June 9, 2025 • 21 mins
What if one of your most powerful marketing tools was already at your fingertips, and totally free? In this episode, I sit down with digital growth strategist Marilyn Jenkins, author of The Google Business Profile Training Guide, to talk about a tool many business owners overlook: their Google Business Profile.
Marilyn shares why this profile may matter even more than your website, especially as AI changes how people search. They also discuss how to make the most of your listing, from smart optimization tactics to why weekly updates make such a big difference.
If your profile has been gathering dust or you haven’t even claimed it, this conversation will help you shift your mindset and take action. You’ll walk away with practical, manageable steps to boost visibility and connect with more local customers.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Janice Hostager (00:04):
I'm Janice Hostager.
After three decades in themarketing business and many
years of being an entrepreneur,I've learned a thing or two
about marketing.
Join me as we talk aboutmarketing, small business and
life in between.
Welcome to My Weekly Marketing.
(00:33):
What if I told you that one ofthe most powerful tools in your
small business arsenal isabsolutely free and hiding in
plain sight?
I'm talking about the GoogleBusiness Profile, that free
listing that shows up whensomebody Googles your business,
and how to optimize it toactually bring you more clients,
more calls and more credibility.
Joining me today is MarilynJenkins, a digital growth
strategist who literally wrotethe book about the subject
(00:56):
called the Google BusinessProfile Training Guide.
As the founder of MJ MediaGroup and the Law Marketing Zone
, she brings decades ofexperience to the table, and
today we're taking a deeper diveon one of the most
underutilized tools in localmarketing.
Google Business Profile isn'tjust a digital listing.
It's your storefront on theworld's biggest search engine.
(01:17):
So if you've ever wondered howto get more visibility and
search results without spendinga fortune on ads, this episode
is for you.
Let's dive in.
Well, hey, Marilyn, how are youtoday?
Marilyn Jenkins (01:28):
I'm doing great .
How are you?
Janice Hostager (01:30):
Good.
Good, thanks for joining me.
So I love talking about GoogleBusiness Profile because I think
it's such a jewel that we havethis available to us as small
businesses.
So what is it?
First of all, let's talk aboutwhat it is and why people should
pay attention to it.
Marilyn Jenkins (01:48):
Well, if you, if you're old enough to remember
the yellow pages, think about.
Every business had a listing,whether you paid extra to be
bold or any of that kind ofstuff, right?
So it's almost like Googlewanted the same.
They wanted a directory ofevery business.
So imagine them importing theyellow pages and then keeping
every business updated.
So that's what it is.
So every business is on the map.
(02:10):
Every business listed has aGoogle Business Profile.
If you have a new business, youcan simply go and add yourself
to it, and it's the way ofGoogle being able to give users
everything they need in theirlocal search.
So that's really what it is.
Is your business online?
Think of it as a webpage for,if you will, for specifically
(02:32):
your business, and it's free?
Janice Hostager (02:35):
Yeah.
What could be better than free,right?
For somebody who's like sayingnever touch their Google
Business Profile.
What's the first thing thatthey should do today with?
Marilyn Jenkins (02:46):
I would search for your business name and then,
if you've never done anythingwith it, there'll be a link on
the Google Business Profile andit's a little box to the right
that has all the detail and alittle map above it and it'll
say manage this listing or ownthis listing.
So, depending on your location,sometimes the wording is a
little bit different, or maybeit says own this business.
(03:06):
So click on that so that youcan take it and you need to
verify that you own it and thenstart using it.
And the key here is Google isthe number one search engine
because it gives their userswhat they want, right?
So if you want business andpeople are searching in your
local area for your business,you need to give Google what
(03:26):
they want so they can give theirusers what they want.
And that's all your informationabout your business, so that
they know what type of searchesto show you for.
Janice Hostager (03:35):
And what if you're not a local business and
let's say you don't have a brickand mortar?
Is it still relevant then?
Marilyn Jenkins (03:42):
It's still relevant.
If you are local but you don'twant your address listed.
Now, you won't come up in themap pack.
So if you'll look now when youdo a search locally so say, for
pizza restaurant near me, you'llget the map and you'll get
three listings of the peoplethat are the closest three
businesses to you.
If you don't list your address,you're not going to be in that.
(04:04):
However, if someone's lookingyou up, your Google Business
Profile will show up so you canstill get used from it.
When it comes to being like aglobal business or a nationwide
business, it's not as important.
Janice Hostager (04:18):
Is it relevant to like your Google listings?
I mean, does it help your SEOin the long run?
Marilyn Jenkins (04:24):
Yes.
Janice Hostager (04:24):
Okay.
Marilyn Jenkins (04:25):
Indeed, it does a lot, because it used to be
called Google My Business andpeople used it to store reviews.
That was it.
Well, when they upgraded it,they always changed the name.
When they upgraded, theychanged it to Google Business
Profile and they added so muchmore to it.
So, instead of having one ortwo categories, you can now have
up to seven and in somelocations you can have more.
