With Google My Business leading the industry in keeping customers and salons connected, it’s more important than ever to leverage this platform to meet your business goals.

Top 3 Tips

Three of the most important things you can do to make the most out of Google My Business:

• Keep your listing up to date with current hours and info (if your franchise is enrolled in CyberMark’s Online Local Presence, we have this covered! Just email support@cybermark.com for any updates.)
• Post frequently!
• Ask for reviews and respond to reviews, both the good and the bad.

What should you post on Google My Business?

Google provides options to post updates related to COVID-19, promotional offers, updates for your business, events, and products. Every post you publish has a chance to show in the search results when potential guests Google your business or service, increasing your business exposure. Our recommendation? Treat it just like your social media channels and share similar updates.

How often should you post on Google My Business?

At a minimum, you should post every seven days because posts expire after seven days. Many businesses post daily to increase their exposure. However, Google only shows the most recent post in search results, so if you have an important update published, don’t post another one right away.

How do I write an effective post on Google My Business?

A post to your customers on Google should be brief, useful, and inspire action, and photos should be well-lit and in-focus. Here are 5 tips for writing great posts:

1. Pick the right post type: Is your post about an event? An offer or time-sensitive deal? Do you have news to share? Consider what you want your post to do — whether to encourage customers to visit your store, sell something, or announce a new feature.
2. Share great photos/videos: Take a high-resolution photo reinforcing your message so your post stands out.

• Photos: Photos should be simple, direct, in-focus and well-lit, with bright, vibrant colors. Photos should have a minimum resolution of 400px wide by 300px tall, in JPG or PNG format.
• Videos: Google accepts the following file formats for video: AVI, MP4, MOV, FLV, WMV, MPG, M4V, MKV, M2TS, and MTS. The maximum size for videos is 100 MB.

3. Use a concise, descriptive title (if your post is an event): Describe your event in 4-5 words. You have 58 characters for your title.
4. Provide more details: Be clear about the offer/event. You have up to 1,500 characters for the details of your post, but the ideal length is between 150-300 characters. Include keywords related to the services you’re promoting, such as lash extensions or eyebrow threading.
5. Provide a call to action: Include instructions such as “Buy,” “Book online,” “Learn more,” “Call,” or “Visit.”

Best Practices for Google Posts

• Be precise: What are the 3 things your customer needs to know? What do you want them to remember, for how much, and when?
• Be personal: Show what your business values:
• Tell your customers what they can do. Are you selling a service? Tell them how they can book.
• Highlight what makes your business, product, or offer unique.
• Be timely — use a key selling point or popular item as the hook for your post:
• Be sure to include any redemption instructions, unique codes, or restrictions on offers or sales:
• Use abbreviations for days and months, and don’t use periods, to allow more space for your post: (for example: Jan, Feb, Mar… Mon, Tue, Wed…)
• Abbreviate hours in this way: 9 AM, 5 PM, 12 PM, 12 AM
• Follow Google My Business content policies, review policies and photo guidelines.

What not to do when posting to Google

• Don’t use commercial slang
  “BOGO: 50% off lash refills”
• Don’t use excessive exclamation marks or all caps:
  “Crazy SALE today!!!”
• Don’t include more than one theme or offer in one communication:
  “Half off lash extensions from 3-6 PM on Fridays, and 20% off threading on weekdays.”
• Don’t craft a deal with too many exclusions:
  “10% off memberships. Not valid on hybrid or volume memberships or for existing members”

Reviews on Google My Business

It is estimated that review signals account for 9.8% of your website’s total ranking factors. That’s part of why it’s so important to not only focus on getting more reviews, but on responding to reviews as well. Here are some tips for getting 5-star reviews.

Guests who visit The Lash Lounge want to experience the “why” – why choose your business? A great atmosphere will help them fall in love.

People are more likely to leave a review when they have a highly positive experience. Continue to nurture relationships with your guest.

Over 50% of consumers will leave a review if asked to do so. It never hurts to ask!

How to respond to reviews

It’s easy to thank your guests that leave 5-star reviews—and you absolutely should! This shows that you are engaged with your guests. However, responding to negative reviews can be more challenging.

• Listen attentively and without interrupting. Let them know you understand why they feel this way.
• Apologize for the situation and for how it affected them. Be careful to not place blame. Offer a resolution and thank them for bringing the issue to your attention.
• Flag reviews that violate Google’s policies. These can include fake reviews, spam, conflicts of interest, etc. Here’s how.

Additional tips

Download the app! The Google My Business app makes it easy to engage with customers on the go, get insights and upload photos.

Get it on iOS or Android

Explore the Google Marketing Kit, a free resource that helps you create custom social posts and more from reviews and updates on your Business Profile.

Check it out >>>