Put yourself in your customer’s shoes for a moment. You want to buy goods or use a specific service. Open your web browser and do some quick research. Find a company that can meet your needs. Go to the website, read the detailed information. Before you buy a product or reach for the phone to set up an appointment, you want to make sure you’re dealing with a reliable contractor. What do you do?
At this point, your customers are looking for information about the company online. Research shows that this behavior is typical for up to 84% of buyers. Only 16% decide to buy blind, relying on their own luck. Even in this group, a considerable number of them check the web at least occasionally.
Bad reviews can deter and discourage people from buying. Even worse is the lack of information. Many people give up on a service or product if they can’t find the company on Google Maps. You may not understand this, you may rebel, but the situation is not going to change in the coming years. If you want your business to grow, you need to take care of your online visibility. Add your business to Google maps to give yourself a chance to build trust in the brand you create.
Adding a business to Google is very simple and intuitive. In a Google search, type in “Google my business” and click on the first result that comes up.
Next, you need to sign in to the Google account you want to use for your business on Google Maps. This is where a little digression comes in handy. It may be that your business will stay with you forever. However, it may be that you will sell it one day. Therefore, you should only use your company’s Google account to manage your business card on Google. Your personal account is to serve you after hours.
A convenient Google Business Card wizard will guide you through the next steps. You create your company’s Google Maps profile by answering the questions. There you will need to provide a name to be displayed and a website address or phone number so customers can contact you. It’s also a good idea to include an address, even if you don’t provide your services in a stationary location. Only then your business can be displayed as a pin on Google Maps. Your business card on Google Maps will also need to be assigned to a relevant category, which will increase its visibility to people interested in your industry.
Once the business has been added to Google Maps, your business card still needs to be verified. This can be done via traditional mail or a phone call. Sometimes, verification is done automatically, but this option will not necessarily be available in your case. After successful verification, you can show off your My Business account on Google.
All you have to do is find your business on Google Maps, click on it, and then scroll through the information displayed on the left to the “Write a review” button. This can be quite intimidating at first. Every entrepreneur knows that no matter how hard they try, they will not satisfy all their customers. Among the positive reviews, there will be some that you would like to avoid. Fortunately, with the right support, you can direct primarily satisfied buyers to your Google business card.
Google Maps is one of the most important opinion-forming portals on the web. In addition to it, sites such as Ceneo and Oferteo, social network Facebook and others are also important. Regardless of how widely you want to advertise your business, add your company to Google first. In this way you will provide the greatest opportunities at the very start.
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