Prioritize Free Publicity that Works – Claim Your Google Profile Today

I got a nice personalized sale promotion postcard in the mail yesterday from a local salon and day spa that I’d never heard about before. The headline on the card read: “When’s the last time you loved your hair? ” and then it offered a special invitation to new clients — a complimentary Shu Uemura or Keratase treatment with a first salon treatment.

Free Publicity v. Real Dollars Spent — You Choose

I’m not sure what the card cost to print but the postage was 28 cents.

Not a big cost, but wasted all the same. I’m not looking for a salon treatment. Not now. Likely, not ever. I’m not even sure where they got my name. But I’m guessing I’m not the only person on their list. Given that the salon is 5 miles from my home, I’m thinking there are many other names on that mailing list. 28 cents times that kind of multiple adds up.

Meanwhile, this salon has not taken advantage of a free solution likely to bring in more business: Google’s local business profiles that feed into the Google Map results that come up when someone searches for a local business.

Yes — the spa has a profile but it has been created by Google, using information and reviews Google found searching the web — basically an address, phone link, and a web address,  plus several reviews. Nothing about the hours of business, or specialized services like Shu Uemura or Kerastase.

Perhaps this simplified Google profile is good enough for the spa — except it must not be, otherwise why is the spa spending hard dollars on old-school snail-mail postcard sales promotions with likely low conversion rates?

I hear lots of excuses when I mention free Google Business listings to small business owners. They mean to look into it, they say. It’s on the to-do list. But they’re busy.

Busy doing what exactly? Something more important that converting qualified leads into new business?

Here’s the point:

Let’s pretend I knew what Shu Uemura is and wanted such a treatment.

So I type “Shu Uemura” in as a keyword into a Google search along with the town where this spa actually does business. Here are the local research results Google spits back, complete with a map. Forget 5 miles, at first glance Google is telling me I have 1 option — to drive 26 miles (crossing a bridge!):

I could sift the organic listings where — yes — I will find the local spa, including a link to its website.

Or maybe I’ll just give up.

Wouldn’t it be better for the spa’s bottom line if the spa just made it easier for me to find it?

Claim your Local Google Business Profile

How do I know the spa hasn’t claimed its profile? More importantly, how do you claim yours?

Try this:

Google: “Name of your company” “City, State where you do business”

If it looks like your company has a listing with your website link, ignore that link and hit the smaller font link to “reviews” instead. On the next screen, look for the word “Edit.” Click on that.

A profile of some kind should pop up, and so will a map with a bulletin board push pin poked into your address. In the bubble attached to the pin where your address is listed, look for the words — “Claim your business.”

That’s the hint — Google is looking for you to provide information about your business it knows it can trust.

Click and follow directions!

Fill in information. Offer your website as a link. Whatever you want. It’s your business profile!

Once you claim your site, ask Google to send the required activation PIN to your business address. When you get it, use the PIN  and follow directions on the card.

Now you’re free to do a bunch of stuff that can help your business:

(1) Update your profile even more — anytime. Add pictures you took that day; replace them with new ones next week. Even better information customers might need to know — like a new service you’ve just added that you’re promoting with a coupon the search can print with a click. Maybe ask some of your best customers to submit reviews.

(2) Access Google Business metrix  — it’s free. Think Google Analytics but this time it’s specific to your free business profile. See how people are searching for you and finding this profile. Look at the keywords they use. Tweak your own website using these keywords to improve your organic search results, too.

All this for free.

So… what are you waiting for? How about taking 15 minutes this weekend and commit to making Claiming your business’ Google Profile one of your completed weekend chores?

The ROI on your 15 minutes to claim and improve your Google profile is worth it.

Still uncertain? Search for your local competition. See if they have a robust search-engine optimized Google Profile. Where do they line-up on Google local results?

Is your competition likely getting local business that you’re missing?

If you’d rather pay someone to do this work for you, that’s what I’m here for.

It’ll still be worth the investment.