Google Business Card
Originally, a business card was a visiting ticket to inform of a guest’s upcoming visit, it was also left in the absence of the hosts as a message about the visit. Nowadays – in the age of the Internet, such a visit can be accompanied by a comment, a like or a photo on the company’s profile. In turn, the host, i.e. the owner of the company, can respond to the visitor in a few seconds on the forum.
What is a Google business card?
A traditional paper business card contains the necessary contact information of a particular company or person. A Google business card is, in simplest terms, a company profile, containing the most relevant information about the business, as determined by the owner. It contains elements such as address, contact information and opening hours. It is free, in addition, you can find customer reviews, which allows other potential customers to choose the best service provider. Many of us have found ourselves in a situation where in a foreign city wanted a tasty meal or on the road as soon as possible needed to refuel the car. In such a situation, Google’s business card came to the rescue. All we had to do was enter the phrases we wanted in the search engine and the profiles of companies in the immediate area were displayed, and we chose the one that most met our criteria
Where to start?
From the Google business card we will get such information as address (including directions), contact, customer ratings, photos, and consequently it should be properly prepared. This is an easy and relatively quick activity. To get started, you need to log in to your Google account – if you don’t have one, you can link your company email to Google or create a new email address. We choose Create an account, enter the data, accept the terms and conditions. One of the most important elements is the address of the company’s headquarters, we should check whether it is certainly correct, we also decide whether it will be visible to Internet users. In the wizard, we fill in the rest of the information about the business, the category of services provided, and how the interested parties will be served whether at the company’s base or on a walk-in basis. Finally, we wait for verification of the business card, that’s the whole philosophy. Google business card can be edited at any time, supplementing or changing information. Photos or a virtual walk-through will be an added advantage, as well as entries that will make the offer more attractive in the eyes of buyers. In addition, you should spend more time selecting keywords that will make your business easier to find. Keywords should be directly related to the services provided, region/city.
Benefits of having a Google business card
- Promotion – with a Google business card on Google My Business, information about the company becomes widely available, allowing for (not only) local promotion on the Internet
- More customers – the more promotion, the more interestedcustomers
- Success of local SEO – having a Google business card has a real impact on the development of local SEO, even more so if the service provider does not have its own website
- Verified company – a potential customer who finds a particular company with a Google business card subconsciously has confidence that it offers reliable and verified services, thanks to photos and reviews, among other things
- Visibility – the company is visible in the search engine, Google suggests it to the interested party and helps to reach it, shortens the contact distance
- Contact with the customer – the ability to interact with the customer, respond to comments, opinions, add photos of the premises, which makes it easier to reach the company
- Update information – at any time the owner can update information, such as opening hours
Some tips
When creating a Google business card, it is important to do some discernment among your competitors’ business cards to know what elements affect high positioning during searches. These include the main category, the range of services provided, and keywords. It is also important to list your business on Google Maps and get the right attributes by answering several questions posed to users. For example: Is there handicapped parking available? Is it a good place for children? Through the responses of customers on the Internet, you get adequate attributes. It is also worth checking statistics to verify whether the business card adequately fulfills its role.
Unfortunately, as in most areas of life, it is possible to come across dishonest people in promoting a business. Sometimes entrepreneurs receive phone calls or emails with offers to sell Google business cards. Among other things, they are deceitfully offered to people who have already existed on the Internet for a long time and who are supposedly running out of free search engine display. Google does not charge anything for this service, and we hire third-party companies for SEO and other business card services ourselves, which means we have control over costs in this regard. It should be remembered that only services like Google AdWords are paid, which further promote companies, increase traffic to their websites, while the Google business card itself is free.
