Setting up Your Google Business and Bing Places Profiles

This is the first of 2 articles about Google Business and Bing Places Profiles. The 2nd article is here

Setting up and managing Your Google Business Profile and Bing Places for Business listings is not a one-time effort. It is not like Alt-Tagging the images on your website. It creates and curates the easiest way for new searchers to find you and become customers and clients.
These profiles are the firm handshake in a crowded room, the invitation through the doorway into your business that directs a stream of clients to your threshold.  This article shows you how to supercharge these platforms and change your point on a map to a shining presence; it will help you craft an active presence where your business’s story flows.

Frequently refining your online presence brings life and energy to your Google and Bing listings. It makes them the compass that attracts customers and clients to your business, ensuring that searchers see your signal and find your business amidst the noise of the online world.
So, how do we do this?

The Importance of Search Engine Business Listings

Google Business Profiles and Bing Places are critical tools to enhance your online presence and allow your customers and clients to find and connect with your business. When set up correctly, the profiles become powerful tools for local SEO, and your business will appear in relevant local searches. Your customers and clients to find you and your services.

1. Local SEO Dominance:
   Imagine leading the local search results when a potential client looks for the services you offer. Google Business Profiles and Bing Places place you at the forefront of these ‘near me’ queries, ensuring you’re the first choice where it counts.
2. Building Trust and Credibility Online:
   Online trust starts with a well-crafted digital presence. Google Business Profiles and Bing Places are your virtual introductions, showcasing your business with rich details, genuine reviews, and sharp imagery, seeding confidence in your brand.
3. Engaging Customers and Increasing Loyalty:
   These platforms aren’t just about outreach; they’re about interaction. Engage with your clients through updates, responses to reviews, and promotions, reflecting your brand’s character and commitment to client service.
4. Data-Driven Insights:
   Robust analytics from Google Business Profiles and Bing Places provide essential insights that inform strategic decisions, helping you refine your services and online tactics based on how clients engage with your business.
5. Cost-Effective Marketing:
   Amidst expensive marketing strategies, Google Business Profiles and Bing Places offer impactful exposure without the premium cost, allowing you to allocate your marketing budget effectively for optimal returns.

Harnessing the Power of Your Google Business Profile and Bing Places Listings

Creating a well-crafted, comprehensive Google Business Profile and Bing Places listing will help any business increase online visibility, this, in turn, allows potential clients to more easily find what you offer. By actively managing your profiles and engaging with your audience, you’ll begin to cultivate a dedicated customer base. This nurtures customer loyalty and contributes to the growth of your business.
Google Business Profile and Bing Places can be pivotal factors in your company’s success in the digital marketplace. 

Your business listings are the front line of your digital strategy. To stand out, you need to:

1. Claim Your Google Business Profile and Bing Places Listings: Own your listings. An unclaimed profile is an opportunity missed, and it’s the first step to assert your presence.
2. Writing the Ideal Profile: Fill in every detail—name, address, hours, and services, adding relevant, high-quality photos to showcase your business environment and staff. Think of your profile as your business card, brochure, and billboard all rolled into one.
3. The Importance and Power of Testimonials: Reviews are the word-of-mouth for the digital age. Encourage satisfied clients to leave feedback. Their endorsements are gold.
4. Stay Connected and Engaged: Regular updates and posts on your listings keep your facility top-of-mind and signal that you’re actively engaged with clients and the community.
5. Engaging Relationships and Trust: Timely responses to reviews and inquiries are courteous and demonstrate your commitment to client care.

Common Mistakes in Business listings

Many successful businesses have overlooked the finer details of their online profiles. Here’s a closer look at some typical slip-ups and some solutions to easily update and improve your profiles.

