How Google My Business works

Your brother is a cooking whiz and has created his own small takeaway delicacy business. Very good at preparing dishes, a little less at juggling with the Web, he asked you to help him give visibility to his shop. You have already created the Facebook page, you have already opened an Instagram profile and one on Twitter. Now you just lack some visibility on search engines.

By learning a little about the subject, you have discovered Google My Business, a free service that integrates Google’s search and map functions, to be easily visible and identifiable on the Internet. You would therefore like to use it for your own purposes, but you are not sure where to start. Well: if that’s the case, don’t worry. I’ll explain how Google My Business works.

By configuring the service in great detail, you will create a real communication channel with current customers and you can easily reach new ones, in order to grow your business (or that of a person you want to help). Happy reading and good luck: everything is explained below!

Index

• What is Google My Business
• How Google My Business works
  • How to create a Google My Business profile
  • How to verify activity on Google My Business
  • How to respond to reviews on Google My Business
• For more information

What is Google My Business

Being online and being found on Google is important, but that’s not all when it comes to commercial activities: you also need to establish a dialogue with customers. Of course, creating a business page on Facebook is very useful, as is creating a business profile on Instagram, but Google shouldn’t be underestimated in this context either.

Google My Business is more than an online form: it is a sort of small page dedicated to a business (shop, restaurant and any other commercial activity) that allows you to tell its story, to be traceable with the most useful information and to interact with current and future customers. All for free (possibly, you can consider using Google Ads to promote your paid business).

It has a double visibility system: if, for example, you want to know which pizzeria in your area makes home deliveries, you just need to start a search on Google and, among the first results returned, the pizzerias on Google My Business will appear. You will see small pictures accompanied by the most useful information, including the opening hours and the number of stars, or the summary of reviews written by customers.

By clicking on the name of one of the pizzerias returned by the search, you will have access to the most useful information: telephone number, address and location on Google Maps, link to the website of the commercial activity, a schedule of the times in which this is most frequented, the possibility to ask questions to managers or owners and, last but not least, the aforementioned possibility to write your own review.

The other visibility system is possible thanks to Google Maps: imagine you have to go to another city and, looking for your destination address on the maps, you will also be shown the activities close to the place where you need to go. So you will know where you can eat or stay overnight or, why not, that nearby there is a bookshop where you can’t help but stop by.

Here, then, that understanding how Google My Business works and using this service is of fundamental importance for the growth of your business. Here, then, is how to do it.

How Google My Business works

You can create a Google My Business profile and manage it easily, even if there is no publicly accessible business location. The only rules to respect are those relating to the clarity and sincerity of the information provided: since Google My Business aims, among others, the purpose of retaining current customers and expanding it, saying half-truths is not helpful.

To create a Google My Business profile you need a Google account, that is the one that allows access to all the services provided by “Big G”, such as Gmail. If you do not have one, you must necessarily create it: for all the details of the case, I refer you to my tutorial on the subject. Find all the details below.

How to create a Google My Business profile

After completing the preliminary steps above, you need to create a profile for the business. So, connected to the main page of Google My Business or, if you feel more comfortable using Google My Business from a smartphone or tablet, download the appropriate application available for Android and iOS / iPadOS. The steps to take are practically the same.

To get started, log in with your account. Enter, therefore, the email address through which you want to create the Google My Business profile (address which must be the same with which you will manage it) and, in the field below, enter the relative password. If you are already logged into your Google account, you can simply click on the Manage button.

After this step, you reach the page Find and manage your business which should not lead you into confusion: its purpose is to find your business if you have already created the Google My Business profile. You can skip it by clicking on Add your business to Google.

Now let’s get to the heart, among other things with a very delicate step (in any case, if you make a mistake, do not worry, there will be a way to fix it): on this page you need to enter the name of the business. As you type it, in the field at the top you will be returned profiles with similar names already created by someone else.

There cannot be multiple businesses with identical names, so you can be called upon to use your imagination, perhaps adding the city where the business takes place. When you have typed a unique name, a box with the name of the activity will appear immediately below the typing field accompanied by the writing Create an activity with this name, on which you must click.

The second field, the one immediately below, requires you to enter the category, but stick to those that are suggested to you as you type (eg Takeaway restaurant ), because you cannot add any. Then click on the Next button to reach the page through which to insert the activity in Google Maps.

If the business has a location reachable by customers, such as a shop or an office, you will have to tick the Yes option, otherwise you will have to select the No item. Then click on the Next button and optionally indicate if there is a delimited area in which the business offers its products or services.

