Don’t Miss Out on Google My Business

Google’s My Business listing, sometimes called the “Google Knowledge Panel” (see Figure 1) is an important digital business asset for your company. It appears on the right hand side of Google organic search return pages (SERPs) when someone searches for your company, or related keywords where your company is the authority brand. According to the Google My Business team (Sept 2016), a My Business listing also assists with your organic search ranking. Your My Business listing assists with professionally branding your company, on the web. Configuring your My Business listing correctly and in the right order, allows you to integrate other Google products (examples: Google+, YouTube, Search Console, AdWords Location Extensions,etc) within your marketing and advertising mix. … Integrating your Google products is a wise decision, given the wide use of Google as an information resource by both business and consumers.

Clarification - With My Business listings, a business address appears as a Google Knowledge Panel in SERPs. My Business listings without an address (Brand pages) do not appear as a Knowledge Panel and become a Google+ page. In the writers opinion, the Brand page option, does little to assist with the main objective of Google My Business - to be found professionally and loudly in organic search. Also a My Business listing is not the same as a Knowledge Graph, which can also appear in the right hand side of a SERP, at the sole determination of Google. (See the Fall 2015 Edition of Digital Dollars and Sense for information on configuring a Knowledge Graph.)

Choosing the Right Login Credentials is Important - We advise all businesses to plan on creating a My Business listing with a business address. The main item to be aware of is that Google My Business creates a Google+ page that is integrated with your My Business Listing. The Google+ page is also associated with services such as a YouTube channel. Video placed on this channel will appear on your Google+ page. Based on this, consider the following: if you have an established Google Account tied to a Google+ page for your business then create your MyBusiness listing through this Account. If you do not have an established Google+ Page then establish your MyBusiness listing with a Google Account that best suits your business.

Have Only One Google+ Page - Google notes that it’s important, from an organic search perspective, that you only have one active Google+ page related to your business. There is no way to port content or amalgamate pages. Consider these implications if you have an active Google+ page for your business now.

Reviews Are Important  - Reviews and testimonials on your My Business page will assist with search rank. Harvest and reply to reviews from your customers. See Sensible Business (this edition) for more on establishing a Testimonial program.

Work it Hard - Having an active Google+ page contributes to your search ranking and where your sidebar will be shown on related search pages. Share all the content you publish on your website with your Google+ page.

Share the Work - You can share management of your Google MyBusiness and Google+ pages through the Google My Business main menu. Integrate these opportunities with programs such as Google AdWords.

Bottom Line: Your brand’s My Business Knowledge Panel is a great digital business card and creates the first impression of your brand, so be sure to tell Google what content needs to be there. It’s also “FREE” and a great opportunity you do not want to miss.