(04:45):
The categories is the veryfirst, most important thing that
Google uses to know where toshow you right and whenever
someone locally searches forwhatever.
We now also have products andservices, which are places to
put more keywords, moreinformation about what you offer
and update periodically.
And then, if you think about,do you have a blog?
(05:07):
Do you post information?
They have posts that live onyour, your Google Business
Profile for six months and thencan be replaced, so there's so
much information you can tellGoogle about the types of
businesses that you want.
Janice Hostager (05:22):
That's really so nice that I feel like that
every business should beutilizing it just for that
reason for sure.
Marilyn Jenkins (05:29):
Exactly.
Janice Hostager (05:30):
So, are there some easy ways to optimize their
profile that people sometimesoverlook, or what are the most
common mistakes yousee that people make?
Marilyn Jenkins (05:41):
If you were, say, old school, and you said,
like Maryland's plumbing in ABCtown for plumbing, home plumbing
, that's the name of yourbusiness.
So you see what I did there.
I keyword stuffed what I do andthe town.
So they are not approvingGoogle Business Profiles anymore
(06:05):
that don't have your actualbusiness name in them.
So that's kind of the thing.
Remember years ago, peoplewould do four A's to be at the
beginning of their category.
Janice Hostager (06:12):
Yeah
Marilyn Jenkins (06:13):
You know, A, A, A, A, plumber, right, unless
that's your legal business name,you'll not be able to use that.
And that's the biggest thing,that keyword stuffing and then
faking it.
Not really faking it, but doingit, one like, say, you have an
aunt that lives in the town overand you want to be listed in
that town, so you use heraddress.
Right, it's not a real address.
You can't verify that you ownthat address or you do business
(06:36):
out of it.
So those are the two big thingsand Google's cleaning those up
just by not approving them ordisallowing them.
Janice Hostager (06:43):
Oh, interesting .
So now I work out of my homebut I have a PO box that's in an
actual different town, I meanit's nearby.
Is that something that can beallowed by people that have
their PO boxes somewhereelse?
Marilyn Jenkins (06:56):
It was at one time when they were mailing out
the postcards.
But now what we've noticed overthe last probably eight or nine
months 90% of the verificationsare requiring a video.
Now you have to show yoursignage out front, using the key
to unlock the door, going inand showing customer-only places
and employee-only places, andall of this in one cut in 90
(07:17):
seconds.
So if it's a PO box, it justdoesn't qualify.
Janice Hostager (07:21):
Really.
Okay, interesting, so you justleave the address off altogether
.
Marilyn Jenkins (07:25):
Yeah, when you go into the management portal,
which they have upgraded, themanagement portal, it's so easy
to use and there's even a gasgauge on some people's that show
how complete it is, which isvery helpful.
But in there you can say whereyour address is.
You don't want to show youraddress, you're not going to
show up in the map pack, whichis ideally what you as a local
business want, but if someone'slooking for something in your
(07:47):
area you could come up as on theside.
Janice Hostager (07:51):
Okay, okay.
So if you weren't wanting toshow your location actually?
And can somebody use theirprofile to show up higher in
search results without payingfor, like ads or or having their
map inside?
I know you mentioned that justhaving the profile is beneficial
.
What about increasing your,your search results, your SEO,
(08:16):
based on what you put into yourprofile?
Is there something that, inparticular, that works really
well, like blog posts or what?
What do you recommend for that?
Marilyn Jenkins (08:24):
Yes, exactly, and it does normally in most
places.
Very few places, I should say.
Ads are showing up in the mappack, but for the most part
they're not, so any listings are.
There's always three organiclistings in the map pack, right?
By, now.
.
.
Think about what's happeningright now.
Since Google has rolled in AIinto their search results.
(08:46):
Only about 50% of the searchesequal a click right, so it's
called zero-click search resultsis what's happening in Google.
That means when someone asks aquestion or searches for
something, Google gives them theanswer right there.
They don't have to go anywhereto get it, right?
(09:13):
So if you've taken your GoogleBusiness Profile, you have
chosen as many categories inpriority of the business that
you want and you put yourself inthere.
You know, if you're a homeconstruction and you want to
focus on kitchen remodeling,that should be your first
category, right, and then lesserpriority down.
Now using blog posts that haveyour keywords in them,
absolutely.
Making sure that you have yourservices listed out and
periodically add more to it orchange it.
(09:35):
If there's a special, you wantto make sure that you have your
hours that are correct and,especially if there's a holiday
coming up, you edit your hours.
Because in the Google Map Pack,Google will say near a holiday
last you edit your hours.
Because in the Google map pack,google will say near a holiday
last updated on the listing.
So you want to make sure yourswasn't last updated last year,
right?
So that's super important andone of the big, big important
(09:59):
things is is to reply to everyreview, and this sounds really
complicated, but it is not.
You need to do a littlesomething every week on your
Google Business Profile becauseI can guarantee you that your
competition, especially if it'sa franchise, is not doing it.
Janice Hostager (10:16):
Is Google paying attention to that as well
?
