Today,

You are going to discover the tips and tricks to optimize your Google My Business listing and find out that this listing can really be a Gogo Gadget tool to the power of 1000 to reach new Customers

Once you have understood how to create your Google My Business listing, it is important to put everything in place to optimize it to 300% and increase your visibility towards your niche but also towards the nice little bots that Google sends to spy on us 🕵

Maybe you think 👇 

💬 "It's okay I already have my Google My Business listing, I don't think Google has any secrets for me anymore" 💬

So, sorry to tell you 🙈, but I honestly think you're sticking your neck out 👁️.

As you will see, Google is a kind of gigantic monster that is very difficult to tame because there are a multitude of tricks to know to stand out from its competitors and even, its algorithm being in perpetual evolution, it is never a finished work and acquired, it is necessary to constantly document, implement and start again to be up to date

So grab a little Chai Latte, get comfy, and let's go kiki, I'll explain everything 🤓

Are you ready? Let's go!

Here is what we will see together

1. How does Google My Business work?
2. Why optimize your Google My Business Page?
3. The 21 Tips to optimize your Google My Business ?
4. The 4 Strategies to optimize your Google My Business listing
5. The 4 questions to ask yourself to optimize the Google My Business Description
6. My 5 Tips to optimize your products and services on Google My Business

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1. How does Google My Business work?

1. Google My Business is a 100% free marketing tool that allows you to publish your business profile on Google Search and Google Maps
2. It's a little bit like a Facebook or Instagram page
3. With Google My Business, entrepreneurs like you and me can connect with their Customers, update their business listing and see how people interact with the business
4. So when someone searches for your brand or one of your keywords in Google, if you have a Google My Business listing, your business will also appear on the side of the search results and in Google Maps
5. By adding your business information to Google My Business, you get a head start on the competition.
6. By filling in the information on your Google My Business page, you also help Google to know exactly what your business is about and what kind of customers you are looking for, in order to get customers that are adapted to your offers.
7. In this blog post, we're going to go deeper into the optimization of the Google My Business listing if you want to know how to create it, I invite you to read the blog post: Complete guide to create and manage your Google My Business listing (Free PDF)

2. Why optimize your Google My Business Page?

1. To be featured in Google Maps
2. To be better positioned in the results and land in the Local 3 Pack
3. In order to benefit from certain privileges such as direct calls to action
4. So that the Internet user can contact you without having to go through your Web site

3. The 21 Tips to optimize your Google My Business ?

Before you begin any task, I suggest you dive into your Google My Business listing and start optimizing it for all of the 21 different tips I outline below. 

This should allow you to attract Customers much faster than you think 😉

1. 💡 Tip #1: The company name (written everywhere the same way Website AND Google My Business listing)
2. 💡 Tip #2: The address (written everywhere the same way)
3. 💡 Tip #3: The phone number (written everywhere the same way)
4. 💡 Tip #4: A long description of your business with well-selected keywords
5. 💡 Tip #5: The link to your Website
6. 💡 Tip #6: A booking or appointment link if you book appointments or have an online contact form
7. 💡 Tip #7: All the types of services your business offers
8. 💡 Tip #8: The business categories your company fits into.
9. 💡 Tip #9: The products your business sells.
10. 💡 Tip #10: Complete the services provided by your company by also adding a description and prices
11. 💡 Tip #11: The short name of your business (the sign for example, if different from your company name).
12. 💡 Tip #12: Your business hours.
13. 💡 Tip #13: Any amenities your business has, such as wheelchair accessible entrance and restrooms, acceptance of new Clients and other amenities
14. 💡 Tip #14: Create a post that you want to share with Google and your potential Customers. (As discussed in the blog post: Complete Guide to Creating and Managing Your Google My Business Listing (Free PDF)Google is to be considered as a social network in its own right)
15. 💡 Tip #15: Offers such as discounts on the initial service
16. 💡 Tip #16: Your company's upcoming events, such as grand openings, group meetings, open houses, etc.
17. 💡 Tip #17: Your company logo.
18. 💡 Tip #18: Any photos you have of your company's exterior or interior, including those of your team members
19. 💡 Tip #19: Any videos you have of your business, whether it's introducing yourself or your team or showing some aspect of what you do
20. 💡 Tip #20: Enable Chat if you know how to respond quickly to Customer requests using the Google My Business app.
21. 💡 Tip #21: Configure and optimize the free Google My Business generated Website, only if you don't already have your own Website

