Establish a business presence on Google
GoogleApps_Dec01_AIt has become pretty much essential that most businesses now have an online presence. While a simple website used to suffice, the new requirement is that you need to be easily found by existing and potential customers. One of the easiest ways to ensure this is to “Get on Google”. The question however is: How do you do this? To help make things easier, why not use Google’s Google My Business?

What is Google My Business?

If you have used Google for even a short while you will know that there are numerous ways you can find and search for a business. From Google Maps, to Search, to Google+, and even mobile apps, businesses need to ensure that they have a presence on all of these services if they want to maximize the chances of being found.

To help make this as easy as possible, Google launched a new service earlier this year called Google My Business. This is a suite of tools that small to medium business owners can use to “get onto Google”. By going to one website, and filling in the relevant information, Google will help you to:

  • Add your business to Google+.
  • Add business information to Google Search.
  • Add your business information to Google Maps.

Essentially, this tool ensures that your business and relevant company information will be more easily found by users on Google, regardless of the device they are using. For businesses that have been using Google’s older tools, like Google+ dashboard and Google Places, Google My Business is now the main suite where you can manage your Google presence.

What can I do with Google My Business?

From this suite you can:

  • Maintain business information.
  • Manage and maintain your Google+ page. Including creating posts directly from this page.
  • Track and respond to business reviews.
  • Track engagement with your Google+ pages.
  • View relevant information pulled from Google Analytics.
  • Create and maintain Google AdWords Express campaigns.

Is this service useful?

Aside from simply getting your business on to Google, this service has some great tools that will provide some valuable insight into your online presence. For example, by pulling information from Google AdWords Express and Google Analytics you can quickly see how people are finding your business, what they are clicking on, where they are coming from, and where they are going.

Possibly one of the most interesting features of this service is that when Google Maps is used to get directions to your business, this is logged and you can see where users are coming from. Therefore, if you see that a number of people are getting directions from one neighborhood or area, you can then use this data to create targeted ad campaigns and more.

In short, Google My Business has been designed to give your business better insight into trends and greater access to valuable information.

There is also a mobile app that allows you to manage your presence from an Android and iOS device. With this app you can set it so that you get real-time updates when you receive reviews or other relevant information. This makes it an ideal app to install on your device if you want to keep track while you are away from the office or your business.

How do I access Google My Business?

If you have not set up a Google Places Page before, then you can go to https://business.google.com/ and follow the directions on the page to set up a presence for your business on Google. Business owners with a Place Page, can log into any Google service with this account and then click on the link above. This should take you straight to your main page. You can also find the Android and iOS apps on Google Play and the Apple App Store.

Great IT solutions and support with business-oriented apps can really transform how you do business and the success of your business too. If you would like to really highlight what you are about to customers then make contact with us too.