I get them all the time, an other than the call being a mild annoyance, they worry me because they are a scam that preys on small business owners …

The caller, or should I say pre-recorded message, typically states that he or she is calling from Google, or a company working with Google, and there’s something wrong with your Google My Business listing.

What’s being served up us a baloney sandwich — and should be ignored (or even better, the number should be blocked).

Why?

Because Google doesn’t call people about their Google My Business listings — EVER! They just don’t.

Sure, your Google My Business listing is something that should be kept current — and well optimized — so it helps you get found more easily in local search queries. But the people who are calling you should not be given access, on any level, to your listing.

Here are some additional insights on how to optimize your Google My Business listing yourself.

And if you’d like in-depth, step-by-step instructions on how to optimize your listing, you can check out my book, A Holistic Guide to Online Marketing, where there are two whole chapters about it!

Want more tips and insights from Cuppa SEO?

The post Google My Business Tip #8: Google Doesn’t Call You appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

In case you haven’t read them yet, you can check out all of our previous Google My Business Tips here. They’re chock-full of great info on how to optimize your listing.

That said, did you know that you can add a video to your Google My Business listing?

Once you know how, and what the rules are, it’s a breeze. So let’s take a look at how to upload some video to your listing …

To begin, log into your Google My Business listing.

Once you’re in, you’ll see something like this …

Next, click on “Photos” in the left-hand nav, which will bring you to this page …

I’ve already brought us to the “Video” tab in the top navigation, and you can see I have one video uploaded to my Google My Business listing. Whether you’re adding your first video, or want to add additional videos, simply click the blue button with the plus sign in it at the top right corner of the page, and the following window will pop up …

Now, all you’ve got to do is drag your video into this window and it will automatically upload to your Google My Business listing.

But before you do …

Follow these Guidelines from Google Before Uploading Your Video

• Video duration: up to, but not exceeding, 30 seconds
• File size: Up to 100 MB
• Video Resolution:must be 720p or higher

Once you meet this criteria, you’re ready to upload video for all the world (or at least people in your region) to see!

Uploading video to your Google My Business listing is one of the ways you can ensure your listing is complete, which Google likes.

Want more tips and insights from Cuppa SEO?

The post Google My Business Tip #7: Uploading Video to Your Listing appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

Those days are gone, at least for now, which means that when you publish a post on Google My Business you’ve got to manually upload your optimized image into your “Additional Photos” section.

To follow is a step-by-step process on how to do just that. It’s not hard once you know what to do. And if you’re wondering why you need to upload these photos into your Google My Business listing, it’s because it adds a little more optimization to your listing, which can give it more authority — helping it rank higher when someone searches for what you do.

If you need help optimizing your photos, check out Part 4 of this series, Optimizing Your Images, for more info.

Step 1

To begin, you’ll first need to sign into your Google My Business listing. Your Google user name and password should be the same for all your business-related Google accounts (Gmail, Google+, Google Docs, etc.)

Step 2

Once you’re logged in, you should see a page that looks like this …

Click on the “Photos” tab, and then scroll all the way down to the bottom until you see the “Additional Photos” region.

While you’re scrolling down to the bottom of the page, you’ll see other regions — like “Interior” and “Exterior” photos, and “Team” photos. If any of these additional regions are relevant to the photo you’re uploading, it’s totally OK to upload your optimized photo there. Otherwise, go with the “Additional Photos” section.

Step 3

Click on the “Add a Photo” link. If there are no photos in a section yet, you may find a “Add One Now” button to click so you can add your photo.

Next, you’ll see this …

As you can see, you can now simply drag your optimized photo into this region, or click on the blue button to import it from a folder.

Once you’ve dragged the photo in, or selected it from a folder, Google will upload and save it automatically. It should now appear in the photos section you chose to place it in.

And now you’re done!

Remember, every time you publish a post on your Google My Business listing, take an extra minute to manually post the image in your photos library too. 

Thank you for visiting the Cuppa SEO blog!

Additional installments of the series:

• Google My Business Tip #1: The Keyword Report
• Google My Business Tip #2: Optimizing Your About Section
• Google My Business Tip #3: Optimizing Your Info Fields
• Google My Business Tip #4: Optimizing Your Images
• Google My Business Tip #5: How to Publish a Post

The post Google My Business Tip #6: Manually Uploading Photos appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

• The Keyword Report
• Optimizing Your About Section
• Optimizing Your Info Fields, and
• Optimizing Your Images

In this installment of the series, let’s take a look at how to actually publish a post through your Google My Business listing.