4. The 4 Strategies to optimize your Google My Business listing

Strategy #1 ☝️: Get and respond to reviews on your Google My Business page

1. Why apply this Google Review Strategy?

1. Reviews are extremely important, because often customers will see your rating and the number of stars first
2. It has been shown that most people look at reviews before choosing a service provider
3. The reviews are widely promoted and are directly noted under your name, so even before the user has been able to see your services, your description, your posts, he will have seen your rating and your reviews, that's why they are super important
4. One thing is for sure, there are two ways to get the most out of reviews:
   - Have a rating as close to 5 as possible
   - Have enough reviews to be considered credible

2. How to get reviews on Google?

1. Simply by asking
2. Basically, if you don't ask, you won't get
3. You must insist that your customers leave you a review on your Google My Business page
4. And make the process easier for them by sending a direct link to leave a review because many people do not know how to leave a review

✍️ Tips: A happy customer will say it once, an unhappy customer will say it 10 times, so insist that your satisfied customers leave you a review and increase your Google rating

🏅GOLD tips - You can include this notification request in an automatic mode in a sales tunnel, so that an email is automatically sent to your Customers after the conclusion of the sale or include this link in your email signature

3. How to respond to notices?

1. Your responses to reviews can be a real marketing tool that can work in your favor
2. Firstly, if your client notices that you respond to reviews, he will more easily leave his own because he will think that the reviews you receive are not insignificant for you and make you happy
3. Secondly, to show your availability and your presence, we realize that there is a human behind this Google My Business page who is active and available, which Google also appreciates
4. Thirdly, for your credibility through positive and professional answers even if the user gave you a bad review
5. Always respond to reviews with the goal of helping the customer have a better experience with your company
6. If possible, try to mention the product or service that the Customer has purchased if you know which product or service it is and as long as this does not break an oath of confidentiality

✍️ Tips: Don't hesitate to ask partner companies and friends to evaluate your company, making sure to ask specifically that they mention your specific services

Strategy #2 ✌️: Add the Google My Business Map to your Website

1. Why apply this Google My Business Map Integration Strategy?

1. This is important, because it adds an extra layer of ease to the fact that your Client can find you
2. But not only that, it also tells Google the geographical area you are targeting and it allows it to better highlight you in Google Maps

2. How to add a Google My Business card on a Website?

1. In google, go to Maps
2. Search for your company and click on it.
3. You will see your Google My Business listing
4. Click on the little "share" icon
5. Then click on "Integrate a map".
6. Once you click on this option, you will have the choice between a small map and a larger map.
7. For most Websites, I would generally opt for the small card so that it is not too oversized for your content
8. Once you have chosen the size you want, click on copy HTML code on the right side to integrate this map on your website
9. I advise you to integrate it on your "contact us" page or in your Footer

Strategy #3 🤟: Adding geographic tags to photos on your Website.

