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2 Contents Disclaimer Notice 3 Introduction to the Author 4 What is Google My Business? 5 Optimize Your Google Interface 7 Google Maps and Beyond 9 How it All Works 11 Google My Business optimization 13 Get Positive Customer reviews 15 Optimize Your Google Plus Page 17 Tell a Simple, Powerful Story 19 Google Tips 21 Google Maps and Optimization 23 Citation Locations 25 Conclusion 27 Additional Information 29 2

3 IMPORTANT NOTICE: You Do NOT Have the Right to Reprint or Resell this Report! You MAY NOT Give Away, Sell or Share the Content Herein If you obtained this report from anywhere other than or you have a pirated copy. Please help stop Internet crime by reporting this by to: support@opalconsultinglimited.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Copyright Opal Consulting Limited 2016 No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without express written, dated and signed permission from the author. DISCLAIMER AND LEGAL NOTICES: The information presented herein represents the view of the author as of the date of publication. Due to the rate with which conditions change, the author reserves the right to alter and update his opinion based on the new conditions. The report is for information purposes only. Whilst every attempt has been made to verify the information provided in this report, neither the author nor his associates/partners assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions. If advice concerning legal or related matters is needed, the services of a fully qualified professional should be sought. This report is not intended for use as a source of legal or accounting advice. You should be aware of any laws which govern business transactions or other business practices in your country and county, region or state. Any reference to any person or business whether living or dead is purely coincidental. 3

Introduction to the Author Tony McGuire Business Adviser Tony McGuire has gained his expertise by developing processes and systems to promote Development and Growth and specialises in helping

Concentrating on the appropriate use of constantly changing technology, Opal Consulting was created to add value to the business world, make a difference to clients lives, solve problems and leave a

4 Introduction to the Author Tony McGuire Business Adviser Tony McGuire has gained his expertise by developing processes and systems to promote Development and Growth and specialises in helping businesses. Concentrating on the appropriate use of constantly changing technology, Opal Consulting was created to add value to the business world, make a difference to clients lives, solve problems and leave a worthwhile legacy. Realising the importance of maintaining a solid customer base, an emphasis has been placed on Local Marketing Management Processes. With this in mind, key techniques that give practical, cost effective, value added solutions to business development have been prepared and outlined inside this Special Guide Book. This Google My Business Maps Guide walks you step by step through what you need to do to make sure your "Google listing" is completely optimized. V 2.0 4

5 What Is Google My Business? 5

What Is Google My Business? Google My Business is an invaluable tool for any business owner, but is especially important for anyone who runs a location based business.

6 What Is Google My Business? Google My Business is an invaluable tool for any business owner, but is especially important for anyone who runs a location based business. Understanding the fundamentals of this platform will significantly increase your chances of being found in both local and mobile search results. As a small business looking to connect with more local consumers, these search results are the most valuable ones you can pursue. Google My Business is a new dashboard which replaces Google Places for Business and Google+ Local. Google has experimented with both platforms in the past, which has, not unsurprisingly, left many business owners feeling confused and frustrated. The new Google My Business dashboard will eliminate this confusion by allowing you to manage your company information across all of Google s platforms, including Search, Maps, and Google+. It s a one-stop solution that should help businesses simplify the whole listing management process going forward. There is no guarantee that Google won t change things again in the future, but this integrated system makes things a lot easier right now. Here are some step-by-step instructions to help you become familiar with Google Maps and how it links with the Google My Business platform. 6

7 Optimize Your Google Interface 7

Optimize Your Google Interface Without question, one of the best ways to dominate your local market is to take the time to interface with Google and make sure that

the pied piper, right to your front door! The purpose of this guide is to show you exactly what you need to do for each of the three major components mentioned above.

8 Optimize Your Google Interface Without question, one of the best ways to dominate your local market is to take the time to interface with Google and make sure that the following tools are focused on your business: Google Maps Google My Business Google Plus All three of these tools can combine to create a synergistic effect for the local location based businesses. This will take your location from relative obscurity to one of the most relevant and highly focused, lead generation machines, directing targeted people, just like the pied piper, right to your front door! The purpose of this guide is to show you exactly what you need to do for each of the three major components mentioned above. When it comes to local search results, this is how you fully optimize them in such a way that they build upon each other. This will then begin to drive massive amounts of traffic as well as interested people right into your business and marketing funnel. The following sections will show you how. 8