1. Sign In

Obvious, right? But not always easy — especially if you haven’t logged into your Google My Business listing in a while. If you don’t already have your login page bookmarked, here it is:

https://www.google.com/business/

When you get there, click on the “Sign In” button in the upper-right corner.

Once you’re signed in, you should see a page that looks something like this …

2. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on G+

What? You’re probably wondering why I’m directing you to Google+ when we’re talking about posting on Google My Business. The reason is because the two are actually part of the same whole.

Overall, it’s a confusing, sub-par user experience Google is providing here, but it’s all we’ve got. And since Google My Business holds so much SEO value, it’s important to publish posts there, just like you would on your other social media channels.

3. Prepare Your Post

Once you’ve clicked on Google+, you’ll wind up on a page that looks like this:

Click on the red pencil icon in the lower-right corner, and you’ll FINALLY be ready to publish a post.

Here’s what you’ll see:

I’ve taken the liberty of populating the post so you can see what one looks like:

• We’ve got a short title, “Confused by Conversion?”
• Followed by brief copy.
• Along with a link back to the Cuppa SEO blog. Typically, I like to shorten the URL with TinyURL or something similar, but here I’ve left it as is so it could be a point of discussion. If the URL is too long, it can make the post “muddy,” which is why a shortened URL is typically a better solution.
• Google does you the favor of inserting imagery that already exists on the page/blog post you are linking to. Click on the “X” in the upper-right corner of the image and delete it. Then, promptly upload your optimized image (details on this in Part 4 of the series) and implement it here.
• Be sure to publish to “Public,” unless you want to publish directly to a collection for a specific reason.

Before the most recent Google My Business/Google+ update, you were able to tell Google to save this photo to your “Business Photos,” which was really nice because it enriched your photo library and improved the SEO value of your Google My Business listing, too.

As of this writing, this feature is gone. If it comes back, be sure to use it! Until then, you’ll have to manually add a new, optimized image to your Google My Business photo library.

Once you’ve double checked your work, click on the “Post” button and it’s published (finally)!

I hope this post makes it easier for you to post on Google My Business!

Additional installments of the series:

• Google My Business Tip #1: The Keyword Report
• Google My Business Tip #2: Optimizing Your About Section
• Google My Business Tip #3: Optimizing Your Info Fields
• Google My Business Tip #4: Optimizing Your Images

The post Google My Business Tip #5: How to Publish a Post appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

That’s why Tip #4 in this series is all about how to optimize your images before implementing them into your Google My Business page.

If you missed them, Tip #1 focused on creating your keyword report, Tip #2 focused on utilizing the keyword report to optimize your About section, and Tip #3 was all about optimizing your Info fields.

Optimizing Photos in Your Google My Business Listing

Let’s start by getting you to the right place in Google My Business. Once you login, you will see a screen that looks like this:

To get to your photos section, you can either click on “Photos” in the blue nav bar at the top, or click on “Manage Photos,” toward the bottom left area as shown above.

Once you’ve accessed your photos section, there are different regions where you can implement optimized images. But before we get into discussing each of these regions, let’s first review how to actually optimize your Google My Business listing photos.

• Take out your keyword report. It’s the foundation for optimizing every image you upload into Google My Business.
• Assess what your image is about. For this example, let’s say you own a dental office and the image is about a root canal.
  • The original image name is: “IMG_28651.jpg” which has no SEO value, or value to the human eye, whatsoever.
  • You look at your keyword report and determine, “Root Canal Madison” is a good keyword phrase for this image.
  • So, you change the image name to, “Root-Canal-Madison.jpeg” or maybe you include your business name, too, “Caffeinated-Dentist-Root-Canal-Madison.jpeg” (fictitious, of course)
  • Notice how I’ve structured the hierarchy of these image names, with each word being separated by a dash. There are NO spaces, and NO underscores — both of which would hurt the SEO value of the image.
• You’ll have to optimize your image BEFORE you upload it to your Google My Business listing.
• When naming images, keep the length of the name at around 50 characters or less, including dashes, as names that run too long can appear spammy.

Once all is said and done, you’ll want to have at least 20-24 images (or more) optimized and uploaded into your listing. Here’s a quick breakdown of the different regions you can populate in your photos section:

1. Profile Photo: this is a must. Be sure to put an image here that clearly identifies your brand. This can be a photo of you.
2. Logo: If you have a professional logo, upload it here.
3. Cover: This is the large, rectangular photo that sits in the background of your Google My Business listing. Again, it should represent your brand identity well.
4. Interior Photos: If you have an establishment like a retail shop, art gallery, coffee shop or any type of business where you might want to show off what’s inside, the Interior Photos section is the place to do it.
5. Exterior Photos: These help potential visitors know what your establishment looks like from the outside.
6. Photos at Work: These can be of your people working on a project, or otherwise detailing the services or products you offer.
7. Team Photos: This section is dedicated to your coworkers! Make sure you get their permission before posting their photo here.
8. Additional Photos: This is typically the place where most images go. This is because it’s a general image area, and it’s also where you can send images when you post on the Google+ page associated with your Google My Business listing (a topic for another day).

