Google My Business For Home Builders Part 1

Google My Business is a free marketing tool offered by Google that is perfect for local search relevance. In the past, businesses have used Google Maps, Google Places, and Google Plus to manage their local listings on Google. All of those programs have been combined and relaunched as Google My Business. If you want to be found in the Google Map search results or the local search results, then you need to use the Google My Business tool to create a listing and add important information such as your hours of operation, contact information, and pictures of your product or service. For home builders, this is the ultimate free opportunity to showcase model homes, sales offices, and information centers in local Google search results to potential customers before they ever visit your properties or possibly even before they speak with you.

How Do I Claim My Google My Business Listing?

It is quite simple to claim the Google My Business listing for your company. The following steps will have you managing your new listing in no time at all.

• Click on Start Now. Go to Google My Business and click on the green Start Now button. Follow the prompts. Use the Google account login information to connect this product to your other Google business products (Google Analytics, Google AdWords). Signing up for a Google account is free and easy.
• Claim Your Listing. Google will ask you to claim your business. This is a simple process that allows you to establish the physical location of your business. For home builders, you could set up a listing for each of your model homes as well as your physical business site. Google requires a physical address for this type of listing so that they can create a map showing the business location when a person clicks on your listing.
• Verify Your Business. Google will mail out a postcard to the physical address of your company with a code printed on it or you can opt for an instant phone call to the phone number on your listing and provide a PIN code. Log into your account once it is received to verify that your address is valid. Your listing will now go live.
• Use The Tools. Google My Business offers many tools for free that will allow you to customize your listing so that all potential customers will have access to relevant information right away, such as hours of operation or photos of your product. These marketing tools help your business stand apart from similar businesses that also come up in the search results.

If you already have a business listing on Google, entering into the Google My Business program will allow you to enhance the listing by giving you access to all of the program’s features. It is one of the simplest ways to improve your ranking on Google search and reach more customers quickly and easily.

It has been proven that when a person conducts a search on the Internet, they want as much information as possible in their search results. They also won’t scroll down the page while searching.  This is why using Google to promote your business is vitally important.  Availability of information is often the determining factor if they visit the main site of the company or if they just stop and make contact at that moment. Using Google My Business will give you the advantage of having all relevant information about your company easily accessible to potential clients.

Stay tuned for next week’s article which will go in-depth on how to optimize your Google My Business listing to increase leads and traffic to your website.

Categorised in: Toolbox Tuesdays