At Original Fuzz, we're lucky enough to visit a ton of guitar stores. It's a lot of fun, and we're in a unique position to notice what some stores do better than others.
The biggest mistake we see is retailers that don't take control of their Google profile. Too many times I've randomly discovered stores that did not appear in any online search. This is a huge missed opportunity.
Luckily, there's a simple fix: Make sure your business is listed with Google for Business. 10-15 minutes spent taking control of your Google profile gives you a massive return on your effort. Some of the benefits include:
- Increasing foot traffic to your store. Not only can you improve traffic to your website, you can increase foot traffic as more people searching for your products can easily get directions on their phone.
- Ensuring that accurate contact information and hours of operation show up in every type of search.
- Connecting with people leaving online reviews. Customers can review your business whether you control your profile or not. You might as well set up an official profile and manage the interactions.
- Controlling how your business appears across all types of Google searches—maps, local, places, etc.
- Increasing traffic to your website and visibility. Google can only recommend you if they know what your business does. The more information you give them about what you offer, the more likely they are to recommend you.
- Improving the user experience for customers trying to interact with your business.
So, how do you get set up on Google for Business?
- Go to google.com/business and click the "Get on Google" button in the top right.
- Login with your Google Account. If you use Gmail, you can use your Gmail login. If you've never used a Google product before, take a few minutes to sign up.
- Once you've signed up and logged in it will show you a huge map and ask you to agree to the terms of service. Once you agree, do a search for your business. The results will tell you how much Google already knows about you.
- Once you've found your business click on it and accept the prompt "I am authorized to manage this business and I agree to the terms of service." At this point you're on your way and Google will walk you through the steps to verify that you are the owner of the business.
- Once you're verified, follow all of the prompts to fill out your business profile. Be sure to give them as much detailed and descriptive information as possible. Make sure your contact information and hours of operation are accurate. Set up your Google+ profile and upload some photos.
- You're all set. Completing these steps will quickly improve your search results and traffic to your store!
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to email us at Original Fuzz. We'd be happy to help! It's our job to help our dealers increase sales. If you're interested in becoming a Fuzz Dealer, you can get started here.
Additional Resources
If you'd like to read up on online marketing, here are some additional resources:
- The Quick Sprout Blog. Neil Patel at Quick Sprout will make you an expert very quickly.
- The Nathan Barry Newsletter. Lots of good online marketing info in this newsletter.
- Seth Godin's Blog. The preeminent online marketer. His blog is loaded with daily nuggets of wisdom.
- Google for Business FAQs