I hope I’ve helped paint a clear picture (pun intended) on how to optimize the images you implement into your Google My Business listing!

Need help with Google My Business?
Contact Cuppa SEO to set up a complimentary consultation, very possibly over a cup of coffee!

Other installments in the series:
Google My Business Tip #1: The Keyword Report
Google My Business Tip #2: Optimizing Your About Section
Google My Business Tip #3: Optimizing Your Info Fields

The post Google My Business Tip #4: Optimizing Your Images appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

If you’re a local business, optimizing your Google My Business (GMB) listing is a key factor in getting found.

Our Google My Business Tips series is designed to help you optimize every nook and cranny of your listing. We got started with Tip #1 that’s all about creating a keyword report. Tip #2 focused on utilizing the keyword report to build a well-optimized About section.

In today’s installment, we’re going to cover the 7 fields that exist under the “Info” tab of your Google My Business listing. At first glance, these fields may seem mundane, but each and every one of them adds to the overall authority of your listing.

Your Business Name

Pretty straight forward, right? Be sure to enter your EXACT business name here. The same holds true for any online listing you use for your business. This includes Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, other local listings like Yellow Pages, Foursquare, etc. Keeping your name consistent across all online channels improves your overall online authority.

Category

The next field after your business name is what’s called a Category. This is where you define your business type based on a dropdown list provided by Google. Just start typing in your business industry or business type and Google will give you suggestions to choose from. Often times, there won’t be an exact match for your business type, so you’ve got to choose whatever is the closest match. If possible, choose a secondary category, too, as it helps define you more clearly within your Google My Business listing. 

Address

An easy one, right? Well, maybe, if you have an actual business office or retail shop. If this is the case, enter your exact address here. Again, as with your company name, keep it consistent across all online channels. If you don’t, you’ll lose authority points for inconsistency.

If you work out of a home office this becomes a little more complicated. Why? Because it’s not a good idea to represent your business as home-based. When you enter your home address into your Google My Business listing, Google will show an actual photo of your house! This is bad for a couple of reasons. (1) It can cause a poor perception of your business because you “work from home.” In other words, potential clients may perceive you as less professional, or less serious, than businesses with an actual business address. (2) You also don’t want client’s showing up on your doorstep unexpected.

The solution for home based businesses is to open an account with the local UPS store for a Business Mailbox. This gives you an actual, FULL address that can be used as your business address. Be sure to sign up for Business Mailbox in the zip code you want to do business in. For instance, if you do most of your business in Brooklyn, NY, then you should set up your address with a Brooklyn-based UPS store. Why? Because GMB is location based, so you’ve got to have an actual address within the actual region you want to do business in.

Side note: a P.O. box won’t do, and “hiding” your address within your Google My Business listing has a tendency to severely hurt your chances of showing up at the top of a GMB search result, which looks like this:

Hours

Even if your hours vary, enter some standardized business hours — for every day of the week — here. 

Special Hours

Only populate this field if you actually have special hours. A good example would be a retail shop that’s open longer during the holiday season, or announcing that you’re closed on Thanksgiving.

Phone

Enter your main business phone here. It’s OK if you’re using a cell phone for your business.

Website URL

Enter the complete website address for your business. Make sure the address you enter leads to your homepage. 

Add Photos

Although the Add Photos section is under the GMB Info tab, we’re going to cover it separately in part 4 of this series.

Until then, I hope these tips help get your Google My Business listing well optimized.

Need help with Google My Business?
Contact Cuppa SEO to set up a complimentary consultation, very possibly over a cup of coffee!

Other installments in the series:
Google My Business Tip #1: The Keyword Report
Google My Business Tip #2: Optimizing Your About Section

The post Google My Business Tip #3: Optimizing All of Your Info Fields appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

Welcome back for part 2 of our series on Google My Business tips!

In this installment, we’ll be talking about how to optimize your About section. But before we do so, let’s take a step back to recap the recent changes that have occurred to this section.

The Name
For quite a while, the current “About” section in Google My Business was called the “Intro.” It’s still the same content, but with a different name.

