#7 – Google My Business and Search Engine Results Pages

Patsy and Andy chat about Google My Business and Search Engine Results Pages.

Google My Business is a free and easy-to-use tool for businesses and organizations to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. By verifying and editing your business information, you can both help customers find you and tell them the story of your business.

A search engine results page (SERP) is the page displayed by a search engine in response to a query by a searcher. The main component of the SERP is the listing of results that are returned by the search engine in response to a keyword query, although the page may also contain other results such as advertisements.

Andy explains how he sets up Google My Business for his customers and gives a step-by-step walk through of an on-site update visit.

Sotellio
Sotellio
#7 - Google My Business and Search Engine Results Pages
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Provide Incentives For Follows And Likes

provide an incentive for social engagementSave 10% Off Your Next Stay With Us! Free Room Upgrade! Free Buffet just for liking us on our Facebook page!

Your business operates on the happiness of your patrons. If they’re happy, they’ll tell a couple of their friends about the location and recommend that they stay there. If they’re unhappy, they’ll tell anyone who can listen about the problems they had – and they’re quite likely to exaggerate those issues.

Hoteliers will do everything in their power to ensure the guest has a pleasant and happy experience while staying at their location. If they’ve done their job properly, then there should be very little to worry about.

It’s important to capture that happiness via Social Media. Have them like your Facebook page, or leave a review and comment on Google, or just follow you on Twitter, or whatever social media platforms your business is on. Get a picture when them  (don’t forget to have them sign a release) and display it proudly on your pages. Happy customers bring more happy customers.

You can easily provide an incentive for a guest to socially engage your location – you’ve got an arsenal of incentives right around you. Anything from a free meal, to a hat or t shirt, to upgrades, discounts, or comps. If you’ve spoken to your business neighbors, you may even be able to provide something from them as well.

While you don’t want to make the incentive the primary reason the guest is interacting with you, you do want to make their time to do so worthwhile to them.

Need some more ideas on how to engage your audience on Social Media? Contact Sotellio today, and we’ll take care of it for you.

 

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Take Regular Pictures Of Your Location & Share Them

take pictures on a daily basisTaking regular pictures from around your establishment is one of the easiest ways to keep the search engines quite happy with your updates.

You don’t need any expensive camera gear for your daily pictures, either. In fact, your phone will actually serve better for this job then anything fancy. Your phone, combined with a Google My Business Account, can be one of the most powerful Social Media tools you can work with.

You just need to take the pictures and upload them to the proper location within your Google My Business account, and tag them appropriately. The whole process shouldn’t take more than a few minutes, and if you’re walking your property anyhow, you might as well grab some photos.

Some ideas of what to take pictures of:

  • The sunrise over your building, sign, trees, etc
  • The front entrance of your location
  • Your Pool (if you have one)
  • The clean, well lit, and safe parking lot you have
  • Your location as seen from the street
  • Your Front Lobby / Welcome area
  • Your Rooms

Some ideas of what not to take pictures of

  • Guests (unless you have a release form them)
  • Staff (staff changes and can lead to take down demands)
  • Areas that need improvement
  • Anything that may violate OSHA working regulations
  • Anything that’s dirty, not cleaned, or out of place

You should be taking pictures on a regular basis – multiple times a day – and sharing them via Twitter, Facebook, or any other Social Media Services you have – and making sure they’re uploaded to your Google My Business account.

Photos taken on current day devices (phones and digital cameras) have the ability to add location/gps information to those photos. If you’re taking the pictures for your Social Media accounts, ensure that this feature is enabled. The big search engines have the ability to retrieve that meta-data and can display your pictures in search results.

Sotellio can work with you and teach you exactly what kind of pictures would work best for your property. We’ll let you know when the best time for you to post those pictures are,  and (most importantly) how to measure the return on those pictures.

Check out our plans page; if you don’t see one that fits your budget, contact us for a custom quote. We’d love to work with you.