Marilyn Jenkins (10:18):
Yes, that's the engagement part.
You're giving them moreinformation every week, you're
doing something every week andyou're keeping your hours
updated.
Now, just as an example, I hada pet store that we were working
with and, out of the blue,their Tuesdays they had no
walk-in traffic and they werelike what's going on?
(10:39):
Like the third Tuesday, it'slike what's going on here.
I'm like check your hours,because the hours is something
that the public can change ifthey believe it's different.
Someone went in and made itlook like they were closed on
Tuesday.
So when people do check thehours and so they updated it, so
it shows updated by the owner,and their traffic started coming
(10:59):
back in on Tuesday.
So it was just simple as that.
Janice Hostager (11:03):
That's really interesting, so somebody could
actually sabotage your listing.
Marilyn Jenkins (11:07):
It can.
And if you, you know, in thebeginning you asked me what if
you've never owned it, yourcompetition can't.
They could actually take it andput their phone number as the
business so that they thenhijack.
Janice Hostager (11:21):
Wow.
Marilyn Jenkins (11:23):
They might not get away with it long if they
have to go into a review, averification review,
Janice Hostager (11:28):
Okay.
Marilyn Jenkins (11:28):
Because they can't prove you know, the
signage, the key.
They can't prove all of that,but they used to prior would be
able to do that.
They could go in and change theaddress, get the postcard and
verify and go forward.
Janice Hostager (11:41):
Wow, that's just nasty.
That's, I guess, this worldthat we live in, right?
Marilyn Jenkins (11:47):
It is, isn't it ?
Janice Hostager (11:50):
So what's your advice on responding to negative
reviews?
You talked about reviews.
What about the bad ones?
You recommend people go in aswell.
Marilyn Jenkins (11:59):
Yes, all of them especially.
So, think about your reviews.
Your replies are notnecessarily a reply to that
reviewer.
It's a reply to your futurecustomer.
It shows Google that you careabout the customer experience,
which is why they're the numberone search engine.
So, even if it was your fault,professionally apologize.
If it wasn't your fault,explain that as professionally
(12:23):
as you can, without pointingfingers.
And if it's a disgruntledemployee, ex-employee, or maybe
it's just something dude I don'teven do car repair, I'm a
bakery.
Just professionally, reply that.
Just be clear.
Just be professional, andthat's the best.
Be kind and be professional,but reply to everyone and if you
(12:45):
can use your keywords in yourlocation without it sounding
weird.
Janice Hostager (12:50):
Right, right.
So your keywords in yourlocation.
So give me an example of that.
Marilyn Jenkins (12:55):
So like yeah, I mean, if you're replying, so
say it's a positive review.
Then you could reply and saythank you so much for visiting
us.
We appreciated doing businesswith you and helping you with
your plumbing needs in XYZ town.
So plumbing, or maybe you did,you baked them a cake or I mean
whatever you know, whatever yourmain category is, we were happy
(13:15):
to help you do this in town.
Janice Hostager (13:18):
Gotcha.
Gotcha.
So where does Google BusinessProfile kind of fit in the
overall marketing strategy?
So I work a lot with marketingstrategy, right, so I would
listen to the awareness stagereally, but I bet it could kind
of be in the consideration stagetoo.
Would you agree with that?
Marilyn Jenkins (13:39):
I think if you're a local business with an
address, it is imperative thatyou do it, because it's the
biggest search engine.
It's where everybody is goingto ask questions and now,
especially with AI there, givethem as much information as you
possibly can and you willbenefit from that.
Again, the number of reviews iswhat used to kind of rank in
Map Pack, and the Map Pack usedto be seven.
(14:02):
Now it's three, so it's evenmore important.
Google will potentially and inmany cases we've seen give
someone with less reviews ahigher ranking because they have
more information on GoogleBusiness Profile.
Janice Hostager (14:13):
Okay.
So when you said it used to beseven, you mean seven businesses
would show up in the searchresults, is what you're saying?
Marilyn Jenkins (14:17):
Right, and now it's three.
Janice Hostager (14:19):
Now it's three, okay, okay.
So how often do you think thatpeople need to update it?
Marilyn Jenkins (14:24):
I would say at least weekly, do something a
little weekly.
So maybe Thursdays are theslowest day in the business.
So Thursday morning you go inand you check for reviews and
you reply to them, or you put anew service or a new product so
say you've got something comingout over the weekend.
Update something, add a newphoto.
Photos are great and especiallyif you turn your location
(14:47):
services on.
If you are the business thatgoes out of your office to do
repairs or whatever, make surelocation services are on and
take a picture of you or yourteam or your truck, wherever you
are, and post that.
What that helps is also tellsGoogle that I am relevant
further away from my office.
Janice Hostager (15:06):
Okay, okay, and a couple weeks ago, when we
chatted for the first time, Iwas telling you about a client
that I had that had multiplelocations.
Now, hers was a little trickybecause they work in a hospital
setting, so they have an officein hospitals, and you were
telling me that, absolutely,it's possible to have multiple
locations listed, right?
