How to Create a Google My Business Profile? With Examples

In today’s environment, where customers are now doing multiple web searches before choosing a product, your company’s e-reputation plays a crucial role in acquiring new customers. In this sense, it is of great importance to optimize your online presence to appear in search engines. However, improving your positioning in search engines to improve your online reputation can be a challenge, especially if you are not familiar with the concept of Organic Referencing (SEO).

Download now : -> 13 Online Review Response Templates (Positive and Negative)

How can you optimize your online presence to improve your positioning on the most popular search engine, Google? To achieve this, creating a Google My Business profile is a must for your organization.

According to the Semrush study, Google has more than 4.3 billion users and 92% of the market share. In this sense, creating a Google My Business profile is a significant asset for your organization. Thanks to this profile, you will not only be able to appear more easily in the results of this search engine, but you will also be able to obtain valuable Google reviews that will testify to the quality of your services. This is a great way to improve your online reputation as well as your natural SEO!

Don’t know how to create a Google My Business profile or how to optimize it? In this article, discover valuable tips for learning how to manage your Google Business account as well as best practices for responding to your Google reviews online.

Why create a Google My Business profile?

The importance of Google reviews for your business

During the Zero Moment Of Truth, the period before the purchase decision, users do research and compare the different options available to them. In this sense, creating a Google My Business profile is a great way to show your potential customers your credibility as an organization.

According to E-Marketing’s analysis, 87% of Internet users rely on online reviews before making a purchase decision. To this end, you can invite your satisfied customers to leave positive reviews online on your Google Business page. This will attest to the satisfaction of your customers and will put your prospects in confidence. This is a must for acquiring new customers, but also for improving your e-reputation and your positioning in search engines.

Did you know that a good local SEO allows you to generate 1000% more traffic than the SEO not targeted locally? Creating a Google My Business profile can significantly increase traffic on your online platforms! By optimizing the integration of certain keywords related to your company’s location and by highlighting your positive reviews online, you increase your chances of being referred by Google’s search engine. In addition, improving your local positioning is the key to attracting customers close to your branches. This will allow you to build a network of regular customers and, by the same token, ensure a stable income for your organization.

Overall, creating a Google My Business profile is essential to get valuable online reviews that will improve your e-reputation. Good management of your reviews as well as your Google My Business page will increase your online visibility, allowing you to acquire new customers. This is an essential strategy to ensure the sustainability of your business!

How to create a Google My Business profile?

The steps to create a Google My Business profile

Since Google is the world’s most widely used search engine, it’s essential to optimize your online visibility and create a Google My Business profile. This page will allow users to know your opening hours, your address, your products and services, your phone number and the address of your website in just one click! In addition, the locations of your branches will be automatically shared on Google Maps with your potential customers during local searches. Interesting, isn’t it?

You want to create a Google My Business profile, but don’t know how to do it? Here are nine easy steps to help you create your own Google My Business profile to get more leads:

1. Go to the Google My Business login page and click “Manage Now”.

2. Log in using your Gmail account. If you don’t have one, create one before proceeding.

3. Enter your company’s name in the “Find and Manage My Business” section.

4. Enter your company’s name, address, hours of operation and phone number, then share them on Google Maps.

5. Through the “Products” section of your Google My Business profile, create a range of products and services with descriptions and photos to better populate your Google My Business profile. This will allow you to give a better overview of your business to your potential customers. You can also accompany these products/services with links to your website to provide your prospects with a fast and efficient service.

6. Create interesting publications to inform your customers about your new products, services, promotions or upcoming events. By writing posts with interesting visuals, you show Google that your profile is up-to-date, encouraging them to refer you to potential customers. In addition, you can build an active community through relevant information and special events.

9. Regularly answer Google questions and reviews left on your Google My Business profile in order to increase your e-reputation. A customer service entirely dedicated to online reviews will convey a sense of belonging to your users. This is a great way to build a community based on trust and respect. This will significantly increase your customer engagement and loyalty!

