The landscape of this city is mostly treeless and flat—it sounds plain, but the people here are anything but. As the capital of Saskatchewan, Regina is populated by 230,725 people. Football fans know how passionate these folks are about their Saskatchewan Roughriders. This city has been around for decades; the houses in neighbourhoods, like Lakeview, are proof of its long standing character. Regina used to have villages on its outskirts like North Annex, which was amalgamated in 1923. In Glenelm Park, a residential area, there’s a library and shopping centre. Those who want to stay active will appreciate the bike path in Normanview West. Businesses in this prairie city have to work hard for success; they need to take advantage of any leverage they can get. One way for a business to break through barriers and overcome the competition is by setting up a Google My Business listing.
By claiming your GMB listing, you will have access to a range of features that will inform your customers, advertise your services, and increase your rankings in local search results. But how do you do it? There are a few steps to follow in this process: first, you’ll need a Google account. Use it to either create a Business Profile or claim an existing one—to check if one exists, search the name of your company on Maps or the Google homepage. You should see an option to claim the listing in the drop-down menu. At this point, you’ll need to go through the verification process. This is done through a code that Google will send to the location of the business, the email address associated with it, or your phone via SMS. Once it’s verified, all that’s left to do is add your information; be sure to include your website, a description, category, and photos of your business. The more information you post, the better—it helps inform your customers and provide more content for Google’s bots to crawl.
So, your GMB listing is all set up and ready to go. Now, it’s time to start reaping the benefits. A few are instantaneous: you will now appear in Map results, and potentially Google’s Local 3-Pack. When people search for your services, they’ll have an easier time finding you. If your competitor fails to claim their listing, while yours is fully fleshed-out, you’ve already got an advantage over them. Better yet, managing your listing is completely free. You’ve got nothing to lose.
Customers can leave reviews and star ratings on your GMB listing. Online review management is an important part of monitoring your company’s reputation. People put their trust in online reviews; up to 82% of consumers will check the reviews of a local business. This is great for businesses with positive reviews, but what do you do when you receive a negative one? As much as you want to ignore it, responding is your best option; it will make 71% of customers more likely to use your business. Consumers take notice when companies pay attention to their feedback. To cultivate an online presence that people notice, play an active role in managing reviews.
With GMB, the availability of posting photos and videos will allow you to showcase new products and services. It boosts customer engagement and increases awareness about what your business has to offer. When you post high-quality photos on your GMB, you’ll have the proof to back up claims about your products; this increases the authority of your company in the eyes of consumers.
Search engine optimization is all about ranking higher in search results. Without SEO, your website will be buried by the competition. Any SEO strategy needs to include GMB management; one survey found that these signals made up 8.85% of local ranking factors. For Google to rank your website’s relevance, it needs to know more about your business, and a GMB provides just that.
Are you looking for Regina SEO? At First Rank, we have a proven track record when it comes to delivering results; just look at the case studies on our website. We are confident that we can help new clients find your business in search engines. To learn more about setting up your GMB in Regina, contact us today.
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