Businesses - How often should I update my Google My Business listing?

 

Introduction

Google My Business (GMB) is a free service that allows businesses to manage their listings across Google Search, Maps, and other platforms. GMB helps local businesses get found online and offline. This means that when you take control of your GMB listing, you will be able to update your hours, add new photos and text, respond to reviews, connect with customers through the app, and much more. The question is - how often should you update your GMB listing? No rules or guidelines are saying you have to do it every day or even once a week; however, there are many benefits to doing so!

1. Review your profile

Updating your GMB profile is a great way to keep your business information up-to-date across Google Search, Maps, and other platforms. You can also attach photos and videos to help increase trust and make sure you’re visible on Google Search. Learn more about editing your business information in GMB. If you’ve added a lot of information to your GMB profile, it may take some time for our systems to process your updates. For example, adding multiple new photos or videos will generate an activity alert in the notifications tab of the Google My Business dashboard indicating that we’re working on updating your changes (this might take up to 24 hours). Sometimes it may take longer than expected if there are issues with specific photos or videos that we need to review.

2. Update your business information

How often should I update my Google My Business listing?

After you create a Google My Business account, you can use it to claim and manage your business's listings on Google Search and Maps. If you already have a Google Account or Gmail address, you can use it to sign in to your GMB account. If not, simply follow these steps: Sign in to your new GMB account using your existing Google Account or create a new one. (GMB accounts are not related to Google+ profiles.) To manage all of your business information from one place, claim all of your existing local listings or add them individually. Edit each of your existing listings by adding photos and content like descriptions, operating hours, specialties, and more. You can even share photos of delicious food for hungry patrons!

3. Check your photos

Google My Business relies on high-quality, accurate photos that represent your business. The more up-to-date and professional your images are, the easier it will be for people to find you in Google Search and Maps. Upload new photos if necessary or re-stage an old photo to show a clear and accurate representation of your business. To make sure you’re including all of your important information in these photos, use our tips to create high-quality images.

4. Add more photos

Google is an image-focused search engine. This means that photos play a large role in how Google determines rankings on their search engine results page (SERP). The more high-quality images you add to your GMB listing, including photos of both employees and physical locations, the better off you'll be. Adding rich, useful data points to your GMB listing will also help increase how often your business appears in local searches.

5. Update your address info

If you’ve moved or if your business has a new address, it’s important to update your Google My Business information. To check that you have all of your business details up-to-date, log in to your GMB account and select About Your Business. You can also submit an edit request through Google Search Console. Make sure you see an Edit Info button next to every business category listed. For example, if you want to edit your phone number and address, click on Phone Number and Addresses below your business name and then choose one or both addresses listed there.

6. Update your operating hours

How often should I update my Google My Business listing?

Google My Business helps you set up and manage your Google listing. One easy way to help people find your business or Small business is by updating your operating hours and max in day. As a best practice, we recommend that you keep your hours up-to-date at all times, and not just when they’re changing. While some listings do have automatic operating hour updates turned on, even those listings might show incorrect hours for short periods as we finish processing updates in real-time—so make sure to check back after 24 hours to confirm that your updated operating hours are showing correctly.

7. Respond to reviews

We live in a world where everyone can share their opinion at any time, which is why we built Google+ reviews into Google My Business. By responding to a review on Google+, you're acknowledging your customer’s feedback and, in many cases, sending a personal thank-you message that may increase trust and influence potential customers to choose your business. Even if your only response is an I see your comment and will take it into consideration for future improvement, you’ll still be viewed more positively than businesses who don't respond to reviews or don't post them at all. As long as your customers are happy with their experience, they’re also likely to pass along that happiness through word of mouth—and who doesn’t want more positive reviews?

8. Reply to messages sent directly from Google

GMB makes it easy to add more locations or listings. When you create a GMB page for your business, each location will be included as a separate page (or review) on Google. If you have only one location, then your GMB page and that single location are synonymous. To get started managing your Google My Business listings, click here to sign in with Google. From there, you can manage all of your locations/listings at once. After clicking Sign In, select Sign In with a Different Account if you have multiple locations/listings associated with your business.

9. Keep track of the data they collect on you (analytics, social mentions, etc.)

If you’re tracking data on your customers or clients, your Google My Business listings give you another easy way to track some of that same information. You can see which keywords people are using to find you, how many reviews your business has received, how many times you were mentioned online and where, and much more. Keep in mind that while these are useful metrics to consider when running a business, they won’t replace custom reports in Google Analytics or any other third-party tool you might be using.

10. Update all your locations/listings if you have more than one

Since your business information is displayed publicly, it’s important to keep your Google My Business listings up-to-date. Your GMB listing is your online business card—so make sure it reflects current information and is easy for people to find. If you have more than one location, we recommend that you verify all of them. Each verified location will get a verified logo on its GMB page, indicating that it’s a verified location. This can help users distinguish between other businesses with similar names and contact details (which could lead to misdirected calls or visits). Your GMB listings are indexed in Google's search results, so they can benefit from any improvements made to your website. The same goes for changes made through third-party platforms like Yelp!