Marilyn Jenkins (15:27):
Yes.
Janice Hostager (15:28):
And so tell me what you said.
I don't know if you rememberthis, but you said that each
office needed to make sure youhad a suite number, correct?
Marilyn Jenkins (15:35):
Yes, and that's the thing, because you can't
use the hospital's address orGoogle's going to say that's a
hospital.
But think about, hospitals havedoctor's offices in them, they
have therapy offices in them, soany of that type of thing.
So if you can show that here'sthe address and here's my office
and you've got a name on yourdoor, this is my business and
then go into the office I'mthinking the video, you know
(15:59):
that verification but as long asyou have a number on the door,
you've got a suite number, and ahospital is a business location
that has multiple businessinside of it, so it's valid.
I would just, you know, becareful with multiple locations,
in that I would get oneverified and approved first,
then get the next one.
Unless you are new to GoogleBusiness Profile and you already
(16:21):
have like five locations, thentry to get them each verified,
but I would just, you know, oneat a time works that way.
You're getting one focus.
The Google Business Profile isone of the few places in Google
that you can actually talk to areal person.
Now, it might be by chat, butwithin your management portal,
you can reach support and a realperson will talk to you.
(16:44):
That's probably fast going bythe wayside with them
implementing so much AI, butright now you can reach someone
because that's how importantthis profile is to the big
Google system.
Janice Hostager (16:57):
Oh, that is so cool.
I remember you telling me thatand I was shocked honestly,
because so many I mean any bigcorporation it's almost
impossible to talk to a realhuman being.
Marilyn Jenkins (17:06):
So that tells me how important the Google
Business Profile is to theirsearch results.
Janice Hostager (17:11):
That's really interesting so there's no way to
really, as your business grows,you can keep your Google
Business Profile is what you'resaying.
It's not like it's not just forsmall businesses.
Marilyn Jenkins (17:21):
No, no, no.
And the other thing is you alsowant to make sure that if
you're taking over a business no, I'm saying that wrong If I'm
renting an office and startingmy business, that another
business was in, if you searchthat address, you can see who
else used it.
So as soon as you start yourGoogle Business Profile or you
update your address, you want tomake sure you tell Google that
(17:44):
this is a duplicate and thosepeople aren't here anymore.
Okay, and that will help youget better juice on your, on the
address and it won't beconfused.
Janice Hostager (17:55):
Yeah, yeah.
What do you see coming up thatGoogle's going to be doing with
these?
Do you think they're going tostick around?
So many things that Google does,they
Marilyn Jenkins (18:04):
The Google Business Profile is I think the
11th iteration of Google Places,so it's not going anywhere but
every time there's an iteration,there's new features, so I
think that's what I think isgoing to happen is with the AI
and also with the zero-clicksearches,
It's more important than ever.
(18:24):
If, like I said, 50% ofsearches are clicking, that
means 50% of people who askGoogle a question are never
getting to the bottom, where theorganic searches are, much less
getting to the ads right.
So the AI is at the top andthen the Google Business Profile
is to the right.
So it's super important that,no matter what the changes are,
(18:46):
make sure you keep it.
Do not give your login andpassword to anyone.
If you hire someone to help youmanage it, you make them a
manager okay, so that you stillown it.
This is a massively importantpiece of intellectual property
for your business.
It's more important than yourwebsite and, yes, I said that
out loud.
Yes.
Janice Hostager (19:05):
Okay, good to know.
Yeah, because I know that I'vehad them set up, because I've
had multiple businesses and I'vehad them always set up and you
kind of set them up and forgetabout them.
Or at least I do, but and Iknow my clients or at least I do
and I know my clients thatseems to be the case as well.
But really putting some timeand energy into that is going to
benefit you overall, is whatyou're saying.
Marilyn Jenkins (19:24):
Yeah, and if you've got a point of sale, it's
a really good idea to print outa QR code and have it attached
to your point of sale forreviews and it's the URL to the
pop-up window and just makeasking for reviews part of your
process.
When you finish a job or a saleor whatever, ask for that um,
and then you know.
(19:45):
So watch those start growingand you'll see your rank can get
better as well oh, super, superinteresting stuff.
Janice Hostager (19:53):
Where can people find out more about you
and if they need some help withtheir Google Business Profile,
because, honestly, I can tellyou that setting it up can be a
real pain sometimes, especiallywith the verification process.
Right, absolutely, how can theyfind out more about you or
Google Business Profiles ingeneral?
Marilyn Jenkins (20:10):
They can reach me on LinkedIn.
I'm Marilyn Jenkins.
I also have a book, the GoogleBusiness Profile Training Guide,
available on Amazon, and youcan reach me at mjmediagroupco.
Janice Hostager (20:23):
Awesome, and I will put those links in the
profile for today.
Thank you so much, Marilyn.
This was super informative.
I need to go update my GoogleBusiness Profile right now.
Marilyn Jenkins (20:35):
Well, thank you for having me.
This has been a blast.
Janice Hostager (20:37):
Thank you.
