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Best Practices for your Google My Business pages by Rory Scherer With the number of updates to Google’s local search algorithm nearing the levels of Ace Ventura’s pets in his apartment, it is difficult for local businesses to keep up » yet taking control of your Google My Business page is one of the most critical local search ranking factors 1 . Google provides guidelines 2 for completing your Google My Business page including: What if you are a business with MULTIPLE LOCATIONS including possible NESTED LOCATIONS? *check Google’s Quality Guidelines 2 for more details as it relates to your scenario. Confused? Let DAC Group help you as this is our area of expertise. We will also create high quality citations ensuring that when people are searching for your business on a variety of online sources (search engines, directories, etc.) regardless of the device they are using (desktop or mobile) that your business location information is found AND accurate so that you don’t miss out on any potential leads. We also provide top-notch reporting that is second to no one. Let’s break this down. You won’t be able to create a Google My Business page if your business isn’t open to the public yet, places that are for rent or for sale, or an ongoing service, class or meeting at a location that you don’t own. If your business has a physical location and makes contact with customers, then you are eligible. Different Names Same Addresses Same Phone Numbers If the businesses operate separately, you may create a separate page for each brand at the location. For example, a lawyer and an accountant sharing the same office. Additionally ATMs, kiosks, and mail dropboxes can also create their Google My Business page. Also, if your business services customers at their homes, you are eligible. For SALE The locations have Can Multiple Listings Be Created? Additional Info Same Names Different Addresses Same Phone Numbers Examples in this situation include ATMs with 1-800 phone numbers, pizza delivery chains etc. Same Name Same Addresses Different Phone Numbers Businesses with different departments would fall under this scenario. It is critical to ensure that the different Google My Business pages have different categories selected. An example would be a hospital with different departments. Same Name Different Addresses Different Phone Numbers Examples in this situation are restaurant chains, retail stores etc. Different Names Same Addresses Different Phone Numbers Examples in this situation would be two or more brands sharing one location. Think of a book store that contains a Starbucks within it. Different Name Different Address Same Phone Number It is extremely unlikely that this would occur. How can two different businesses with different addresses share the same phone number? Now that you’re eligible, here’s some hints to complete each section to keep you in Google’s good graces (or as I like to refer to it as ‘The Three Gs’) : Phone Number Enter your phone number. If you use call-tracking numbers, I hope you are not commitment shy as inconsistent phone numbers across the local search ecosystem are one of the top negative ranking factors. Address Enter your complete address, but don’t use PO Boxes, that’s a big no-no. If your business travels to your customers and does not want customers to visit you, for example a plumber, you can select the service areas based on zip codes. Google will recognize this and hide the address. For more info, please visit Google’s quality guidelines 3 . Business name It’s easy, enter what it says on your sign in the real-world so that your digital presence mirrors your physical presence. Description Google only provides 200 characters for this so make sure you get to the point. Answer the basic question What does my business do? Also, keyword stuffing will not help you so make sure you write proper sentences. Categories Please please please…make sure you select the proper category that best represents your business. Even though you can select up to ten categories in Google, it is best to select as few as possible and be as specific as you can. There are plenty of categories to choose from so be sure you scroll through the full list. For example, if you are a grocery store and you sell many products, don’t select one category for each product that you sell. Select one category that indicates you are a grocery store. Remember that Google will scan through your website (if you used SEO best practices to build it) to learn more about what you sell and incorporate that into its algorithm…so be sure that your website contains the information about what you are selling. Website Enter your website. If you are a business with multiple locations, Google loves local landing pages urls so that you are directing the user to the local information that they are seeking as opposed to directing them to the corporate or brand website. W h a t d o e s y o u r b u s i n e s s d o ? You’re not done yet. Don’t forget to optimize your Google My Business page with enhanced content such as photos, hours of operation, payment types etc. Are you eligible? Visit us at www.dacgroup.com Resources: 1 Local search ranking factors - http://moz.com/local-search-ranking-factors 2 Google’s Quality Guidelines - https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en 3 https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038163 Whether or not your business is eligible. Special conditions such as if you are a chain, brand, contain a department within your business, or if you are an individual practitioner. How to complete each field such as business name, address, phone number, categories etc. B oo k C lu b M e e tin g DEPARTMENT P.O. BOX Digital World Real World 1. Claim your Google My Business page Local Search Ranking Factors 2. Create quality citations 3. Be active socially Etc. + + BOOK STORE CAFE
