Google My Business
Why GMB is important
One of the questions I get frequently is “What is Google Business and should I care?” Here is a little story I will share with you:
When I was in college, I came up with the name Urban Analog and thought I should buy this domain in case I want to turn it into a company someday.
While at school I found Google my Business (GMB) and signed up for it. I didn’t have an actual company yet so I listed my domain Urban Analog and tied it to a PO BOX I had set up. I later found out that this was a violation of the terms of service for GMB….But that would be found out later.
College went forward and I came out with this idea of taking over the world with my new company! However - when it came time to turn finally start Urban Analog as a the company of my dreams, I could see my domain anywhere in search. I wasn’t even showing up when I googled my name.
After the panic subsided, I decided to see if I couldn’t find what went wrong and, eventually, I came upon a page that notified me that I had violated googles terms of service. I looked up GMB and sure enough - I was suspended for a violation of service.
Turns out I was suspended for violating Google terms of service
A valuable lesson was being learned! Violating the terms of GMB meant that I had to correct the issues and then request a review of my updates in order to get out of “GOOGLE JAIL”.
Fortunately, it didn’t take that long for Google to see that I had righted the wrong and was now compliant. My domain suspension was released, I was out of Google Jail, and I finally had a verified listing.
Unfortunately, I was starting at the bottom of the pile. I was barely showing up in the first 100 results. I had a lot of work to do to get myself to a place where I had a respectable Search Engine Result Page (SERP) listing. I also realized that I needed to get started if I was going to be taken seriously as a provider of SEO services to the general public.
Did you know that local search appears above top rated organic Search
How I took myself from blacklisted to number one with Google My Business
GMB is Huge for local search.
It is my firm belief that Google would never create a product related to search that wasn’t a required tool.
First thing I did once the ban was lifted was make sure that ever single part of my account was filled out and complete with as much detail as possible. I then realized a few things that I found to be extremely interesting about local Search.
The first thing I realized was that when you conduct a search on your desktop - Local options appear above the top performing organic result on the page. Because it was locally based, I knew I had a better chance to appear in those top three options. And, if I could do that, I would have access to a pretty substantial audience.
The Second thing I realized is that anyone searching with their phone, would see me at the top and be able to engage, call, or message me with the push of a button.
How I got started with improving my Google Business Search Results
Knowing SEO was largely dependent on quality content, The first thing I did was start a blog where I wrote about a variety of topics that were related to the types of keywords & keyphrases that were an important part of the SEO strategy I had outlined for myself.
Because my site was not especially dynamic, I knew that I had to develop some high quality content and submit my sitemaps regularly to Google Search Console.
Every time I finished a blog, I posted an update in GMB and linked it back to my website with more information about the services I offered.
I would also post my content to my social network. In the first month I wrote about three blogs. I struggled with keeping them easy to read and topical but it didn’t take long for them to start writing themselves.
If I ran out of Ideas for a blog, I would ask google questions that a customer might ask me in a consultation.
This is when I began to see People Also Ask (PAA). I realized that Google probably added these sections at the top of search results because they were asked so frequently that Google thought they should be at the top.
Suddenly, coming up with content was about the easiest thing I ever had to do. I would ask questions from a customer point of view to see what related questions came up and I would simply…ANSWER THE QUESTIONS IN MY OWN WORDS.
“Every time I posted a new blog… I would update my sitemap with Search Console & add an update to my GMB page. “
The weekly updates with Google My Business showed that I was attentive and committed to keeping things current.
The last thing I added from GMB was a link to Google reviews. I immediately created a link in my email signature that directed people to Google to leave me a review. I posted this same link in the footer of my website and added it to my social networks.
When I finished working with a client - I sent them a thank you note with a quick link to Google reviews. I let the know it would help me out but I didn’t want them to feel obligated to leave a review.
When someone DID leave a review, I would respond immediately by thanking the client right there in the review. This made anyone leaving a good review feel good about the action. It also let people know that I was responsive to reviews so if they did have a reason to leave a troubled review, they realized that they weren’t going to be as anonymous as they might have initially thought. Lastly - If I ever received a bad review, I would reach out to the person and ask what I could do to make the next experience better. I knew that anyone reading through my reviews that saw that would also see that I was apologetic and interested in writing whatever went wrong.
After three months of focused weekly engagement and blog posting…I got a call from someone out of the blue. When I asked how they found me, They said that they just Googled a specific service and I was on page one three times.
Summary
It is important here to note that there is no such thing as a typical experience…. My experience is just my experience… HOWEVER - if I can go from Google Jail to the top three organic and local search positions on page one for my top Keywords… I can safely suggest that Google My Business was absolutely KEY in accomplishing that and those results can definitely work for you in a similar way.