If today's episode got youthinking about your own Google
Business Profile and maybe evenscrambling to check it out to
see if it's up to date, then I'mright there with you.
For a transcript and links toanything we talked about today,
visit the show notes atmyweeklymarketingcom.
Forward slash 111.
If you found this episodehelpful, be sure to follow and
(20:58):
subscribe so you don't missfuture episodes.
And hey, if you know a fellowbusiness owner who could use a
little help showing up on Google, share this episode with them
too.
Thanks for joining me today.
See you next time.
Bye for now.
I'm Janice Hostager.
After three decades in themarketing business and many
years of being an entrepreneur,I've learned a thing or two
about marketing.
Join me as we talk aboutmarketing, small business and
life in between.
Welcome to My Weekly Marketing.
(00:33):
What if I told you that one ofthe most powerful tools in your
small business arsenal isabsolutely free and hiding in
plain sight?
I'm talking about the GoogleBusiness Profile, that free
listing that shows up whensomebody Googles your business,
and how to optimize it toactually bring you more clients,
more calls and more credibility.
Joining me today is MarilynJenkins, a digital growth
strategist who literally wrotethe book about the subject
(00:56):
called the Google BusinessProfile Training Guide.
As the founder of MJ MediaGroup and the Law Marketing Zone
, she brings decades ofexperience to the table, and
today we're taking a deeper diveon one of the most
underutilized tools in localmarketing.
Google Business Profile isn'tjust a digital listing.
It's your storefront on theworld's biggest search engine.
(01:17):
So if you've ever wondered howto get more visibility and
search results without spendinga fortune on ads, this episode
is for you.
Let's dive in.
Well, hey, Marilyn, how are youtoday?
Marilyn Jenkins (01:28):
I'm doing great .
How are you?
Janice Hostager (01:30):
Good.
Good, thanks for joining me.
So I love talking about GoogleBusiness Profile because I think
it's such a jewel that we havethis available to us as small
businesses.
So what is it?
First of all, let's talk aboutwhat it is and why people should
pay attention to it.
Marilyn Jenkins (01:48):
Well, if you, if you're old enough to remember
the yellow pages, think about.
Every business had a listing,whether you paid extra to be
bold or any of that kind ofstuff, right?
So it's almost like Googlewanted the same.
They wanted a directory ofevery business.
So imagine them importing theyellow pages and then keeping
every business updated.
So that's what it is.
So every business is on the map.
(02:10):
Every business listed has aGoogle Business Profile.
If you have a new business, youcan simply go and add yourself
to it, and it's the way ofGoogle being able to give users
everything they need in theirlocal search.
So that's really what it is.
Is your business online?
Think of it as a webpage for,if you will, for specifically
(02:32):
your business, and it's free?
Janice Hostager (02:35):
Yeah.
What could be better than free,right?
For somebody who's like sayingnever touch their Google
Business Profile.
What's the first thing thatthey should do today with?
Marilyn Jenkins (02:46):
I would search for your business name and then,
if you've never done anythingwith it, there'll be a link on
the Google Business Profile andit's a little box to the right
that has all the detail and alittle map above it and it'll
say manage this listing or ownthis listing.
So, depending on your location,sometimes the wording is a
little bit different, or maybeit says own this business.
(03:06):
So click on that so that youcan take it and you need to
verify that you own it and thenstart using it.
And the key here is Google isthe number one search engine
because it gives their userswhat they want, right?
So if you want business andpeople are searching in your
local area for your business,you need to give Google what
(03:26):
they want so they can give theirusers what they want.
And that's all your informationabout your business, so that
they know what type of searchesto show you for.
Janice Hostager (03:35):
And what if you're not a local business and
let's say you don't have a brickand mortar?
Is it still relevant then?
Marilyn Jenkins (03:42):
It's still relevant.
If you are local but you don'twant your address listed.
Now, you won't come up in themap pack.
So if you'll look now when youdo a search locally so say, for
pizza restaurant near me, you'llget the map and you'll get
three listings of the peoplethat are the closest three
businesses to you.
If you don't list your address,you're not going to be in that.
(04:04):
However, if someone's lookingyou up, your Google Business
Profile will show up so you canstill get used from it.
When it comes to being like aglobal business or a nationwide
business, it's not as important.
Janice Hostager (04:18):
Is it relevant to like your Google listings?
I mean, does it help your SEOin the long run?
Marilyn Jenkins (04:24):
Yes.
Janice Hostager (04:24):
Okay.
Marilyn Jenkins (04:25):
Indeed, it does a lot, because it used to be
called Google My Business andpeople used it to store reviews.
That was it.
Well, when they upgraded it,they always changed the name.
When they upgraded, theychanged it to Google Business
Profile and they added so muchmore to it.
So, instead of having one ortwo categories, you can now have
up to seven and in somelocations you can have more.
(04:45):
The categories is the veryfirst, most important thing that
Google uses to know where toshow you right and whenever
someone locally searches forwhatever.
We now also have products andservices, which are places to
put more keywords, moreinformation about what you offer
and update periodically.