9 Google Maps And Beyond 9

10 Google Maps And Beyond It is important that you understand that optimizing your local profile across Google is what matters for your Google Local Map location to begin to appear in searches. Google Maps are contingent on and congruent with other Google tools. Once you understand how important it is to make sure all of your information is similar across several of Google's local marketing tools, everything will fall into place correctly. Optimizing Google starts with one page, one location and one step at a time. With this in mind, if you follow this process and sequence carefully, you will achieve the objective of appearing in the new Snack Pack and begin to dominate the position, which will lead to more enquiries relating to your business. Here are the steps necessary to get your listing on Google Maps: 1. Claim and optimize your Google My Business listing. 2. Create and establish congruent profile pages. 3. Create and maintain actual REAL reviews from customers and clients. 4. Follow all of the best practices in the Google Playbook. 5. Use pictures and videos connected with your business. If you follow the 5 steps and apply all of the information in this guide, you will be performing all of these tasks, both individually on the Google listings, as well as all the relevant related areas that are recognized to improve your position in the Local context. 10

11 How It All Works 11

12 How It All Works Everything you see in this diagram works together to help your business to rank locally. In order to optimize Google Maps, Google My Business and Google +, everything works better when you integrate it all. This is because Google wants to be your one stop shop for local rankings. The more you cooperate with Google, the bigger the rewards We will cover how to do all of this in each section in the guide. A Note on implementation. For comprehensive and sustainable results, if you devote 1 or 2 hours a week to this process, you can compete with the top people in your industry. 12

13 Google My Business Optimization 13

14 Google My Business Optimization Many businesses and marketing companies devote a lot of time to trying to outsmart Google. However, one of the best ways to have a successful business and be effective online is to do exactly what Google wants. The very first step when it comes to optimizing your Google My Business listing is to meet all of the quality guidelines. As many businesses do not follow these guidelines, this is one way to immediately get a head start. You can locate the Google My Business quality guidelines listed underneath the help section of your GMB listing, or you can click this link: The main factors that need to be addressed that are taken directly from the Google My Business quality guidelines include: Represent your business as it s consistently represented and recognized in the real world across signage, stationery, and other branding. Make sure your address is accurate and precise. Use a local phone number instead of central, call centre helpline number whenever possible. Choose categories that are as specific as possible, but representative of your main business. Disclaimer from Google: Google reserves the right to suspend access to Google My Business or other Google Services to individuals or businesses that violate these guidelines, and may work with law enforcement in the event that the violation is unlawful. 14

15 Get Positive Customer Reviews 15

Get Positive Customer Reviews Google appreciates customer reviews so much that typically they will show up and get top billing even from other Third Party sources.

16 Get Positive Customer Reviews Google appreciates customer reviews so much that typically they will show up and get top billing even from other Third Party sources. Make no mistake REAL and positive reviews MUST be part of your local marketing. NEVER pay for false or phony reviews! The search engines are getting very good at detecting bogus reviews. Smart businesses do NOT try to game or trick the system! It is far better to have mechanisms to reward legitimate reviews and in doing so, get the people who are posting them to do so honestly. If you want your GMB listing to begin to perform better, getting regular reviews from a variety of your customers or clients is an absolute must. You should also have a hyperlink to your Google My Business listing on your website and encourage people to write reviews when you send them different types of s, a newsletter, or even consider running a contest to see who can write the best review. The Social Igniter System currently being used by Opal Clients is an excellent way to perform this task. We are currently living in a Reputation driven society. 16

17 Optimize Your Google+ Page 17

18 Optimize Your Google+ Page Google+ when used correctly is a unique and powerful marketing platform. When you add Google+ to your local marketing, this is like supercharging everything that you do and gives you some of the top marketing tools on the planet with which to do it. Many marketers have completely changed their business just using only these tools. It is important that you set up your Google+ account accurately and optimize it as well as utilize the tools that are provided, so follow these steps and then combine this information with your Google My Business account: Publish Relevant Content Regularly Although Google keep making changes to how search works, they continue to give the Google+ Page information greater importance than from other external locations. 18

19 Tell A Simple, Powerful Story 19

20 Tell A Simple, Powerful Story The about us section, located on your Google+ Profile page is an excellent location to tell a short, but powerful story about you and your business. The first few words should clearly define what your business is and have your most powerful keyword, because this information will be your meta-tag data, that will be shared throughout the search engines. Try to have a compelling headline that explains exactly why someone should click on this information to discover more about your business. Any and all posts that you do on Google+ need to be fully optimized. You will get a better experience and can drive additional traffic with references from your Google + profile page to your Google My Business page. Google + Advertising Adwords is Googles online advertising platform that can help you to drive interested people to your website. Google Adwords enables an individual or a business to access their target audience through Google Search, YouTube, or through partner channels. Once you understand the basic principles behind Google Adwords, you may well want to link your Google+ Page to your account and use extensions. In one test, Cadbury found an increase of 17% in their click through rate when adding social extensions to their Adwords campaign Google's Adwords Express is a very straightforward way to getting going using Google Adwords. Many people search online before visiting a business, even one in their neighbourhood. Stand out when they re looking for what you offer. As such, it is a great entry point where you can have ads appear for you Google Plus Page or your website. Google Adwords has transformed how business can connect with potential customers and can be an essential part of a marketing plan. 20