How to optimize your Google My Business profile?

How to manage my Google My Business profile on a daily basis

Once you’ve created your Google My Business profile, you’ll need to optimize it regularly to attract new leads to your organization. However, managing a Google My Business profile can be complex, especially for those less familiar with concepts such as online customer experience or local positioning. In that sense, how can you ensure the proper management of your Google My Business profile to attract more customers to your company?

To help you, here are nine best practices to follow in order to manage your Google My Business profile on a daily basis.

1. Make sure you complete your Google My Business profile

A well completed Google My Business profile will allow your prospects to get the desired information in just one click. In this sense, be sure to fill in all the sections of your form when creating your Google My Business profile. To make it easier for you, here is a short list of the different sections to complete on your account:

• Your company name;
• Your address;
• Your telephone number;
• Your opening and closing hours;
• Your website link;
• Your field of expertise and attributes;
• Your products and services;
• Your business description;
• Your answers to the questions asked regularly.

2. Write a complete description of your business

To make your services better known to Internet users, why not write a complete description of your organization? When you create a Google My Business profile, don’t forget to write a short text that represents the essence of your business. This description appears on your Google My Business profile: this is a golden opportunity for your prospects to learn more about your organization’s expertise!

When writing your business description:

• Use the 750 characters at your disposal, taking care to integrate your key informations into the first 250 characters;
• Reiterate your mission, values and objectives;
• Use a keyword related to your local positioning or field of expertise to optimize your visibility in the search for potential customers;
• Do not repeat any information that already appears in another section of your record. When creating your Google My Business profile, use your description to differentiate yourself from your competitors by explaining how your offer differs from the competition and what your customers like most about your services.

3. Post at least once a week through your Google My Business account

Although this topic has been covered previously, we remind you of the importance of posting regularly with your Google My Business account (at least once a week) to notify Google that your account is active and up to date. What better way to do this than to write regular publications for your clientele? This valuable information about your upcoming products, services, events and promotions is a great opportunity to generate engagement from your current customers, but also to show Google that you keep your page up to date. Thus, the famous search engine will be more inclined to recommend you to new leads and will improve your positioning in search results. That’s why creating a Google My Business profile is an asset for your website traffic as well as for your acquisition of new customers!

4. Quickly answer questions and online reviews through your Google My Business account and show empathy

When a client writes a question or review online, it is important to respond as quickly as possible. To this end, throughout the management of your Google My Business account, be attentive to feedback from your customers.

Be sure to follow best practices in terms of online customer service to maximize customer satisfaction. Proactive and empathetic customer service will quickly show your customers that they are at the center of your priorities. These quick and humane responses will generate considerable commitment on the part of Internet users and show your prospects that you are a trustworthy company. This is a great way to win new customers while enhancing your e-reputation!

5. Update your information regularly to increase your chances of being recommended by Google

A company with information that is no longer valid greatly limits the acquisition of customers. After all, each additional click may cause you to lose your leads. In addition, Google prefers companies with up-to-date information to provide customers with the best possible experience.

In this sense, after creating a Google My Business profile, don’t forget to update your information regularly. As soon as you change your address, phone number or even website, make sure that the data shared on your Google Company is accurate. This will make it easier for your customers to contact you and optimize your appearance in search results.

6. Add owners and managers to help manage your Google My Business account

Following the creation of your Google My Business profile, managing and updating your business can be a real challenge! That is why we invite you to share this responsibility with your managers and the owners of your various branches.

Here’s how you can add users to help you better manage your Google Business account: 

1. Sign in to your Google My Business account;
2. Enter the name of your company;
3. Tap on the “Users” section of your profile;
4. Add or remove users to share the management of your Google My Business account.

7. Differentiate yourself by optimizing your product and service offering according to the needs of your users

In customer experience, it is crucial to know how to adapt your products and services to the needs of your customers. However, this also applies to your online services, especially when it comes to creating a Google Business profile.

