With more people conducting their searches online, it’s crucial to have a strong online presence that showcases your uniqueness. You also need a constant stream of new customers for your business to remain successful.
When people can easily find your business, they are likely to become your customers.
But how can you make it easy for people to find you? Google My Business (GMB).
It’s among the first results that people see when they look for your business online, making it a perfect tool for building your online reputation.
But how can you use GMB to build your online reputation?
Let’s take a look at some strategies you can use to leverage GMB to grow your business.
1. Claim Your Listing
Have you claimed your listing on Google yet?
If you haven’t, create a Google My Business Profile right now.
If you have, then you need to continually refresh your GMB listing to ensure it’s fully optimized.
But why claim your listing?
Doing so enables you to increase your visibility, gather reviews, and win over your target audience’s trust. It’s also a great way to gain some credibility.
2. Verify Your Business Information
Regularly check your listing for inaccuracies or errors.
Why?
According to Google, “near me” and “where to buy” mobile searches have grown by over 200%.
And what does it mean when users are conducting these types of searches?
They are ready to buy or want to visit your shop to consider their options further. But if your GMB listing gives false or incomplete information, you can lose out on a qualified lead.
What’s Worse?
They can leave a bad review online or immediately conduct another “near me” search and visit your competitor.
To avoid such reputational disasters, always double-check your information. Ensure your hours of business, days you’re open, your phone number, and website are correct.
Your website and business name should also have the correct spellings. These include your social media pages, website, and any other listings.
What’s More?
Details you enter for your business category, and the description should be consistent across other offline and online channels. Discrepancies with any such details can make your brand appear unprofessional, or even worse, deceitful.
3. Add Quality Photos
Post high-quality photos to your Google My Business page and use them to showcase what your business is all about. Build up your profile just like you would on any social media account and include your cover photo and logo.
Don’t stop there, though.
Publish images that showcase your products, services, location, and other business features. You can get a professional photographer to take these photos or use an editing tool to give your photos a polished look. Whatever you choose, make sure that all images that you upload represent your brand image and values.
Most importantly, remember that users can also upload images to your business profile, and not monitoring them can ruin your reputation. Regularly check images uploaded and flag any offensive or inappropriate images for removal.
4. Upload Videos
Uploading videos can help showcase your uniqueness and what makes you different from your competitors. It’s also a great way to showcase the quality of your products or services and point out specific details that make you the best in the industry.
The best part is that you can also leverage videos to move potential buyers along in the funnel and move them closer to making a purchase decision. They can also help you educate your customers and build trust with them.
When creating videos for GMB, you don’t need professional equipment. You can record videos on your phone or use a tool to combine images and videos into a short 30-second film.
You can also share videos that showcase your business in a positive light and help you build trust with your audience. These include product tutorials, testimonials, employee or customer interviews, office party videos, and other such content.
5. Regularly Update Your Profile Content
Does your business regularly have recurring events, new events, hot topics, or frequent updates? Then you need to update this information on your Google My Business page regularly.
Google rewards freshness.
It has an algorithm designed to give users the most up-to-date results.
So if you have an event coming up, you need to create content about it and update it on your GMB page. This way, people wishing to attend can find out more information from you, the reliable source.
6. Request and Respond to Reviews
Responding to reviews can improve your visibility online and make your business appealing to potential customers.
According to a study, 89% of consumers check reviews before buying, while 64% prefer to purchase from responsive brands over those that look perfect.
Another study found that people spend up to 49% more at businesses that reply to reviews.
Consumers want businesses to join in on the conversations.
It’s not only crucial to get reviews from consumers, but you also need to respond to those who review your business on Google My Business.
But how can you use the reviews to build your online reputation?
Use this Google guide to create a link that directs customers to your GMB page to leave authentic reviews. Doing this can help you gain consumer trust since the more reviews you get, the more trustworthy you appear.
Respond to both the negative and positive reviews without censoring any of them or being rude. This shows that you care about your audience and the experiences they have with your brand.
However, in the spirit of building your online reputation, monitor your page, and flag down any review that violates Google’s contribution policy.
Final Words
As you can see, your Google My Business page is great for local SEO. It’s also an incredible tool for boosting your online reputation. Use it to showcase your business’ uniqueness, how much you care about your customers, and what you have to offer.
Do you have any questions about building your online reputation with GMB? Get in touch, and we’ll give you the answers.
Google My business website -DepositPhotos