And then, if you think about,do you have a blog?
(05:07):
Do you post information?
They have posts that live onyour, your Google Business
Profile for six months and thencan be replaced, so there's so
much information you can tellGoogle about the types of
businesses that you want.
Janice Hostager (05:22):
That's really so nice that I feel like that
every business should beutilizing it just for that
reason for sure.
Marilyn Jenkins (05:29):
Exactly.
Janice Hostager (05:30):
So, are there some easy ways to optimize their
profile that people sometimesoverlook, or what are the most
common mistakes yousee that people make?
Marilyn Jenkins (05:41):
If you were, say, old school, and you said,
like Maryland's plumbing in ABCtown for plumbing, home plumbing
, that's the name of yourbusiness.
So you see what I did there.
I keyword stuffed what I do andthe town.
So they are not approvingGoogle Business Profiles anymore
(06:05):
that don't have your actualbusiness name in them.
So that's kind of the thing.
Remember years ago, peoplewould do four A's to be at the
beginning of their category.
Janice Hostager (06:12):
Yeah
Marilyn Jenkins (06:13):
You know, A, A, A, A, plumber, right, unless
that's your legal business name,you'll not be able to use that.
And that's the biggest thing,that keyword stuffing and then
faking it.
Not really faking it, but doingit, one like, say, you have an
aunt that lives in the town overand you want to be listed in
that town, so you use heraddress.
Right, it's not a real address.
You can't verify that you ownthat address or you do business
(06:36):
out of it.
So those are the two big thingsand Google's cleaning those up
just by not approving them ordisallowing them.
Janice Hostager (06:43):
Oh, interesting .
So now I work out of my homebut I have a PO box that's in an
actual different town, I meanit's nearby.
Is that something that can beallowed by people that have
their PO boxes somewhereelse?
Marilyn Jenkins (06:56):
It was at one time when they were mailing out
the postcards.
But now what we've noticed overthe last probably eight or nine
months 90% of the verificationsare requiring a video.
Now you have to show yoursignage out front, using the key
to unlock the door, going inand showing customer-only places
and employee-only places, andall of this in one cut in 90
(07:17):
seconds.
So if it's a PO box, it justdoesn't qualify.
Janice Hostager (07:21):
Really.
Okay, interesting, so you justleave the address off altogether
.
Marilyn Jenkins (07:25):
Yeah, when you go into the management portal,
which they have upgraded, themanagement portal, it's so easy
to use and there's even a gasgauge on some people's that show
how complete it is, which isvery helpful.
But in there you can say whereyour address is.
You don't want to show youraddress, you're not going to
show up in the map pack, whichis ideally what you as a local
business want, but if someone'slooking for something in your
(07:47):
area you could come up as on theside.
Janice Hostager (07:51):
Okay, okay.
So if you weren't wanting toshow your location actually?
And can somebody use theirprofile to show up higher in
search results without payingfor, like ads or or having their
map inside?
I know you mentioned that justhaving the profile is beneficial
.
What about increasing your,your search results, your SEO,
(08:16):
based on what you put into yourprofile?
Is there something that, inparticular, that works really
well, like blog posts or what?
What do you recommend for that?
Marilyn Jenkins (08:24):
Yes, exactly, and it does normally in most
places.
Very few places, I should say.
Ads are showing up in the mappack, but for the most part
they're not, so any listings are.
There's always three organiclistings in the map pack, right?
By, now.
.
.
Think about what's happeningright now.
Since Google has rolled in AIinto their search results.
(08:46):
Only about 50% of the searchesequal a click right, so it's
called zero-click search resultsis what's happening in Google.
That means when someone asks aquestion or searches for
something, Google gives them theanswer right there.
They don't have to go anywhereto get it, right?
(09:13):
So if you've taken your GoogleBusiness Profile, you have
chosen as many categories inpriority of the business that
you want and you put yourself inthere.
You know, if you're a homeconstruction and you want to
focus on kitchen remodeling,that should be your first
category, right, and then lesserpriority down.
Now using blog posts that haveyour keywords in them,
absolutely.
Making sure that you have yourservices listed out and
periodically add more to it orchange it.
(09:35):
If there's a special, you wantto make sure that you have your
hours that are correct and,especially if there's a holiday
coming up, you edit your hours.
Because in the Google Map Pack,Google will say near a holiday
last you edit your hours.
Because in the Google map pack,google will say near a holiday
last updated on the listing.
So you want to make sure yourswasn't last updated last year,
right?
So that's super important andone of the big, big important
(09:59):
things is is to reply to everyreview, and this sounds really
complicated, but it is not.
You need to do a littlesomething every week on your
Google Business Profile becauseI can guarantee you that your
competition, especially if it'sa franchise, is not doing it.
Janice Hostager (10:16):
Is Google paying attention to that as well
?
Marilyn Jenkins (10:18):
Yes, that's the engagement part.
You're giving them moreinformation every week, you're
doing something every week andyou're keeping your hours
updated.