1. Why apply this Image Tagging Strategy?

1. In order to add additional geographic relevance to the Website and attract the attention of more local Customers
2. When a user does a search and clicks on the "image" tab, it will help with local search as well as displaying keywords related to where your business is located

2. How to make geographic tags for photos?

1. Go to geoimgr.com
2. Click on "start now".
3. Then upload the photo you wish to "geotag" to the location indicated
4. Set the location using the map or manually enter the latitude and longitude
5. Add keywords that match the image under the "Keywords and Tags" tab
6. Also adds a brief description under the "Description / Alternative Text" tab
7. Click on the Write EXIF Tags button
8. Download the image which is now geotagged
9. Replace all the images on your website with geotagged images as well as those you used for your Google my Business listing

✍️ Tips - This strategy only concerns a geographical tag and does not replace the Alt Tag of the image in order to push its description to the maximum. As a reminder, Google's robots can "read" text but not images, hence the interest in explaining as best as possible what they represent

Strategy #4 🖖 Add a "Local Business Schema" to your Website

1. Why apply this Local Business Strategy?

1. Local Business Schema is a type of data markup code that you can add to your website to make it easier for search engines to understand what your business does and where you are located
2. It also allows you to optimize your ranking in local search engines
3. To put it simply, it's about adding an extra code to your website to tell Google and other search engines who you are and what you do
4. This way, if someone does a Google search for a service or product you offer, you will be more likely to appear for that service or product than if you had not added this Local Business Scheme

2. How to generate a code to make the Local Business Scheme?

1. Very important! Check that all the information on your Google My Business page is correct and that you have checked the Google NAP (Name - Address - Phone)
   - Check that these elements are "identical" to your Website and your Google My Business page
   - Abbreviations, parenthesis, prefix,... EVERYTHING must be the same
2. Go to: https://hallanalysis.com/json-ld-generator/ (there are several but this is the one I use personally)
3. Fill out the questionnaire carefully and make sure your answers match your Google My Business listing
4. Once completed and verified, you will notice that a markup code has been generated based on the information you filled in, click on the "copy to clipboard" button
5. Once the code is copied, it is better to test it before adding it to your Website, there are specific tools to test these markup codes like: https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/structured-data
   - Click on "Access the Schema Markup Validation Tool"
   - Go to the "Code Extract" tab
   - Paste the code
   - The tool will show you if everything is displayed correctly and if there are any errors to correct.
   In the end there must be 0 errors and 0 warnings
6. Now, all you have to do is to add this code on your Website in the Headers and Footers part of the "Custom Code" of Webflow, be careful not to break any code that would already be present.

5. The 4 questions to ask yourself to optimize the Google My Business Description

• 👉 Question #1: Does my Google My Business description explicitly describe my business?
• 👉 Question #2: Will someone who doesn't know my business understand what I do?
• 👉 Question #3: Did I add keywords (without going overboard) in my description?
• 👉 Question #4: Is my description authentic?

6. My 5 Tips to optimize your products and services on Google My Business

• ✨ Tip #1: Make sure everything you write on your Google my Business Form is clear and precise for better understanding by the visitor and of course Google's bots
• ✨ Tip #2: Don't forget to take care of your description so that it is as complete as possible with precisely selected keywords
• ✨ Tip #3: An image is worth a thousand words, select them carefully and make sure they are of good quality so that they are representative of your product or service (pixel, geographic tags, alt tag, ...)
• ✨ Tip #4: For food businesses => Use the great tool that Google puts at your disposal which is to be able to put your menu (with name + description + image) in front and even to be able to make a live reservation
• ✨ Tip #5: Share your Google My Business listing in your community but also in your email signature

To conclude,

You now know that your Google My Business page is full of little tricks to put in place in order to increase your visibility towards your future customers.

But not only ...

There are several things you can do right now to make it easier for Google's bots to understand what you have to offer and in which geographical areas you offer it

If you are clear and precise in your Google My Business listing and Google understands exactly what your business is all about, it will reward you with a spotlight in the Maps and a better ranking in terms of positioning.

And my last Tip for today 👉 Don't be afraid to ask your Customers to leave a review on your Google My Business listing by sending them a direct link. You should know that these reviews left on your Google My Business page have a considerable impact on the choice of your future customers as well as on your positioning in Google

You now have all the keys to optimize your Google My Business page to the max!

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