How to Maximise your Google Maps (Workspace) Listing
A lot of our clients ask us about SEO and how to make their websites SEO-friendly. Thing is, there’s no short answer - it’s a science unto itself and something you should definitely leave to the professionals (like Karen Dauncey).
However, the good news is that it might not be something that you need to worry about for your business! Ask yourself the question, “where are my clients likely to look for me”? Chances are that it WON’T be in a google search, but instead they’ll look for a recommendation (either through a Facebook page/group or through a friend), see your flyer somewhere, see you on Instagram and so on.
IF you do think that people might go onto Google and type in “Hairdresser, Midland” or something that would apply to your business, then having a great Google Maps listing is hands down going to be the easiest win for you.
It won’t take long to set up, it’s FREE and can be pretty much set-and-forget - one of the easiest wins for most businesses who concentrate on a local area, whether that’s Perth / WA or hyper-local down to one or two suburbs.
Here are the basics for getting started. I’m referring to Google, rather than Yahoo, Bing etc as around 95% of searches in Australia are done via Google. You can also add listings on the other search engines though of course, if you think it’s worth the effort for you.
Start your Google Maps Listing
Click here to go to Google Maps. In the top left corner you’ll see the ‘hamburger’ menu. Click on that and scroll all the way down to Add your business.
Fill in all your details as you are prompted (business name, category, contact details etc). You are able to hide your address, and you can change all the other details later if you need to.
Once you have finished these basic steps, you will end on a page that looks a bit like a Google Maps listing but with some edit options. I recommend that you BOOKMARK THIS PAGE so that it’s easier to access.
Getting Verified
So - getting verified with Google can be a two-click process or an absolute nightmare. I’ve been able to verify in seconds, and other times it’s taken over 6 months. They have so many crazy rules and restrictions, depending on what kind of business you have, if you see clients at the address and a whole bunch of other stuff.
Here’s a few tips that I’ve come across over the years.
If you don’t want to show your home address on your listing, you need to wait until you’re verified before you can remove your address.
If you move address, you may have to get verified all over again.
Postcard is the easiest way to get verified, if that’s an option. Once that arrives, it tells you where to enter the code.
You can also choose phone call or video call (which is getting more frequent). This is pretty painful - just jump through the hoops to get it done. I’ve had to show cash in a drawer, start up my car, and show them my business card on the video before.
If they are insisting that you need Permanent Signage, the easiest way round this is to knock up something cheap and cheerful with your logo in Canva and get a corflute sign printed through Vistaprint (costs about $30) and then just stick it to the wall for the video call.
Populating your Listing
Many, many businesses add themselves to Google Maps and then….that’s it. So by simply filling in these details mentioned below, you can stand out from your competitors and get a head start.
Categories & Labels
Categories are the pre-determined categories that Google lets you choose from, so choose as many as make sense for your business. You can add up to 10.
Label acts like a Key Word when someone is searching on Google, so is a really powerful part of your listing. You’ll need to go to your listing in Maps and then you’ll see the Label field underneath your phone number etc. You can only put in one label (we used to be able to add up to 10!), and this will show next to your listing on the map (like the image here).
Now you’re set to show up in a search, the next step is to make the most of your Listing.
Click on Edit Profile and fill in all the details, such as opening hours and contact details. The More section is mainly aimed at hospitality businesses, so you don’t need to tick anything there if it’s not relevant to you.
Opening Times (don’t forget to update for Public Holidays)
Phone Number and Website address (you can point this to your Facebook page if you’re still building your website, or don’t have one)
Opening Date (you can back date it)
Business Description
This should be a brief sales pitch (you have 750 characters) about what your business does, the main benefit that your clients get from you (i.e. how you can make their life better), what sets you apart from your competitors and why you’re special. You might also want to add in there how your product or service works, and answer any questions that you think your customers/clients might have, particularly if you think it might stop them for looking further.
Location
If you click on the map in this section, it will show you a toggle button to ‘Show business address to customers’, or untick it.
