Things To Consider While Using Google My Business Profile

Maria Elena Duron is a marketing coach and a Google trainer. She shared vital information about Google My Business Profile on the Coach Yu Show. 

Google My Business Profile Setup

• If you are working with a large broker, you still need to create Google My Business Profile. You can use the broker’s address.
• But if you’re working with home-based businesses specifically in an area, you can use your home address.

And if you don’t want people to come to your location, you can unpublish your address once you get verified. Setting up your business profile allows you to say, 

• Yes, I want people to come to my location, or 
• No, I deliver at their address or their location. 

You cannot add a PO box address to your Google My Business profile. You have to put the home address to get the verification. Later you can add any address.

The mistake many people make is that they’ll add a PO box address or change their address while it’s still in the verification process, and they now enter into a horrible loop because you’ve not verified yet.

A Common Mistake

The common mistake small business owners make is they don’t want to create a Google My Business Profile (free website page) because they think they’re competing with their website.

They don’t want to do any of these things because they’re thinking, “Oh my gosh! I want everybody to look at my website alone. I don’t wanna compete with myself.” But really, that’s a different frame of mind that they have.

Google My Business Profile allows you to have two or three racehorses in the same race. So that’s what you’re doing: giving yourself a better opportunity to win the race, win the business, and become visible to your customers.

I’m a big fan of the safe saying, “Fish where the fish are!” and wherever their eyeballs are. So it could be that they see my site, but maybe they don’t. They see something else.

The key is making sure that everything links back to your site. So, for example, if you’re doing posts in your business profile, ensure all of that goes back to your website.

How to Use GMB’s Free Website

If small business owners have a website, they can create this free website page filled with Google juice and point to a page on their website.

The most common mistake business owners make is taking visitors to the homepage and showing them everything. They think they have their attention and can now share everything.

But it’s more important to build your credibility and take them where you told them you would. Do that first. Now you earn the right to take visitors elsewhere once they are on the website page.

Maybe they’re more interested in other things that you have to offer but first, take them toward where you told them you’re going to take them.

For example, if you’re telling them, “Hey, we just launched a new lotion here at our salon, and we’d like you to give it a try.” Take them to the page on your site that talks about the new lotion, maybe ways they can use it, or its benefits.

And now, at the bottom or somewhere else on that page, even a popup, you can say something like, “Have you seen we have about four other lotions that could address some of these other needs that we find similar?” So that’s where you earn the right.

You can customize the theme, fonts, and colors on the free website. You have the option to call, quote, and learn more. You can activate different buttons to customize exactly the call to action you’d like them to take.

Google My Business Profile gives you a little bit more visibility. And I’ve seen people post about a lot of things. For example, they’ve talked about celebrating their 25th anniversary at the business, so they want us to celebrate.

They highlight a team member, or they’re talking about a new product coming in and giving them some behind-the-scenes footage of its coming and being checked in and some of the things they’re doing and updating at their location.

So it makes it a lot of fun, and you can do that with the free site, and it’s not competing with your site.

Here are more tips and tricks on optimizing your GMB and attracting more clients to your business.