Now, just as an example, I hada pet store that we were working
with and, out of the blue,their Tuesdays they had no
walk-in traffic and they werelike what's going on?
(10:39):
Like the third Tuesday, it'slike what's going on here.
I'm like check your hours,because the hours is something
that the public can change ifthey believe it's different.
Someone went in and made itlook like they were closed on
Tuesday.
So when people do check thehours and so they updated it, so
it shows updated by the owner,and their traffic started coming
(10:59):
back in on Tuesday.
So it was just simple as that.
Janice Hostager (11:03):
That's really interesting, so somebody could
actually sabotage your listing.
Marilyn Jenkins (11:07):
It can.
And if you, you know, in thebeginning you asked me what if
you've never owned it, yourcompetition can't.
They could actually take it andput their phone number as the
business so that they thenhijack.
Janice Hostager (11:21):
Wow.
Marilyn Jenkins (11:23):
They might not get away with it long if they
have to go into a review, averification review,
Janice Hostager (11:28):
Okay.
Marilyn Jenkins (11:28):
Because they can't prove you know, the
signage, the key.
They can't prove all of that,but they used to prior would be
able to do that.
They could go in and change theaddress, get the postcard and
verify and go forward.
Janice Hostager (11:41):
Wow, that's just nasty.
That's, I guess, this worldthat we live in, right?
Marilyn Jenkins (11:47):
It is, isn't it ?
Janice Hostager (11:50):
So what's your advice on responding to negative
reviews?
You talked about reviews.
What about the bad ones?
You recommend people go in aswell.
Marilyn Jenkins (11:59):
Yes, all of them especially.
So, think about your reviews.
Your replies are notnecessarily a reply to that
reviewer.
It's a reply to your futurecustomer.
It shows Google that you careabout the customer experience,
which is why they're the numberone search engine.
So, even if it was your fault,professionally apologize.
If it wasn't your fault,explain that as professionally
(12:23):
as you can, without pointingfingers.
And if it's a disgruntledemployee, ex-employee, or maybe
it's just something dude I don'teven do car repair, I'm a
bakery.
Just professionally, reply that.
Just be clear.
Just be professional, andthat's the best.
Be kind and be professional,but reply to everyone and if you
(12:45):
can use your keywords in yourlocation without it sounding
weird.
Janice Hostager (12:50):
Right, right.
So your keywords in yourlocation.
So give me an example of that.
Marilyn Jenkins (12:55):
So like yeah, I mean, if you're replying, so
say it's a positive review.
Then you could reply and saythank you so much for visiting
us.
We appreciated doing businesswith you and helping you with
your plumbing needs in XYZ town.
So plumbing, or maybe you did,you baked them a cake or I mean
whatever you know, whatever yourmain category is, we were happy
(13:15):
to help you do this in town.
Janice Hostager (13:18):
Gotcha.
Gotcha.
So where does Google BusinessProfile kind of fit in the
overall marketing strategy?
So I work a lot with marketingstrategy, right, so I would
listen to the awareness stagereally, but I bet it could kind
of be in the consideration stagetoo.
Would you agree with that?
Marilyn Jenkins (13:39):
I think if you're a local business with an
address, it is imperative thatyou do it, because it's the
biggest search engine.
It's where everybody is goingto ask questions and now,
especially with AI there, givethem as much information as you
possibly can and you willbenefit from that.
Again, the number of reviews iswhat used to kind of rank in
Map Pack, and the Map Pack usedto be seven.
(14:02):
Now it's three, so it's evenmore important.
Google will potentially and inmany cases we've seen give
someone with less reviews ahigher ranking because they have
more information on GoogleBusiness Profile.
Janice Hostager (14:13):
Okay.
So when you said it used to beseven, you mean seven businesses
would show up in the searchresults, is what you're saying?
Marilyn Jenkins (14:17):
Right, and now it's three.
Janice Hostager (14:19):
Now it's three, okay, okay.
So how often do you think thatpeople need to update it?
Marilyn Jenkins (14:24):
I would say at least weekly, do something a
little weekly.
So maybe Thursdays are theslowest day in the business.
So Thursday morning you go inand you check for reviews and
you reply to them, or you put anew service or a new product so
say you've got something comingout over the weekend.
Update something, add a newphoto.
Photos are great and especiallyif you turn your location
(14:47):
services on.
If you are the business thatgoes out of your office to do
repairs or whatever, make surelocation services are on and
take a picture of you or yourteam or your truck, wherever you
are, and post that.
What that helps is also tellsGoogle that I am relevant
further away from my office.
Janice Hostager (15:06):
Okay, okay, and a couple weeks ago, when we
chatted for the first time, Iwas telling you about a client
that I had that had multiplelocations.
Now, hers was a little trickybecause they work in a hospital
setting, so they have an officein hospitals, and you were
telling me that, absolutely,it's possible to have multiple
locations listed, right?
Marilyn Jenkins (15:27):
Yes.
Janice Hostager (15:28):
And so tell me what you said.
I don't know if you rememberthis, but you said that each
office needed to make sure youhad a suite number, correct?
