Today UpSkill Digital returns to the land of Google My Business to discuss some easy ways to get the most value out of your listing. Not familiar with the service? It’s a free tool from Google for managing the info that displays in the Knowledge Panel when people search for your business or look it up on Google Maps.

As we covered in a previous article it’s a great way of controlling how you are represented online even without a website.

The Knowledge Panel in question

First up: fill everything in

Make sure you don’t leave any of the fields blank. That might sound like a condescending ‘tip’ but you’d be surprised at the difference it makes. A 2014 report by Oxera on the benefits of completing your listing found:

• Customers are twice as likely to consider a business ‘reputable’ if it has verified its listing.
• 79% of users stated that having more of a business’ info on the results page resulted in finding a better match for their requirements.
• There was a 30% increase in homepage clickthroughs associated with complete profiles.
• That the above stats create an estimated saving of roughly $250 a year off your marketing budget.

For a free tool that’s pretty good returns! So now everything is filled in, completed and accurate. Are you done? Not quite – Google My Business also allows interaction with your potential customers in a couple of ways.

‘Posts’ – what are they and what’s the point of them?

A feature often overlooked by those who complete their profile, think that’s it and never log in again: posts allow you to announce sales, promote new products or any other info you might typically stick up on social media.

So why wouldn’t you just leave these to social media itself? Your FB/LinkedIn/Twitter posts typically only reach current customers – those who are already aware of and engaged with you. Google My Business posts on the other hand show up in the your Knowledge Panel on google searches so reach anyone nearby looking for a business like yours.

Suggest an edit

Another reason to make sure you log in frequently? This innocuous little button:

It appears on your Knowledge Panel and means anyone can edit your details. Its intended to keep businesses honest by allowing customers to report when the opening times or services listed, for instance, aren’t accurate. However, as we’re sure you’re aware, the internet is a less than perfect environment. As such, you’ll have to keep an eye on your business listing for (thankfully rare) misuse of this function. Luckily, if you’re worried about being the target of online vandalism, it couldn’t be simpler to check up on changes, and reverse the malicious ones. Just make it a habit when you log on to check out the ‘Review Updates’ section where the software keeps a log of any changes to your info.

We hope this article has inspired you with some great ideas for making use of your Google My Business listing. If you’re not already signed up, are rearing to get to get to grips with it and want some help getting your account up and running one of our previous articles has a walk-through of the setup process.