 Common mistakes include:

1. Incomplete Profiles
   A partially filled profile is like an unfinished story. Ensure every section is meticulously filled in, from opening hours to services offered.
2. Overlooking the Value of Reviews
   Reviews are the currency of credibility. Some businesses fail to encourage reviews or, worse, leave them unacknowledged. Responding to positive and negative feedback shows that you value client input and are actively engaged.
3. Underestimating the Visual Impact
   First impressions in the digital realm are often visual. Common oversights include irrelevant images, low-quality images or none at all. Ensure you have relevant high-resolution photos of your premises, products, or team, as this will enhance your profile’s attractiveness.
4. Ignoring the Analytics
   Analytics offered by Google and Bing offer a wealth of information yet are not often utilised. It is well worth the time to learn how to use them so you can plan and adjust your online strategy accordingly.
5. Inconsistency Across Platforms
   Consistency is critical in online branding. Inconsistencies in business information across platforms can confuse clients and hurt your search rankings. Ensure your details are uniform and up-to-date on all digital profiles.
6. Set and Forget
   Businesses sometimes set up their profiles and forget them. Digital presence requires ongoing attention. Keep your content fresh, post regular updates, and stay current with new platform features.

Setting up your profiles

Below are simple steps to set up your business profiles on Google and Bing. Both require similar information.
Top Tip
We suggest you start with your Google Business profile, and once it’s been verified, set up your Bing Places Profile by linking it to your Google profile. This will make your life so much easier!

How to Set Up Your Google Business Profile

1. Create your account
   Start by going to google.com/business. You can create a free account with any email address if you don’t have one. Click through to google.com/accounts
2. Enter your business name.
   Ensure all spellings are correct and use Title Case –  At Full Tilt – Generative Marketing Agency
3. Enter your business address.
   Google will need to verify that your business exists. It must be a physical business address, a Post Office Box or a mailbox in a storefront like a Postal Annex or UPS Store is unacceptable.
4. Choose whether your business is a storefront or service provider.
   This is where you decide whether your clients or customers can physically visit your business. If your business is online, you work from home or would prefer your customers not to visit your business, you can set an area your business serves.
5. Choose your Primary business category.
   This allows Google to understand better what you do. Google is all for relevance, so if a potential customer searches for “Italian Restaurant” and your business is a pizza delivery, you may not appear. If the customer searches “near me” or for “Pizza delivery near me,” then you’d have a much better chance of your business profile showing up in the search results. 
6. Add your phone number and website.
   Google Business Profile tracks phone calls and website clicks, so make sure your information is correct here. 
7. Follow the prompts for additional information.
   You can add a great deal of information to Your Google Business Profile. Take time to add what is necessary, and then consider what else may help potential clients and customers find your business.
8. Verify your local listing.
   The verification process helps Google ensure your business information is accurate and that only you, the business owner or manager, can access it.
   Continue adding relevant photos, and ask clients past and present for reviews. Add as much relevant information as you possibly can. This is where you can make your business stand out on Google.

How to Set Up Your Bing Places for Business

1. Create Your Account
   To start, visit the Bing Places website and click “New User.” This guides you through the process of creating your Bing Places account.
   If you already have a verified Google Business Places profile, you can easily sync your business information into Bing Places for Business.
2. Claim Your Business
   Search for your business on Bing, which may already have been added. If so, simply claim the business by verifying you own it and then begin updating what’s there.
3. Adding your Information
   As with the Google Business Profile, ensure all the spellings, numbers, and information are correct as you add your business details.
4. Pin Your Location 
   Add your business location to Bing Places so customers can find your location, and, like the Google profile, you can also specify an area you serve.
5. Add your  Business Category
   Bing provides a long list, so you should be able to find something relevant to your business.
6. Write a Business Description
   Keep this simple, to the point and direct to what your business does; tell customers what it can do for them and list the services and products you offer.
7. Add relevant, high-quality photos and helpful information.
   Show off your business logo and photos of your premises, your staff, and what you do and offer; this is where you can add depth and more about your business and the social media platforms you are actively present on and, very importantly – add your open hours to your listing.
8. Verify Your Bing Places Profile
   Bing will verify you by postcard or through your website, email, or phone, so you’ve time to add more information to your profile.

Well done, your profiles are complete. However, business profiles are not set-and-forget; this was just the beginning! Your business will change over time; products and services will likely be updated or replaced. Reviews by customers and clients will need monitoring and responding to. It is imperative to manage reviews that are left on your profiles.