Your easy guide to the GMB dashboard Posts – Can be used to promote new products, events, offers and updates. GMB posts are similar to social media; you can upload photos and have up to 300 words to include. It is important that these posts are updated regularly as they will appear in the Google search and map results. Pro Tip – When preparing posts for your social media accounts, make sure you include your GMB Account. Because there really isn’t such a thing as too much exposure when it comes to getting your word out there. Info – This is where you can add in your essential information including trading hours, address, contact number/s, service area and website. You can also upload things like menus, link to where appointments can be made, products, services and even payment methods that you accept. In this section, GMB allows you 750 words to tell your business story. It is worth spending some time on working out the most important details about your business. The things that your potential customers will want to know about you. For instance - Do you offer convenient parking? What services you specialise in? A good tip is to highlight your most important information in the first two sentences. Insights – GMB provides you with extremely useful information on how users are interacting with your profile, and this includes: Searches: How customers search for your business (ie) Direct (business name) v’s Discovery (searching for a product or service) Where customers view your business on Google: This shows the number of users who searched for your business through Google Search v’s the number of users who searched through Google Maps. Customer Actions: This is what customers did from your listing: o Visited website o Requested directions o Called your business Direction requests: Where customers were located when they requested directions to your business. Phone calls: The day of the week and how many calls were received on that day. Popular times: This shows searches when your business is busy. Photo views: This shows the number of views your photos have had, and they compare your photo views compared to similar businesses. Reviews – We can’t emphasise enough how important reviews are to your business. In a survey conducted by Capterra, they found that 98% of Australians read online reviews before they make a purchase, and 94% believe them to be trustworthy. Once your business has a Google Profile, people can leave reviews. To manage them, you need a GMB page. Google reviews are a place your customers can do the talking for you. Ok, so sometimes reviews aren’t positive, and you can’t control that, but what you can control is how you respond. It is very important that you respond to your reviews . ( Pro Tip – Chrissy runs a masterclass on responding to reviews, stay tuned to the CLS website for future dates.) Messages – By turning this feature on, customers can contact you directly via email in real time. Photos – This section allows you and your customers to upload photos of your business, products and services. Google revealed that Businesses with photos are more likely to receive requests for driving directions to their location, as well as clicks through to their websites, than businesses that don't have photos . Photos are especially important, as they visually showcase all that your business has to offer. Bookings – This section allows customers to make bookings, appointments, and reservations through Google. Simply choose one of the providers to get started. Products – For retailers, this is a great section to use for promoting what you sell. Each item can be categorised and listed with a photo, product description and price. There is even a ‘Call To Action’ button for each item (eg) Learn more, Order online etc. Services – This is where you create a list of the services offered by your business. Note – Google updates these keywords regularly, so it’s best to keep checking on these to make sure they’re relevant to your business. Website – Through your GMB you have the ability to create a website.