Pay attention to your customers’ questions and opinions online, then adapt your service offer to their current needs. In this sense, be sure to update the section of your products and services to show your customers that their opinion is heard and considered. This is a great way to improve your online customer experience through your Google My Business profile.

8. Optimize your content with keywords related to your local positioning

As mentioned earlier, it is crucial to optimize your local SEO in order to appear in the results of local searches done by your nearby customers. Such optimization will be greatly beneficial for your online SEO: it is a must for acquiring new prospects!

To this end, don’t forget to include relevant keywords with your local positioning in your publications, advertisements and promotions. When you create a Google My Business profile, you can even include the city’s name of your point of sale on your page. This is a good strategy to improve your visibility when doing local searches.

9. Add your various branches on Google Maps

Finally, when creating your Google My Business profile, link your various points of sale to your account, then share them with Google Maps to optimize your local SEO. This SEO tactic will not only allow you to appear in the local searches of your prospects, but will greatly improve your chances of being located in the Google Local Pack when searching online. These first three local search results will increase your online visibility and allow you to easily acquire new customers!

How to respond to online reviews with your Google Business account?

Of course, an essential part of running your business is responding to online reviews. Whether positive or negative, these feedbacks have a double-edged impact on the acquisition of new customers as well as your e-reputation.

If your positive reviews allow you to assure your prospects the quality of your products and services, a few negative reviews can harm the success of your business. In addition, according to HubSpot’s study, 90% of customers expect a quick response from customer service. According to the same source, 60% of these customers define this speed as a response obtained in less than ten minutes. In this sense, it is crucial to monitor and respond to your questions and online reviews as quickly as possible.

Following the creation of a Google My Business profile, be empathetic and proactive. Thank your customers for their time: show your gratitude for positive reviews and offer relevant solutions for your dissatisfied customers. Such account management will certainly improve your acquisition of new leads as well as your current customer engagement!

Not sure how to respond to your online reviews via your Google My Business account? To help you, here are three quick steps to respond to your online reviews in record time.

1. Log in to your Google My Business account by selecting your company’s name on Google’s search engine, or by selecting your business profile via Google Maps.

2. Select the “Reviews” option.

3. Select “Reply”, “Edit” or “Flag as inappropriate” depending on the desired action.

Positive Google reviews

How to manage positive Google reviews? Our expert advice on the subject

Once your Google My Business profile is created, it’s now time to invite your customers to leave you positive Google reviews online.

How can you respond to positive Google reviews after creating a Google My Business profile? To help you, here are seven best practices to follow:

1. Personalize your answer with the name of the author of the opinion and the type of service provided to give a human touch to your interaction;
2. Thank the customer for their positive feedback and show gratitude for the time they invest in the success of your business;
3. Highlight the particularly positive points of the customer review in order to draw the attention of Internet users to the qualities of your service offer;
4. Respond to customer reviews in an authentic and professional tone;
5. Write a short message to avoid losing the attention of the customer and other users;
6. Offer to invite other satisfied customers to share their positive Google reviews on your Google My Business profile;
7. Invite them to stay in touch with you with your Google My Business profile or newsletter to find out about your upcoming events and promotions.

Negative Google reviews, a reality for some companies

How to manage negative reviews on your Google My Business profile?

While positive reviews are an asset to your business, negative reviews can be detrimental to your brand image. In fact, an organization that does not pay attention to customer dissatisfaction is likely to acquire a bad reputation, in addition to neglecting the opportunity to improve its customer experience.

In addition, according to Search Engine Land’s analysis, 75% of companies do not even bother to respond to their online reviews. In this sense, after creating your Google My Business profile, stand out from your competitors by responding to customer reviews, both positive and negative. This will allow you to improve your e-reputation and rectify some customer dissatisfactions! 