When you have entered a zone, it will be visible immediately below the field in which you typed it. If you have made a mistake, click on the X to the right of the area itself, so that it is deleted. When you are satisfied with the result, click on the Next button to continue.

You are now on the page What is the address? : by clicking on the first field at the top, scroll until you find Italy (if your business is located in Italy, of course). Then click on the Address field and type the exact street where your business is located, including the house number. You will be returned a list of identical addresses but located in different cities. You have to click on the right item, that is the one of the relevant city. The Postal Code, City and Province fields will be filled in automatically: if something does not fit, double-check the Address field or, by clicking on the wrong field, you can correct it by hand.

Click now on the Next button and you will arrive at the page Where are you? to correct, if necessary, the positioning of the activity indicator that is displayed in the map on the right. You can enlarge it with the scroll of the mouse, while clicking on it you can drag the indicator to a more correct position, if the one indicated is not precise.

Once this operation has also been completed, click on the Next button to fill in the page Do you offer your services even outside of this office? Again, two possibilities: if they are provided for home delivery, check the option Yes, otherwise select No. In case of delivery, you must add the areas reached by the delivery.

After that, you will arrive at the page where the phone number of the business must be entered and, immediately below, its website. If the site is not there, check the I don’t need a website option (if you want, you can also create one at the moment, by selecting the appropriate option). So go ahead and choose whether to receive updates relating to the My Business service.

You are over halfway. All you have to do is carry out the verification procedure and make the commercial activity more detailed. Google wants to make sure that the business is truly yours or that you are in charge of running it. For this reason, he will send you a paper postcard. There is only one field to fill in, namely Name of the contact that you find in the middle of the page, in which you will have to enter the name of the recipient. Then click on the Send button to confirm.

There are still a few steps to take. By clicking on the Continue button you are asked to enter the opening hours of the business. The specific page shows the days of the week listed one below the other, starting from Monday. A switch is placed next to each day. Therefore, activate the switches relating to the days in which the activity is open and use the drop-down menus that appear to also indicate the times. At the end of the operation, click on the Next button.

Now, you just have to establish a relationship with customers and, to do so, leave the switch that is proposed to you on the Add messaging page. This feature allows those who visit the profile to chat with those who manage the activity. Since a communication channel only makes sense if you can respond in real time, I recommend that you leave the switch on only if you are able to guarantee a quick response to customers. You can also set this up later: in that case, click the Ignore button.

Now click on the Next button and you will be on the page dedicated to the Consumption Methods: answer them, go Next and enter a description of the activity, short and concise (cannot exceed 750 characters) that is sober but original.

Then click on the Next button and prepare the photographs you want to associate with the business profile on Google My Business. At this stage, I recommend that you use photos of the location of the business, for example framing the shop window or the sign. There will be a way to upload photos of the dishes in the next step. If you don’t want to add images, click the Ignore button.

Once the photos have been uploaded, you are there. From the panel that appears on the screen, you can change any parameter of your Google My Business profile by selecting it from the left column and clicking on the item you want. From the same menu you can also view the statistics of your activity, view messages and more: it’s all very intuitive.

How to verify activity on Google My Business

Once created, the Google My Business profile will not be immediately active. It will be so only after verification via postcard. Until then, it will be “frozen”. Google, in fact, wants to make sure that you really have the right to run the business you have created.

When the letter holder delivers the postcard, connect again to the Google My Business profile and, if necessary, log in, entering the Gmail address used to create it and, subsequently, the relative password.

Then click on the Home item that appears in the left bar on the PC, or, if you are acting as a smartphone, tap on the Home tab located at the bottom left. Then click on Enter verification code and type the activation number printed on the postcard in the appropriate text field. Finally, press the blue Verify button and that’s it.

How to respond to reviews on Google My Business

When the first reviews arrive on the Google My Business profile, you must be careful to read them and politely respond to them. Not responding to reviews, whether they are positive or not, is harmful: you must always respond, it affects the image of the activity and the courtesy of those who work there.

To reply to customer comments, you need to connect to the Google My Business profile and, from the left sidebar, choose Reviews. From a smartphone, you must instead tap on the Customers icon at the bottom.

Then click on the Reply button immediately below the review of your interest, type the answer in the appropriate field and then click on the Publish answer button.

Once this is done, two buttons will appear under your answer: Edit and Delete. You can use it, as you certainly guess, to change your review or to trash it.

For more information

Google My Business is a flexible and powerful tool. What I have given you are just the basics to start with.

To learn more about the operation and use of the service, please contact the official documentation released by Google. You will surely find all the answers to the questions you may still have about this very useful service.