Our 26 August networking evening was a special event where we learned a lot from one of our WBII members, Moran Greenwald. The evening started with traditional selfies for Instagram using #wbiinetworking to post the pictures.
Our vice president, Dymphna Elsink, welcomed us and introduced the WBII to non-members. She also shared some information about upcoming speakers and informed us that the new Start Your Own Business seminar will take place on 11 November.
We then moved on to our main speaker of the evening, Moran Greenwald, who spoke to us about how to set up your Google My Business listing (a practical workshop). Moran is a Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) consultant. Her business, Data for a Change, helps small businesses to navigate the Google Jungle and be found in search results. She has just reopened her website with a fresh and elegant design: https://dataforachange.com/.
Moran began by talking about Google My Business (GMB), a free and easy-to-use tool for businesses and organisations to manage their online presence across Google. This tool helps customers find your business.
Moran used the example of a bookshop to show us how GMB works. But why should we all want to be on GMB if our business is not a bookshop?
She gave us 5 reasons:
1. It’s free and easy to set up and maintain.
2. You will show up in local search results (results on a local map, before the organic research) and take up more ‘real state’ space (space on the left side of the first page on Google).
3. Clients can find your information easily in one place.
4. You will earn trust by showing your reviews.
5. It will drive traffic to your website.
The clearer the information is for clients, the more Google will reward you by showing your company before that of your competitors.
Moran showed us how to set up a new listing in a few easy steps via: https://www.google.com/business/ and shared the 4 most important things in your GMB to influence ranking:
1. Business name
2. Category (and subcategory)
3. Links
4. Reviews
Plus a few more things to put effort into:
1. Business description
2. Photos
3. Service and products
4. Posts (sale you are having, a new service you are offering …)
So, do you want to be in GMB if your business is not a bookshop?
Definitely yes, even if you create digital content from your own home. Listing your business in GMB will not share any personal data (home address or phone) if you do not want to, but will make the information about your business and services easier to be found by customers.
So, if you thought that GMB was not relevant for your business I can assure you it is important for any big or small, service or product selling business. Go to https://www.google.com/business/ to get started.
Enara Parra, content creator and recipe developer
