The second Rule in Local Search is Optimize Google My Business
No matter what business you are in the very first step in achieving Local Search is Google My Business. I have been doing SEO for a long time and this is probably the most stupid simple step of and SEO should be looking at when they are working on your site. The best part of this is it’s FREE.
You can sit here an whine about how busy you are and you don’t have time to blog and to busy to write 300 words for a single page on your site, but if you don’t have 20 min to sit down and fix this for yourself, then put down Facebook for a few and DO THIS. Google My Business will not only boost your Local Rankings but it puts a big box in front of your potential customers face when they are looking for your service. That’s my knowledge box. I took maybe 15 min to set that up and 5 days waiting for the postcard to verify it. Not only will this help your Local Search rankings but it will also pull people to your web site with those local searchers.
First Things First: Do Already Have a Knowledge Box?
Let’s check to see if you already have a knowledge box. You may just have to claim it which would be awesome. So lets go over to Google My Business and perform a search on your business.
If you found one for your business and it’s claimed by someone else click here. There are companies out there that will find these and claim them to offer you a service to set it up. Go through the process of taking it away from them. If you need help with that contact me here and let me know what’s happening.
Edit or Add Your Business Address
So now we need to log in to your Google My Business account. So once you log in you can edit your Business Information.
Choose the listing you’d like to manage and click “Manage location.”
Click Info from the menu.
Click the “Address” section.
In the window that appears, select “Yes” next to “I deliver goods and services to my customers at their locations.”
Enter your service area information. You can set your service area based on the ZIP codes or cities that you serve, or in a given area around your location.
Select the box next to “I serve customers at my business address” if you want your complete address to appear on Google and your business location is staffed and able to receive customers during its stated hours.
Click Apply to save your changes.
Now let’s Verify Your Business
So now to be able to show your info in the Google knowledge box you need to Verify your business. Some Business Categories will allow for phone verification and it will be pretty much instant. Most of the time it will by mail.
So once you push the button for mail verify it will take 5-7 business days to get the postcard. I have seen them roll in at around 3 days.
Once you have your code to enter. You will need to log in and enter the code and then everything opens up.
So once you can you are going to need to put in the description make sure you use Keywords based on your business. This will help your Local Search more tuned for your potential viewers.
Make sure you fill in the Hours that you are open. Add some photos. Make sure your website is listed in there as well.
You will be notified if someone has left a review by email. Make sure that answer them good or bad, it’s customer service and makes people want to come back.
That’s it. You are now that much closer to winning the Local Search game.
Once again if you have any problems I am here to help just contact me here or leave a comment below.
That’s my knowledge box. I took maybe 15 min to set that up and 5 days waiting for the postcard to verify it. Not only will this help your Local Search rankings but it will also pull people to your web site with those local searchers.