Six Reasons why Franchises need Google my Business Support
Without the support and guidance of a centralised Google my Business agency, anyone in an organisation is free to create, claim and verify a free Google My Business page which could potentially end up with you having multiple listings from your own franchise or multi-location business competing against each other in the local search results.
“Maintaining consistent names and categories across all your business locations help users to quickly identify your business on Google Maps and search results”
Google Guidelines 2019
Many multi-location Google My Business pages are in disarray. Here are six reasons how a centralised SEO department can help you.
All locations can be managed from one hub including your opening hours. Anyone can suggest an edit to your Google My Business page which could wreak havoc until the change has been discovered.
Consistent response to answering the reviews, personalised in your brands’ voice. It is essential that reviews are answered quickly, politely and personally to show your company is engaging with its customers and values their opinion either good or bad.
Customers should be encouraged to write reviews because although there is little evidence to show they increase the ranking results, they do encourage people to click through to your site and Google likes that.
Local Search Ads Ads on Google can feature your business locations and lead users to call or visit your locations. When people search for nearby businesses on Google.co.uk or Google Maps (for example, “coffee near me”), they may see local search ads that feature your business locations.
Optimum Content Google my Business is in effect your mini free website. So use it! Depending on the industry you’re in, will depend on the type of information Google will let you use within your page. Most industries will have the opportunity to post mini-blogs, special offers, events and products all of which encourage interaction and increase your chances of showing up.
Google Maps Messaging Feature With Google giving GMB the ‘messaging’ feature your customers now have the ability to message you directly from maps. Don’t miss out on this opportunity, talk to us to turn this feature on and manage your messaging.
Photo Management People love to post photos of their experience in your restaurant or store and after a night out some of these can be pretty outrageous or not even of your business which in turn can be detrimental. By using a Google my Business channel manager your photos can be assessed regularly ensuring that there are no surprises and any unsavoury images can be flagged for removal as soon as possible.
