Google My Business and Online Search for Local Business Information

Google My Business is a free tool for displaying and managing local business information, such as stores and companies, on Google services such as Google Search and Google Maps. It was launched in June 2014 (Heisei 26) when Google Places and Google+ were integrated. When you search for the name of a restaurant or clothing store in a specific location on Google, basic information about the store, photos, and a map are displayed on the left side of the search results screen. Google My Business is a service that allows you to register and manage this information, enabling you to post the latest business information on Google’s search results for free.

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Google My Business and Local Search

Google My Business is equipped with various features and personalityistics that can be useful for businesses. One of its most significant features is the ability to display business information in search results on Google Search and Google Maps.

With the widespread use of smartphones, it has become possible to easily search for the information you want, wherever you are, whenever you want. Against this backdrop, there has been an increase in cases where people collect information about stores and destinations through local searches, such as “area name + industry”. There is a possibility that people looking for a provider of the service you offer near your store will search on Google. Google My Business is gaining attention as a means of local search and a way to acquire potential customers.

Convenient Local Search Feature

For example, if you search for “Tokyo Station Italian”, Italian restaurants inside Tokyo Station will be displayed, and you can find popular restaurants and branches of restaurants that are also located elsewhere. You can also confirm the address and location of the store you were looking for or a specific store you had in mind. You may also discover for the first time that a store you only knew by name or saw on a TV location shoot is located inside Tokyo Station.

Not only that, but you may also find a store you didn’t know about in a nearby station hotel that you hadn’t considered, and after seeing the menu, photos, and reviews, you might decide to give it a try. Isn’t this something that many people have experienced when they actually do a local search? Google My Business is very useful not only for finding the store you were looking for but also for discovering new stores.

In addition, you may be able to find a clothing store that is having a sale or a beauty salon that is offering a limited-time service. From the user’s perspective, it is a tool for making new discoveries and leading a convenient and economical life. From the business owner’s perspective, it can be an excellent tool for appealing to potential customers and acquiring new customers. This is the biggest feature of Google My Business, and it can be said that Google My Business has the potential to become a powerful weapon. Therefore, it is important to consider what kind of business profile to create and how to operate it.

Business Profile

A business profile that can be created for free is useful for promoting your business in important situations, such as when your business or similar products/services are searched on Google Search or Google Maps. By logging into your Google My Business account and updating your address, phone number, website, business hours, etc., customers can easily find the latest business information and connect with you. By constantly updating your profile with new photos, special offers, promotions, etc., you can appeal the attractiveness of your business to users.

In this business profile, you can edit the “Business Name”, “Category”, “Business Base (Address)”, “Non-Store Type (Area Limited Service)”, “Business Hours”, “Special Business Hours”, “Phone Number”, “Attributes”, “URL”, “Business Description”, and “Opening Date”.

Business Name

Ensure your business name is clear and easy to understand. If there are issues with the business name that has been automatically registered, you can edit it by clicking on the pen icon next to the business name. If you are opening a new business, you might consider including the name of your area in your business name to make it easier for people to find you when they search by location.

Category

There are two types of categories: main categories and additional categories. You can register multiple additional categories. The category that best matches the business operations of the store can be set as the main category, and if there are multiple businesses or products, additional categories can be added. Although you cannot freely write in the category, there are enough categories available that you will likely find a suitable one in most cases. For example, related to wine, there are categories such as “winery”, “wine bar”, “wine wholesalers and importers”, and “wine shop”. There are also categories like “rodeo”, “sheriff’s office”, “gun shop”, and even “morgue”.

Business Location (Address)

The items that can be registered in the address editing section are “Country”, “Postal Code”, “Prefecture”, and “Address”. You can also change the position of the pin on Google Maps.

• For “Country”, “Japan” is selected if you are in Japan.
• “Postal Code” is important as it may affect searches based on location information.
• “Prefecture” is a selection type.
• “Address” is particularly important. If your store is located in a building, include the building name and floor number.
• Choosing “Yes” for “Provides delivery or service on a business trip” will make it easier for users searching for mobile services to find you, but it may make it harder for users looking for physical stores to find you, so be careful.

Non-Storefront (Area-Specific Services)

Business owners operating home-based or non-storefront businesses can also utilize Google My Business. In such cases, it is possible to hide your address.

Business Hours and Special Business Hours

Business hours are set on a daily basis. You can choose between regular business days or days off, and set the business hours accordingly. For establishments with lunch breaks or similar intervals, it is also possible to divide and register the business hours into multiple time slots for each day of the week.

With special business hours, you can make settings for conducting business on regular days off or on business days that usually fall on days off. For example, you can set every Tuesday and every other Wednesday as days off.

Phone Number

Google My Business is designed with the concept of making it easier for users to find information about the businesses they are interested in. Therefore, it is advantageous for customer acquisition to register a phone number that starts with an area code that affects location information. If you want to register a toll-free or IP phone number to reduce your customers’ call charges, it is recommended that you register it as an additional phone number after registering a regular number as the main one.

