Every aspect of online marketing for luxury retailers rests on a strong foundation. Alongside a high-quality website and active, well-branded social media pages, Google My Business (GMB) is one of the strongest supports for healthy growth and customer trust. You already know you want to show up high on the popular search engine's results pages. With this free business profile, you get a leg up on competition that fails to make this important effort.
Before diving into the step-by-step guide to get your business on Google, it's important to understand what GMB is and why every business owner should bump it to the top of their to-do list. Properly optimized, it can augment your online presence considerably.
Why should I have a Google My Business account?
No matter what type of business you run, you need to add a GMB page to your arsenal of digital tools. The Google search engine claims 87% of all search traffic in the United States. If your store doesn’t show up high in its rankings, you will miss out on a lot of sales.
But that’s not at all. Getting your business details on Google provides multiple benefits. Here are just a few:
- Increase brand exposure: With a GMB account, your store will rank higher on Google’s search engine results, boosting your brand presence. After all, Google loves to promote content on its own platform.
- Inform customers: The right business description will give potential customers accurate and needed information about things like business hours, physical location, product or services offered and contact details for customer questions.
- Get customer reviews: A GMB profile also provides them with a great place to leave customer feedback and reviews, which can only help your brand grow and thrive.
Step-by-step guide to creating your Google business profile
Gather your brand details and basic information first before diving into the world of GMB pages. Then simply follow the steps below to make a powerful platform for improved visibility in your local marketplace.
1 – Claim your business profile
Open up the Google business page and claim your brand page. You may also locate the shop itself on Google Maps and claim it that way. This is the easiest and quickest part of the process.
2 – Add accurate and consistent information
Add up-to-date details including your physical address, mailing address, business phone number, online information like website or social media profiles, email address, and more. Be very careful to ensure that this is 100% accurate and matches the data on all other platforms exactly.
For example, if your shop is at 110 East Avenue, but you write 110 East Ave on your website and 110 E. Avenue on your Google My Business page, the search engine will consider this an inaccuracy and cause problems for your placement.
3 – Include information important to customers
Of course, people who want to come to your shop need the physical address. By claiming your Google My Business page, you’ll also get put on Google Maps. This allows interested shoppers to find your location easily and get directions or plug you into the GPS in their vehicle.
Many people search for local stores while they are out and about in the neighborhood. Perhaps they think of a last-minute gift they need to buy or get the urge to go window shopping. When your business is prominently displayed on the map, it becomes a convenient option. Combined with an attractive listing, you can significantly increase the likelihood of them choosing to visit your store.
4 – Write a compelling business description
After you get the basic information about your location put in, you need to give viewers more details about your store in captivating language to put your retail brand in the best light possible.
A compelling business description sets your business apart from competitors. Keep this short and to the point. Avoid excessively flowery or overblown language. Always focused on conveying the feeling that you want your brand to convey.
Use the description to create a narrative that resonates with your target audience. Use keywords related to your product types, business practices, location, and any specific qualities your brand has. This will help improve your search engine visibility. Remember, however, that you are primarily writing for people. A very short description can build trust, spark interest, and ultimately drive more customers to your doors.
5 – Upload quality photos and branded graphics
Once you’ve nailed the copy, move on to images. Match your Google My Business page to your existing brand identity by using the same logo and color scheme for any designed graphics.
High-quality photos are another great addition to your page. They make a strong first impression and capture attention more quickly than plain text. Ensure that the photos are crystal clear and of a high enough resolution to show up well on any size screen.
In most cases, a business opts to use a photo of the outside of their physical location. This not only demonstrates the style of your shop, but it can also help people find it more easily. Other options include interior photos of product displays, the customer service counter, or even a staged shot of employees.
6 – Ongoing maintenance
Getting your business on Google through their business management settings is quite simple. As with all types of marketing for luxury retail brands, however, you cannot simply set it up and forget about it. Ongoing maintenance and updates help, and using the collected data gives you another way to improve operations and make more happy customers.
Post updates and corrections whenever anything changes with your brand. These can include anything from changing business hours based on the season or special holiday events to weekly postings about promotions or other brand news.
You’ll also want to monitor customer reviews for any questions and concerns and monitor insights and analytics to better understand their interactions. All this information combined with data you collect from all other aspects of business is the key to improvement. A robust program like Clientbook can make the analysis and decision-making process for future online platform building and marketing strategies a breeze.
Conclusion
Getting your business listed on Google My Business is an excellent step to increasing your brand awareness, reaching potential buyers, and boosting your online presence. By following the steps in the article, your account will be ready in no time. If you’re ready to see how a tool like Clientbook can help you better manage your Google reviews, online communication, and more, book a demo today.
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