What is Google My Business?

Google My Business started back in 2006 when Google needed to come up with something for small businesses who wanted an easy way to list their physical location online. Since then it has grown into one of the most powerful ways in digital marketing to share information about your company – directly on search engine result pages (SERPs).

Not only does Google My Business help search engines find you, it also gives your customers a quick and easy way to contact you. The best is you can take control of your company’s entire Google listing with the click of a button, including editing hours, phone number, address, website link, categories, short description, photos – everything!

I’m sure by now you’re eager to create your own GMB profile in 2021. So let’s get into how to do that.

Step 1: Create Your Page With Google

If you already have a business name picked out for 2021, then this step will be simple. If not…well…it might take some time for you so try running through these steps with an alternative name in mind, just so you can get familiarized with the process.

To begin, visit Google My Business. From there, click on ‘Get Started’ in the top-right corner under ‘ Select a page type ‘. Now select which kind of GMB listing you’ll be creating – either an individual or local business. If this is your first time setting up a GMB profile, then start by clicking on ‘ Individual ‘, otherwise choose ‘ Local Business ‘.

Once you’ve clicked through to an individual GMB account, Google will ask for some details about the business being listed – including the name, address, phone number, and website link. Note: If it’s an exact match to what you entered in Google Analytics, then this step will be easier!

To add even more images and videos to your page, click on ‘ Add photos & video.’

Once done filling out all your information, there are three main sections where you can promote yourself.

Promotion Section 1: On the left, click on ‘Add a photo’ to showcase your company’s products or services.

Promotion Section 2: In the center, choose a featured image for your page. This will display first in search results. Once selected, Google will automatically generate a preview of what it looks like – which you can customize even further to make it look nice and neat!

Note: The larger the image, the more that is shown in search results. If this bothers you, then just send it to a friend who works at Google and have them fix it – they’re always happy to help 🙂

Promotion Section 3: Lastly, select an option from ‘Add keywords’ if you want to promote specific business categories instead of individual products or services.

Step 2: Verify Your Page With Google

Now that you’ve created your GMB page, you’ll need to make sure it’s set up properly before actually getting to use it. This will involve verifying information through Google (which might take some time) and also setting up the ‘Profile’ link – which links directly back to your company’s website (similar to how Yelp works).

To verify all the information in your GMB profile, simply click on the button that says ‘Verify Ownership’. Once this is done, you can then update your profile with a business description (which helps customers understand what makes you unique). Adding photos & videos is also another good idea for 2021 because…well…just look at Instagram today.

Once finished setting up your GMB profile, you can add a Google Maps link to your website by clicking on ‘Add or claim your Google My Business Listing’. From here, select the option that says ‘Owned by an organization or business’. Next, paste in the link of your website and type in a short description. Click finish after and…voila! You now have a GMB page set up and ready for customers to find you.

Step 3: Keep Up To Date For 2021

Now that everything is all said and done, it’s important to maintain how many customers contact you through all online channels – especially ones like Facebook where they can tag you (and their friends) on certain posts or photos you don’t want them to.

To do this, Google has an easy-to-use dashboard that updates you on all activity related to your GMB page and what people are saying about it. The more you know – the better!

Now that we’ve gone through the basics of GMB in 2021, I hope that you’ll enjoy sharing this article with anyone who is still using Google My Business today.