Google My Business: 15 Tips for Success (SMX West Presentation)
1. 15 Ways to be Successful with Google My
Business (GMB)
Joy Hawkins Google My Business Top Contributor
2. 1. Start with a Competitor Analysis
• You need to know what you’re up against
• You need to know which categories to use (super
important)
Tool to Use: http://www.brightlocal.com/google-plus-local-wizard/
3. Why Use MapMaker? http://imprezziomarketing.com/seo-blog/google-places/best-ways-to-find-duplicate-google-placesplus-listings-post-pigeon/
• And always use MapMaker
2. Always Check for Dupes
4. 3. Use “Select a Place” on MapMaker
• See what other businesses
are using the same address
as you
8. 5. Always Check the Live Listing
• You’d think what’s listed in your dashboard is
what shows up on Google...Wrong!
9. Get URLs to the different views in the Edit screen of the Dashboard:
10. 6. Check the Owner Accounts for Alerts
• Google is now emailing out review alerts
• Only goes to page owner, not managers
• If a page gets suspended the owner account
would see the message, the manager would not
More Reading: http://www.joyannehawkins.com/2-things-wont-see-google-plus-local-page-manager/
11. 7. Embed Reviews on your Website
Instructions: http://imprezziomarketing.com/seo-blog/reviews/make-the-most-out-of-your-facebook-google-plus-reviews/
• Embed, don’t duplicate (to
avoid them getting filtered)
12. 8. Check Your # of Calls under Insights
Instructions: http://localu.org/blog/export-data-google-business-dashboard-insights-report/
• If there is no data for 4
weeks, check 12 weeks
• Copy and paste the data into
Excel to see a better
overview (per link below)
13. • Open every single URL listed and check the NAP
on it
9. Check Reviews Around the Web
14. • No one does this!
• Great visibility, leads to more exposure
• Google loves G+
10. Write B2B Reviews
Instructions: http://imprezziomarketing.com/seo-blog/reviews/how-to-leave-b2b-reviews-on-google-plus/
17. 12. Make the Google World a Less Spammy Place
Instructions: http://www.localsearchforum.com/google-map-maker/26870-tips-reporting-spam-mapmaker.html
• What real law firm would call
themselves “Minneapolis
Personal Injury and Accident
Lawyer”?
19. The Truth
• Use MM to report spam
• Use the GMB Dashboard for
your own listing
• Remember their rules are
different!
• Be nice & polite to the MM
RERs and TCs, even if you
disagree with them
Instructions: http://www.localsearchforum.com/google-map-maker/26870-tips-reporting-spam-mapmaker.html
20. 13. Use Yellowbot for NAP Diagnosis
• Search business phone #
+ city
• Open each listing that
comes up
21.
22.
23. 14. Keep Updated with Guideline Changes
“If a practitioner is the sole public-facing one at this location and represents a branded
organization, the practitioner page should not be separate from the organization’s page.
Instead, create a single page, titled using the following format: [brand/company]:
[practitioner name].”
Guidelines: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en
24. “Adding unnecessary information to your name (e.g. "Google Inc. - Mountain View
Corporate Headquarters" instead of "Google") by including marketing taglines, store codes,
special characters, hours or closed/open status, phone numbers, website URLs,
service/product information, location/address or directions, or containment information
(e.g. "Chase ATM in Duane Reade") is not permitted.”
Not Allowed
Guidelines: https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038177?hl=en
25. 15. Use Pure Local Searches for Diagnosing
• See how close you are to ranking on the
first page
• Figure out if it’s a local issue or organic
issue
• Ex: a business that is not in the 7-pack ranks
5th organically but 30th locally – their issue is
local (NAP, Duplicates, etc.)
• Make sure your business actually shows
up in this list
• Look for closed listings that rank
URL: https://www.google.com/search?safe=off&tbm=lcl&gl=us