Not sure how to reply to negative customer reviews? Here are nine tips for responding to your online reviews after you created your Google My Business profile:

1. Validate first if the Google review is spam from a malicious person or competitor. If it is genuine, avoid deleting it;
2. Respond quickly to the negative review, ideally in less than twenty-four hours;
3. Thank the customer for the valuable time they have invested in your business and emphasize that their feedback will improve your customer experience;
4. Apologize to the customer for the unpleasant experience they had with your company;
5. Use a professional and empathetic tone to show the customer that you are well intentioned;
6. Learn about the source of their dissatisfaction in order to propose relevant solutions related to the problem presented;
7. Avoid invalidating the customer’s emotions or frustrations so as not to attract the attention of users;
8. Offer the customer to continue the conversation by email, phone or at your office to avoid drawing the attention of other Internet users to the negative opinion;
9. If you manage to resolve customer dissatisfaction, invite the user to change their negative review to a positive one. Keep this practice in mind when creating a Google My Business profile!

How InputKit can help you manage and increase customer reviews for your Google My Business account

Are you running out of time to respond to your online feedback? Are you afraid you won’t provide a good answer when you receive negative feedback? If so, InputKit’s Google Review Improvement Solution is for you!

With our solution, you can encourage your satisfied customers to leave you an online review after a customer satisfaction survey or a customer experience in-store. These fully automated invitations will allow them to respond at the right time, one to two hours after the experience. In addition, our response rate of 49% by email and 57% by SMS will also allow you to collect valuable reviews that will attest to your qualities as a company. When you create a Google My Business profile, it’s a good strategy to get more positive reviews on your Google My Business!

Once you have created a Google My Business profile, our centralized management will also notify you in real-time when a customer is dissatisfied. This feature, along with a filter for non-answered reviews, will save you several hours of management. If you have any difficulties with your answers, know that our solution is equipped with artificial intelligence capable to provide fully personalized and automated answers to your customer reviews. This is a must to optimize the management of your customer service!

Finally, our solution offers a dashboard that brings together the scorecards of your online review numbers and the average score of each of your branches. With this feature, you can compare the results of your points of sale in order to get a clear picture of your customer satisfaction by branch. This centralized management also allows you to compare yourself with industry averages to see where you stand against your competitors. Following the creation of a Google My Business profile, this feature is an asset to ensure the longevity and good service of your company!

Finally, creating a Google My Business profile is a must for your organization. Follow our best practices to increase your visibility on search engines and acquire new customers!

How do I create a Google My Business profile? First, sign in to your Gmail to create your Google Business account. Enter your company name on the Google Enterprise search engine, then create your organization’s profile. Enter your company name, phone number, hours of operation and address to facilitate access to information for your users. Fill your profile with descriptions and pictures of your product and service to better inform your leads about your company’s field of expertise. Then, write relevant publications accompanied by interesting visuals on a regular basis to keep your profile up to date. Include your website link on your profile and include a call to action to encourage your customers to call you now. Also take care to answer questions and online reviews left by your community in order to maintain your good e-reputation. These are great practices to keep in mind when creating your Google My Business profile!

How to manage your Google Business account? Make sure you have completed all sections of your Google My Business profile, then update it regularly with relevant information and publications that will interest your target audience. Optimize your content with the integration of local keywords and accompany it with good quality visuals to add a human touch to your business. Take care to answer your questions and reviews online to maintain your good e-reputation, then stand out as a company by adapting your service offer based on the feedback received. Finally, pin your various branches on Google Maps to make it easier for nearby customers to find you. Remember that you can also share responsibility for your Google My Business account by adding owners and managers to update your content regularly!

Now that you’ve created a Google My Business profile, do you need help managing your reviews online? Don’t hesitate to plan a completely personalized and free demo of our solution with our team of online opinion experts. This will allow you to improve your customer acquisition as well as your e-reputation while saving you valuable management hours!