account. Ensure you use the account you want to associate with your business.
Step 2: Access Google My Business Visit the Google My Business website and click on the “Manage now” button.
Step 3: Enter Your Business Name Input your business’s name exactly as it appears in the real world. Use your official, legal business name. If you have a common name, you can add specific location or service information to differentiate it.
Step 4: Choose Your Business Category Select the category that best describes your business. This helps Google understand your business and display it to relevant audiences.
Step 5: Add Your Business Location If you have a physical location, enter your business address. Ensure that this information matches what’s on your website and other online listings. If your business operates exclusively online or you deliver goods and services to customers, select the appropriate option.
Step 6: Add Contact Information Include your phone number and website URL. Ensure that this information is accurate and up-to-date.
Step 7: Verify Your Business Google needs to confirm that you’re the legitimate owner of the business. You can choose to verify your business via a postcard sent to your business address, phone, or email, depending on eligibility.
Step 8: Optimize Your Listing Once verified, it’s time to optimize your GMB listing. Add high-quality photos, business hours, a detailed description, and posts to keep customers informed about your latest updates, promotions, and events.
Step 9: Manage Customer Reviews Encourage customers to leave reviews on your GMB listing. Respond to reviews to engage with your audience and enhance your online reputation.
Step 10: Monitor Your Insights Keep an eye on GMB insights to understand how customers interact with your listing. This data provides valuable insights for making data-driven decisions to improve your online presence.
Setting up and optimizing your Google My Business profile is a crucial step in improving your online visibility and reaching potential customers. As the digital landscape evolves, it’s essential to regularly update and manage your GMB listing to keep it accurate and engaging. With a well-optimized GMB profile, you’ll be well-equipped to connect with your target audience, enhance your online reputation, and ultimately grow your business.
TruDigital Marketing Agency is here to support you throughout this process and offer expert guidance to maximize the benefits of your Google My Business listing. Mastering your online presence is within reach, and GMB is an invaluable tool to help you achieve it.
Struggling with Email Overload?
Struggling with Email Overload?
Email has allowed us to send and receive messages more easily than ever before. While this is a good thing, it can lead to problems. You may receive dozens or even hundreds of emails in a day. At this point, it feels like you’re wasting your entire day dealing with those incoming messages. Even worse, it makes it difficult to find important messages in your inbox. You can quickly become overloaded with emails.
So how can we deal with this overload? The first step is to reduce the number of emails you receive overall and there are a few ways to do this.
Restrict who you give you email address to.
It’s important to think carefully about who you give your email to. For example, if you enter a lot of contests, this often automatically subscribes you to several email campaigns. If you type your email into every popup box asking for it, these add up. Reduce who you give your email to.
Unsubscribe
Go through your inbox and unsubscribe to newsletters that you never read. If you haven’t opened one of their emails in months, chances that you’ll start to later are low. Turn off notifications from social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest. If you like emails from these networks, then at least adjust the settings so they email you highlights once a week or month rather than allowing them to spam your inbox several times per day.
Do you need that notification?
If you receive emails that contain information you can find elsewhere, switch those notifications off. For instance, you might run an e-commerce site that sends an email for every sale. If your website already has a record of this, you don’t need it in two places. Make sure not to use your email as a to-do list. When you need to remember to do something, put that on a list elsewhere to clear up your inbox. If this is a hard habit to break, at least make a folder for things you need to do and move emails there and out of your general inbox.
Change your email habits
Change your own email sending habits. If a topic is complex and will require a lot of back and forth conversation, consider discussing it in person or over the phone. Sending fewer emails will reduce how many you receive in return. Remember that you don’t need to respond to every email you receive. A response indicates a willingness to continue to conversation.
Resist the urge to send messages with a single word like “Thanks!” or “Ok” and you’ll notice others will stop sending you similar, unnecessary messages. When sending group emails, you can also remind others not to use “reply all” unless it’s information relevant to the entire group.
Start clearing out
Now you can start emptying out your inbox and getting rid of any old emails you don’t need to keep. Delete old calendar invites, advertisements, or any emails where the problem has already been resolved. Respond to any messages that can be answered within only a few minutes. File everything that is left until you have a completely empty inbox. Archive messages where you don’t need to take an action, but you think might be useful. You can search and find these later if necessary. Put other emails into folders based off of the type of email and the priority level.
From now on, all of this can be automated. You can have receipts automatically go into a receipt folder, calendar invites go into another, etc. A cluttered inbox leads to your mind feeling just as cluttered. Free up your inbox to free up your mind and create more time in your day-to-day life. Let email overload become something of the past.
If you need help with your emails, give us a call on (561) 693.1978.
