We give you the step by step guide to make your business appear in the most popular search engine in the world, Google.

In other posts we have already talked about the advantages of having a profile on Google My Business, the platform created by the Internet giant especially for businesses to have a space on the web, regardless of the line of business or size.

It is important for your business that you do not miss the advantages that Google has for you, which are also free, because opening a profile on this platform will not cost you anything, so in today’s post we will teach you how to make your profile on Google My Business.

What is Google My Business and what are the advantages it can give you?

Google My Business is a free tool created by Google to help manage the presence of businesses on the Internet. It allows your business to be better linked to the environment, through a panel where you can write all the information that your customers need to know about you, for example: location, closing hours, opening hours, prices or contact information.

In short, the goal of Google My Business is that people can find you quickly on the Internet, so Google allows you to have a presence in applications such as Google Maps, through a single interface.

As you can imagine the platform has many advantages for your business, the most obvious is that you appear in searches for nearby businesses on Google Maps, projecting you in front of potential customers. However, the benefits do not end there, because as a business owner registered on the platform you can follow the reviews of users or the star rating system.

Another benefit of using this platform is that you have more contact with people, because you can solve the questions that they leave in your profile, in a public way, so these can serve as a kind of reviews of your products and services or as an answer to frequently asked questions about your business.

Having statistics about the presence of our business on the Internet is an essential resource to improve and this is precisely one of the advantages offered by Google My Business, because it gives you data on clicks, searches on Google Maps or visits to your profile, so you can direct or plan better oriented marketing strategies.

Perhaps now you are wondering what types of businesses can register on the platform and the truth is that the service was designed for direct service businesses, the business on the street, so to speak; however, there are no restrictions and you register all types of businesses, you can even register the offices of your company.

Steps to create your profile on Google My Business

Before registering on the Google My Business platform, you should check Google Maps to see if your business appears. This usually happens with some hotels.

If your business appears, before filling out the listing with your information you have to claim ownership of that business, through the same listing that appears when you search for it or through the Google My Business page, in the claim business tab.

If there is no previous listing of your business you can create one from scratch, for this you have to have a Google account and follow the following steps.

• First you have to go to https://support.google.com/business/#topic=4539639 .
• Then you have to select the option Get your page, to write the name of your company and select the type of business, you must also add the address.
• The next step is to validate your account, this ensures that no one else registers your business as theirs. For this you must receive a validation letter from Google by conventional mail, when you have it in your possession, you must return to your Google My Business account, to write the verification code that comes inside the letter. With this step you will officially have an account on the platform.
• Next you have to fill in all the fields requested, it is best that you pay special attention because it is the information that will appear to the public. In this step is when you must upload the pictures.
• If your business has several addresses in this step you can put alternate addresses.
• Add the link to your website.
• Inform about the news of your business in the option publications.

How to get the most out of your profile

To have the best experience with Google My Business it is not enough to fill out the fields requested by the page, it is best to always deliver some added value to those who know you or search for you on the Internet. Here are some tips to get the most out of this valuable tool.

1. Manage your information

Filling out the form that Google asks you to fill out at the beginning is fine, but it is important that you don’t forget this profile, keep it always updated. Above all, keep visible different forms of contact, such as social networks and phone numbers. If you change or discontinue any of them, remember to change them in your Google listing. It is very important that in the profile you include the direct link to your website.

2. Add attractive photos

On other occasions we have already talked about the importance of audiovisual content to gain “clicks”, “likes” or more importantly “visits” and your profile on this platform is no exception, so you should focus on getting the best pictures with excellent quality and show the best of your business.

You can even give a virtual tour of your business, to help engage your future customers or visitors. This type of content is especially beneficial for businesses like hotels and restaurants.

Photos on tabs are so important that they can even help you generate more requests for directions (which translates into more physical visits to your business) and more clicks on web pages. Google claims that listings with photos receive 42% more requests for directions on Google Maps and 35% more visits to owners’ websites than listings with few or no photos.

3. Interact with your customers

Interacting with your customers is an important part of boosting your Google My Business results. From the Google Maps page your customers can interact with your business in two ways, the first one through direct questions that you can then solve, these have a public visibility, so they are the perfect pretext to promote aspects of your services in more detail.

Another way to interact with your customers, that you should not overlook, are the reviews, because they are an excellent way to gain new customers. For many consumers the reviews we see on the Internet are as important as a recommendation from friends or family. So, strive to give an excellent service to get better reviews.

Of course, you can also respond and interact in the comments of the reviews, so you can highlight your services, answer questions and update the information of the products or services.

In conclusion Google My Business is an excellent tool to manage and give visibility on the Internet to your business; the best thing is that it is free and available to everyone, but the results are enhanced if we work on it constantly.

Tell us, do you already have an account on this platform? How has it helped your business?