Attributes

In the attributes section, you can display information about the products or services you offer, such as the availability of Wi-Fi or terrace seating. Adding relevant and accurate attributes to your business profile can help differentiate your store or other establishments when users search on Google. These attributes, such as “terrace seating,” are highlighted as badges on your business profile displayed on Google Search and Google Maps, especially when users find your business on mobile. The attributes you can set vary by category. For example, attributes such as available payment methods and accessibility services can be displayed. By editing your business information on Google My Business, you can check the attributes your business can have.

URL

You can register the URL of your official website to be displayed in Google search results and on Google Maps. By displaying the URL of your homepage, there is a possibility that users who have searched will flow into the homepage from Google search or Google Maps. Given the nature of Google My Business, if you have multiple stores and have pages for each store on the official site, it would be better to register the URL of each store’s page on My Business, rather than the top page of the official site.

Using the exact same notation for the four pieces of information – store name, address, phone number, and URL – including half-width, full-width, uppercase, and lowercase, increases the likelihood that search engines will recognize information listed on other sites as information related to the same service. This can also have effects such as making your company’s homepage more likely to be displayed when a compound search is performed with the regional name.

Photos and Videos

By logging into the Google My Business management screen and opening an account to edit basic information under “Manage Business Information”, you can register photos and videos from “Photos”.

The types of photos you can choose from are as follows:

• Summary: All photo data is displayed.
• Owner Provided: Photos uploaded by the owner of My Business are displayed.
• User Taken: Photos uploaded by users are displayed.
• 360: Street view images (outdoor and indoor) are displayed.
• Videos: If you have uploaded videos, they will be displayed.
• Inside: Photos of the inside of the store are displayed, allowing you to convey the interior and atmosphere.
• Exterior: Exterior photos from various directions make it easier for users to find.
• Workplace: You can convey the atmosphere of the company.
• Team: Photos of the management team and staff are displayed.
• ID Information: These are “Cover Photo” and “Profile Photo”. By posting a cover photo, you can appeal the personality of your page. The cover photo is set as the photo to be displayed at the top of My Business.
• The profile photo is the photo reflected in the icon. It will be more noticeable to users on Google services.

There are established guidelines for the photos and videos you upload.

Guidelines for Photos and Videos

Google recommends uploading at least three photos for each category. It’s better to upload many attractive photos, not just three, but unfortunately, you cannot freely set the photos to be displayed. The photos displayed on Google My Business are randomly selected from the uploaded photos, so you cannot choose a specific photo. Moreover, the displayed photos include not only those uploaded by the store or company, but also those uploaded by users. Photos uploaded by the store or company are displayed preferentially over those uploaded by users, so if you upload many photos taken by your company, the probability of them being displayed increases.

Post Feature

Google My Business includes a ‘post feature’ that allows you to disseminate business information. This feature enables you to display information about your products or services, limited-time services, and timely topics such as events in real-time on Google search results and the knowledge panel of Google Maps. The information that can be displayed includes:

• Photos/Videos
• Text
• Post buttons (such as ‘Details’, ‘Purchase’, ‘Apply’)

For mobile users, this information is displayed on the [Updates] or [Overview] tab of the business profile on Google Search and Google Maps, based on various signals. For PC users, it is displayed on the business profile on Google Search and Google Maps. The ‘post’ feature offers four types: ‘Latest Information’, ‘Events’, ‘Benefits’, and ‘Products/Services’. Understanding each type and using them appropriately according to the content you want to disseminate is recommended.

However, ‘posts’ are displayed for only one week. After one week, the post is automatically deleted and no longer displayed, but before the post disappears, you will receive a notification email from Google encouraging you to make your next post. However, event posts are an exception and will be displayed until the event ends.

Latest Information

This is a feature for disseminating business information. You can include photos, videos, links, buttons, and other information.

Events

This is a feature for promoting events. Posts about events must include a title, start and end dates, and event times. You can also include photos, videos, buttons, and other information.

Benefits

This is a post for advertising promotional sales or coupons. Posts about coupons must include a title, start and end dates, and implementation times. A [View Coupon] button is automatically added. In addition, you can include photos, videos, coupon codes, links, and terms of use. For example, if you are a pizza shop, you can advertise something like ‘20% off large size for one week only’.

Products/Services:

This is used when advertising specific products. Posts about products must include a title and photos (or videos). Each ‘post’ allows you to choose an action button to add. The types of ‘buttons’ are:

• Reservation: Link to the reservation page
• Purchase: Link to the online shopping site
• Details: Link to the detailed explanation page
• Registration: Link to the registration page
• Get Coupon: Link to the coupon page
• Call Now: Call the store

These are the options available.

Summary

We have explained the overview of Google My Business, and we hope you now understand that it is an important and attractive tool for local searches. Details about “Registration” and “Insights” are described in another article on our site, “Registration and Utilization of Google My Business”. Let’s effectively use Google My Business to disseminate information and expand your business.