Improve your online visibility by learning how to optimise your Google My Business page. It’s a great way to help your estate agency get found online. All you need to do is follow these three simple steps and you should see an improvement.
One of the most important first steps to get your estate agency noticed locally is to create, verify and claim your local Google My Business (GMB) listing. Doing this will help your website appear in Google Maps, Google’s local pack (the local companies that appear at the top of Google) and also in organic rankings. On mobile, your GMB listing is the first thing a prospective buyer will see when searching for your company. This means that ensuring all information is correct and up to date is vital to further enhance a user’s overall mobile experience.
In this guide you will learn how to:
If your listing hasn’t been claimed, click the link below to go to the GMB page, and click ‘start now’.
Log into your Google Account and make sure you fill out all the information that Google asks for.
Top tip | Filling out all information is important, many companies don’t realise that on your GMB listing people can actually ‘suggest an edit’. Meaning anyone could potentially add incorrect information about your estate agency if this section is not fully completed and regularly maintained.
Log into your GMB account regularly to ensure all the information is correct.
Once you have submitted all details for your GMB listing you MUST request a verification postcard from Google to verify that you are the owner or employee of the business. To do this you will be prompted to request a verification code once you have submitted your company’s information, and then a postcard will be delivered to your company address within 14 working days.
Once the verification postcard arrives, it will contain a verification code that you need to submit on your Google My Business listing to gain full access to the account. Sometimes if this is not possible you can verify you work for this company using other verification methods such as a phone call with the verification code or even an email to the company email address.
Make sure you are signed in to your Google Account and head over to www.google.com/business and click start now. (Similar to before)
In the next window, if you start to type your company name and a dropdown box appears with an existing listing, you will know that a GMB listing has already been set up. Click on your company listing and click next to move on to the next step.
In the next step, you will see a message that this listing has already been claimed. If you are unsure if someone within your organisation has claimed this listing, the message will partially display the email address that is primarily associated with this account.
If you recognise this email address, contact them to say that you need access to your Google My Business listing by clicking the ‘Request Access’ button.
On the next screen, you need to request what level of access you need, what your relationship is to the business as well as your contact details so the administrator can confirm who is requesting access.
If you have submitted the information and you are still unsure who the administrator is, you must wait up to 7 days for the administrator to get in touch with you before contacting Google. If you know who has primary access to your GMB listing, contact them to gain access.
Over 50% of estate agents don’t utilise their GMB listing
Once you have set up and claimed your Google My Business listing and verified that you are the owner, next you must optimise your listing.
When you are logged into your account, you will see your primary GMB dashboard. On the left-hand side of your dashboard, you have various options to edit your GMB listing. You can also view a general overview of your listing when you have the ‘Home’ option clicked in the left-hand panel.
Much like many social media channels, GMB allows account users to post updates about their business. This post can appear along with your Google My Business listing, appearing when anyone searches for something related to your business on Google. This is something many estate agencies overlook. Posting updates will gain more visits to the website which will result in more leads.
In the info tab, you will be able to update all of your company information. So if you are looking to further optimize your GMB listing or looking to change the opening times for your estate agency, here you will be able to edit all this information including what services you offer and your company name.
Click on the Insights tab and you will find all the data from your Google My Business listing that you need. This includes how people found your GMB listing, where these people are located and what the main keywords that trigger your GMB listing are.
This section of your Google My Business listing is self-explanatory. Click on here and you will see everyone who has left your company a review. It’s important that you encourage clients to leave a positive review after using your services in order to show potential clients how good your services are. Once someone leaves a review make sure that you always reply, even if the review is good or bad.
Businesses with photos see 35% more clicks to their website.
Update your Google My Business listing with photos, videos and a logo of your Agency to show people where you are located and what your offices look like. This gives your listing a personal touch and if a prospective client is planning to visit then they will be able to find your office much easier.
Your Google my business page is also a great addition to your PPC campaigns, allowing your business to be featured and stand out within local search results through ‘Local Search ads’.
There are many features that are included in your GMB listing but the elements above will really help you when looking to attract local clients. If you are looking to optimise your Google My Business listing, create an account or need further assistance please don’t hesitate to contact us to discuss our digital marketing services.
By Ben Spowart
By Ben Spowart
By James Sheldon