The Place
Formerly available to view and edit right in your Google My Business listing, the About section now lives in the NEW Google+. I say new, because Google has also decided to revamp their Google+ listing. Confused yet? Most people are.

The best thing you can do here is stop trying to figure out why Google did this. It doesn’t really make sense to anyone but them. Instead, let’s focus on how to get to your About section so you can actually optimize it.

First, go to your Google+ business page. then make sure you’re on the “Home” tabIf you’re on the new page, you will see a button on your hero image that says “About.”

If you don’t see this choice, you’re probably on the old Google+ page. If this is the case, go ahead and Google your business name followed by “Google plus.” So in my case, this would look like, “Cuppa SEO Google plus.” You have spell out “plus” otherwise this doesn’t work (crazy, right?).

Once on the right page, click on About and you will find a few regions that can be edited.

Next, choose “Story,” which is where you will actually place optimized content about your business.

Optimize
To optimize this section, you’ll want to depend on the keywords identified in your keyword report, which we talked about in part 1 of this series.

To build the content for the About section, you’ll want to write an overview of your company and how you help people/organizations, followed by a listing of all your products and services. Each product or service should have a couple of sentences describing it. Be sure to create optimized, benefit-driven copy which will engage with readers — and with Google when they crawl your content!

The About section of your Google My Business listing should be somewhere around 3,500 characters, not to exceed 3,800. What happens if you go past 3,800? Google will tell you that your content is too long and then you’ll have to edit it down. 

Once you’re done, click SAVE and review the content.

Creating a Solid User Experience (UX)
As you can tell from the hoops you have to jump through to get to your About section, Google has not set up the best user experience here. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be conscious of it for your visitors. So let’s talk about how to set up the content here so it looks good, and is easy to digest for good UX.

Google’s interface has a way of making odd line breaks, so you may have to go back in and add or delete spacing between paragraphs.

You’ll also want to add ALL CAPS for main headlines, Bold for sub headlines, and if you have bulleted lists, make sure you’re actually using bullets and not just dashes. These may not sound like a big deal, but they are. Remember, you want this content to be easy to read, scan and digest. You don’t want to create content that looks like a plate of spaghetti — all tangled up.

Need help with your Google My Business listing?
Feel free to Contact Cuppa SEO to set up a complimentary consultation, very possibly over a cup of coffee!

Other installments in the series:
Google My Business Tip #1: The Keyword Report

The post Google My Business Tip #2: Optimizing Your About Section appeared first on Cuppa SEO.

In our Google My Business Tips series, we’ll be dissecting your Google My Business (GMB) listing to identify key areas you need to address in order to ensure your GMB page is fully optimized.

Why You Should Care

If you’re a local or regional business, Google My Business can play a huge role in attracting customers. Just like you have to optimize your website to be found, you also need to optimize your GMB page to be found, as well.

Essentially, the better optimized your Google My Business listing is, the better chance it has of ranking toward the top of Google’s results.

To give you an example of what I mean, here is a GMB search result for one of Cuppa SEO’s main keywords …

As you can see, Cuppa SEO ranks #1 in this Google My Business search result.

To rank this high, you’ve got to have a well-optimized GMB page, as well as a website with SEO brewed into every nook and cranny. You also need an optimized social media presence, as well.

It All Starts with an SEO Keyword Report

But before you can optimize anything, you’ll need what we call a Keyword Report — which is a list of optimal keywords that are relevant to your business.

Making the report is tricky, as there are many factors and contingencies that need to be considered — including the region(s) you’re doing business in, keyword relevance, keyword competition levels, keyword analytics tools, mid- and long-term business goals, and more. In order to make a usable report, you’ll have to invest some time to gain an understanding of each of these factors so your report is well-researched and accurate.

If you don’t have the time, or the inclination, to create your own keyword report, Cuppa SEO can create one for you.

At the very least, you’ll have to create what I call a “common sense keyword report.” This entails making a list of keywords you think (or know) people use when searching for what you do. You can also ask trusted colleagues and customers what keyword phrases they would use to find someone who does what you do. Will these be the best keyword phrases available? There’s a good chance they won’t be. But a common sense list is better than no list at all.

In part 2 of this series, we’ll look at how to use a keyword report to optimize your Google My Business “About” section.

Need help with your Google My Business listing now?
Contact Cuppa SEO to set up a complimentary consultation, very possibly over a cup of coffee!

Other installments in the series:
Google My Business Tip #2: Optimizing Your About Section

The post Google My Business Tip #1: The Keyword Report appeared first on Cuppa SEO.