21 Google+ Tips 21

22 Google+ Tips Similar to your Google My Business listing, your Google+ profile page should be filled out completely and accurately to maximize search engine results. It is also important to reflect this same information across multiple Google platforms because this congruency adds to your search engine gravity. Here are some simple tips to further maximize the effectiveness of your Google+ account: Make sure your business location is 100% accurate on Google maps. Add your main website link to your Google+ page and also include a link to your Google My Business page. Ask customers and clients to add a review to your Google plus page and get them to click +1. Make sure that you list your hours of operation, local telephone number, local address and any other directional-based information to help clients and customers find you quickly. Most of these suggestions are absolutely critical for getting the most out of your Google+ page and allows full integration between Google+ and Google My Business. Remember that the search engines will spider out the links that are represented on your Google pages so interconnecting them is another great way to get a direct citation and/or thumbs up from Google. 22

23 How To Optimize Google Maps 23

How To Optimize Google Maps In order to make your Google maps location show up more, your first step in optimizing and making your Google maps appear is to link your Google+ page and or your Google

24 How To Optimize Google Maps In order to make your Google maps location show up more, your first step in optimizing and making your Google maps appear is to link your Google+ page and or your Google My Business page directly to your map location. Having your business appear in Google maps is ALSO an exercise in the number of overall citations that your business has. The better the quality of the citation the more relevant it is to help you rank, especially with other local citations that combine together to create an effective support mechanism to make your page(s) appear more frequently when local searches are done. Getting your business to rank locally requires one other important aspect to your marketing; the number of HIGH QUALITY citations equal to or greater than the current ranking competition. A final point to make here is that Google has extreme bias towards physical locations. This means that if you have a physical location in a specific area, you are far more likely to outrank your competitors who do not. 24

25 Citation Locations 25

Citation Locations Citations are mentions of your business (NAP) in local, regional and national search engines, directories and other local websites.

26 Citation Locations Citations are mentions of your business (NAP) in local, regional and national search engines, directories and other local websites. Citations are essential to send ranking signals for local searches and are the best way to push traffic in your direction. For example the Yelp listing for the Yu Hong restaurant appears in the local searches in Denver Colorado for Chinese restaurant Denver Colorado. Yelp is just one example of a good place to have a citation for your local business. ( This is especially relevant in the USA. ) One more thing here that is important to note citations are powerful social signals for local search engine results. The more listings you have, the more mini traffic machines you have working on your behalf, so get as many of these gems as you can. Your goal should be to get as many citations like this example for your local business. 26

27 Conclusion 27

Conclusion Keeping up with all of Google s changes can be confusing, even for

It can be downright frustrating for business owners who also have their

You need to have time and energy to keep up with Google My Business, or

April 21 2015 Mobile Friendly Update August 7 2015 Move to Snack Pack Google My

implementation to put Google to work for you!

create both authority and powerful gravity for you to grow your business.

28 Conclusion Keeping up with all of Google s changes can be confusing, even for professionals who eat, breathe, and sleep Google every single day. It can be downright frustrating for business owners who also have their products or services to worry about. You need to have time and energy to keep up with Google My Business, or whatever name Google comes up with next for this platform. April Mobile Friendly Update August Move to Snack Pack Google My Business is a vital marketing tool, but you have got to be consistent with the implementation to put Google to work for you!. Everything you need in the local arena has been included in this guide to create both authority and powerful gravity for you to grow your business. Warmest Regards, Tony McGuire / Zoey Turner If you d like us to take care of this entire process for you, we can help for a small one time investment. For more details of all our Done For You services Click Here 28

29 Additional Information 29

Tony McGuire Business Adviser Zoey Turner Account Manager Opal Members Mobile: 07790 350161 email: Tony@opalconsultinglimited.

30 Additional Information Opal Consulting Limited Developed specifically to concentrate on helping businesses. The company exists to add value to the business world, make a difference to my clients lives, solve problems and leave a worthwhile legacy. Tony McGuire Business Adviser Zoey Turner Account Manager Opal Members Mobile: Tony@opalconsultinglimited.com Web Site: Opal members is a division of the company with a unique internet based interactive Virtual Learning Environment. The LOCAL Division has been created to connect local businesses with Google as the major element of the hub. More information can be found at YOUR SUCCESS IS MY BUSINESS 30