Service Areas
This is where you can specify the suburbs that you service and you can add up to 20. If you want to show a large area, then you can add in Yanchep and Mandurah (for example), or you can keep it hyper-local and simply add in your nearest 1-4 suburbs. Google have said that they want these Service Areas to be within 20 miles (American company) of your business address, so bear this in mind.
Services
You can copy these from your Facebook page or website to make things easier. You can also categorise your services to make them easier to scan. It will default to the Categories that you chose initially, but you can over-write these if you’d prefer.
You’ll need to keep the descriptions fairly brief as you only get 300 characters, so make them count.
You can also add a price and you have four options here - No Price, Free, Fixed and From. I always think it’s a good idea to at least give an indication of your pricing to cut down on time-wasters, and so that people have an idea of where you might fit compared to your competitors.
Products
Products are very prominent on your Google Maps listing so are a fantastic opportunity to showcase your easy-win products and services, and stand out from the crowd. You can also add links back to specific pages on your website.
Photos
This is one of the most important sections of your Listing. Add in good quality images that tell people more about you. It could be product images, pics of you with clients, stock pictures that tell the story of what you do and even quotes or little one-line tips that are branded up to match your brand identity.
Another easy win here as well is to put some of your testimonials / reviews into a branded template (e.g. using Canva) so that people see them as soon as they check out your page, and you’re not relying on people leaving a review, which is a tough gig nowadays.
You can also add videos here, such as an intro vid, or how-to vid. They can only be a maximum 30 seconds long, and have a maximum size of 75MB.
Add Update
Add Update. These work just like Facebook posts, in that they give visitors a flavour of your brand and business. You can add images and a link via a call to action button (such as Book, Order Online, Buy, Call Now etc). Updates are one of the most-missed sections of Google Maps listings and are a great opportunity to showcase your expertise, products and business. We also add in Reviews made up in branded Canva templates so that people can see these as soon as they visit our listing.
Add Offer. Such as 20% off online this month, or free shipping with orders over $60 with this code. You can add a start and end date, so even set them all up for the year at one time!
Add Event. Google have flip-flopped over the years regarding Events and whether you can upload them to your listing or not, and now they’re back! Great for any upcoming workshops (make sure that you include keywords for SEO), events or milestones. Make sure you add a CTA (Call To Action) link that clicks straight through to your booking page.
The content in any of your Update sections also forms part of your SEO, which means that more people will find you if you include key words in the text of your posts.
Reviews
Try to get off the starting blocks with your reviews asap, even if you have to ask a family member or friend to leave one for you. It’s important to get off the No Stars classification. Beyond that, it’s difficult getting people to leave reviews - I think we’re all fatigued now with constantly being asked to leave reviews. The key is to strike while the iron’s hot, such as just after you’ve delivered a great service or product.
Don’t worry about negative reviews, so long as there aren’t too many of them. Most people realise that ‘people’ have a bad day sometimes and also that there’s no pleasing ‘some people’. What is more important, is HOW you respond to a negative review. Pro Tip - respond graciously, offer a solution and empathy, and absolutely no name-calling!
We also try to respond to all of the reviews that people leave, even if just a simple ‘thank you’.
Messaging
This is a relatively new feature, and I wouldn’t worry too much about enabling it, if you have your contact details visible. It works just like Facebook Messenger, except you can (at the moment) ONLY access it through the Google My Business mobile app.
You can find your Messages in the Customers tab and customise your welcome message.
Just one thing to note is that you MUST reply to Messages within 24 hours, otherwise Google “may deactivate messaging for your business”.
Questions and Answers
This is a fairly new addition to the Google Maps listings and a great opportunity to answer some of your FAQs for potential clients. You can ‘Ask a Question’ as if you were a visitor to your listing, then answer it as your business.
Google My Business and Squarespace
You can easily connect up your Google My Business account to your Squarespace website and even start your Google My Business listing directly through Squarespace (if you are on the Business or Commerce plans). Commerce Squarespace sites with a Google My Business listing are more likely to rank higher in Google Search and Maps, driving more customer traffic to your business.
