Get Your Google My Business Listing Ready For Christmas 2020
It’s that time of year when the sales are starting to grow and Black Friday and Boxing Day are nigh. For many business owners, the end of the year can be the most important and also the most competitive. Most consumers begin searching for a product online even if they intend to buy it in a physical shop.For small businesses, Google My Business is your virtual front door for enthusiastic Christmas shoppers. To make sure your Google My Business listing leaves a memorable and helpful first impression, we’ve outlined the things you need to do to make that so.
Add Special Hours
Google My Business lets you customise your opening hours when it comes to specific special dates. Google will often send last minute prompts reminding you to do this but it is something that can be done well in advance.Shutting down for a few weeks over Christmas? Do you have a staff party where you need to close early? Are you trading late on Christmas Eve? Let your customers know by updating your special hours from within your Google My Business dashboard.
If you are closing for a lengthy period, an Update Post is a good idea. If you include a graphic which shows your closing dates then it cannot be missed by your customers.
Using an Offer Post
Offer posts are an excellent way to showcase Christmas promotions. You can set the offer start and end date so the post will remain active for the period of the promotion. Standard Update posts would otherwise expire after 7 days.
It is helpful to add campaign parameters to your links so that you can track any post clicks through Google Analytics. We use a convention where we set source as “google”, medium as “organic” and campaign as “gmb”. The term field is where posts can be differentiated. In the below screenshot, we used “christmaspromo” to monitor a particular offer. You can do this via Google’s Campaign URL Builder.
Offers are ideal for promoting sales but can also be used to highlight free services such as free quotes, consultations or gift wrapping.
Planning special offers the week before Christmas can target last minute shoppers with special promos and present ideas. Long tail keywords can be targeted through Google My Business post titles which enhances your chances of triggering post excerpts in Google’s local pack or in Map results.
Add Some Holiday FAQs to the Q&A Section
Your phone may be ringing off the hook over the next few weeks. Are you taking returns on Boxing Day? Do you have a Black Friday sale? What are your terms for returns? Incorporate as many Christmas and seasonal related questions as possible.
This will save your customers time and arm them with the information they need to make purchase decisions. You aren’t able to access this section via your dashboard – it is handled through the live version of your listing. You can upvote one question in your profile so that the festive season query becomes the most prominent.
Add New Photos and Update Your Cover Image
Is your office planning an ugly Christmas sweater party? Decorating the office? Take photos of these and share them to show your team. These photos can also be promoted in Update posts.
If you are in an industry where your service offering changes seasonally, take the opportunity to update your identity and exterior photos as the seasons turn.
You may also consider updating your primary category if the service offering changes seasonally. For example you might be an Air Conditioning Contractor in summer but a Heating Contractor over winter. See a complete list of Google My Business categories here.
Promote Special Events in Your GMB Profile
Are you having any special events in store over Christmas? You can let your customers know via your Google My Business listing.You can create an Event post where you add an image (1200px x 900px is the recommended image size), event title, start and end dates, information about the event and a call to action button.
Pushing your event information can also occur by adding your event to a business page on Facebook or Eventbrite. You can’t add an event via the Google My Business dashboard.
Now you are ready for the holiday shopping season! In amidst the holiday fanfare, don’t forget to request Google reviews from your customers. If you are too busy and need a hand with your GMB listing this Christmas, get in touch with us.
Published on Wednesday, 2 December 2020 under Google My Business.