Marilyn Jenkins (15:35):
Yes, and that's the thing, because you can't
use the hospital's address orGoogle's going to say that's a
hospital.
But think about, hospitals havedoctor's offices in them, they
have therapy offices in them, soany of that type of thing.
So if you can show that here'sthe address and here's my office
and you've got a name on yourdoor, this is my business and
then go into the office I'mthinking the video, you know
(15:59):
that verification but as long asyou have a number on the door,
you've got a suite number, and ahospital is a business location
that has multiple businessinside of it, so it's valid.
I would just, you know, becareful with multiple locations,
in that I would get oneverified and approved first,
then get the next one.
Unless you are new to GoogleBusiness Profile and you already
(16:21):
have like five locations, thentry to get them each verified,
but I would just, you know, oneat a time works that way.
You're getting one focus.
The Google Business Profile isone of the few places in Google
that you can actually talk to areal person.
Now, it might be by chat, butwithin your management portal,
you can reach support and a realperson will talk to you.
(16:44):
That's probably fast going bythe wayside with them
implementing so much AI, butright now you can reach someone
because that's how importantthis profile is to the big
Google system.
Janice Hostager (16:57):
Oh, that is so cool.
I remember you telling me thatand I was shocked honestly,
because so many I mean any bigcorporation it's almost
impossible to talk to a realhuman being.
Marilyn Jenkins (17:06):
So that tells me how important the Google
Business Profile is to theirsearch results.
Janice Hostager (17:11):
That's really interesting so there's no way to
really, as your business grows,you can keep your Google
Business Profile is what you'resaying.
It's not like it's not just forsmall businesses.
Marilyn Jenkins (17:21):
No, no, no.
And the other thing is you alsowant to make sure that if
you're taking over a business no, I'm saying that wrong If I'm
renting an office and startingmy business, that another
business was in, if you searchthat address, you can see who
else used it.
So as soon as you start yourGoogle Business Profile or you
update your address, you want tomake sure you tell Google that
(17:44):
this is a duplicate and thosepeople aren't here anymore.
Okay, and that will help youget better juice on your, on the
address and it won't beconfused.
Janice Hostager (17:55):
Yeah, yeah.
What do you see coming up thatGoogle's going to be doing with
these?
Do you think they're going tostick around?
So many things that Google does,they
Marilyn Jenkins (18:04):
The Google Business Profile is I think the
11th iteration of Google Places,so it's not going anywhere but
every time there's an iteration,there's new features, so I
think that's what I think isgoing to happen is with the AI
and also with the zero-clicksearches,
It's more important than ever.
(18:24):
If, like I said, 50% ofsearches are clicking, that
means 50% of people who askGoogle a question are never
getting to the bottom, where theorganic searches are, much less
getting to the ads right.
So the AI is at the top andthen the Google Business Profile
is to the right.
So it's super important that,no matter what the changes are,
(18:46):
make sure you keep it.
Do not give your login andpassword to anyone.
If you hire someone to help youmanage it, you make them a
manager okay, so that you stillown it.
This is a massively importantpiece of intellectual property
for your business.
It's more important than yourwebsite and, yes, I said that
out loud.
Yes.
Janice Hostager (19:05):
Okay, good to know.
Yeah, because I know that I'vehad them set up, because I've
had multiple businesses and I'vehad them always set up and you
kind of set them up and forgetabout them.
Or at least I do, but and Iknow my clients or at least I do
and I know my clients thatseems to be the case as well.
But really putting some timeand energy into that is going to
benefit you overall, is whatyou're saying.
Marilyn Jenkins (19:24):
Yeah, and if you've got a point of sale, it's
a really good idea to print outa QR code and have it attached
to your point of sale forreviews and it's the URL to the
pop-up window and just makeasking for reviews part of your
process.
When you finish a job or a saleor whatever, ask for that um,
and then you know.
(19:45):
So watch those start growingand you'll see your rank can get
better as well oh, super, superinteresting stuff.
Janice Hostager (19:53):
Where can people find out more about you
and if they need some help withtheir Google Business Profile,
because, honestly, I can tellyou that setting it up can be a
real pain sometimes, especiallywith the verification process.
Right, absolutely, how can theyfind out more about you or
Google Business Profiles ingeneral?
Marilyn Jenkins (20:10):
They can reach me on LinkedIn.
I'm Marilyn Jenkins.
I also have a book, the GoogleBusiness Profile Training Guide,
available on Amazon, and youcan reach me at mjmediagroupco.
Janice Hostager (20:23):
Awesome, and I will put those links in the
profile for today.
Thank you so much, Marilyn.
This was super informative.
I need to go update my GoogleBusiness Profile right now.
Marilyn Jenkins (20:35):
Well, thank you for having me.
This has been a blast.
Janice Hostager (20:37):
Thank you.
If today's episode got youthinking about your own Google
Business Profile and maybe evenscrambling to check it out to
see if it's up to date, then I'mright there with you.
For a transcript and links toanything we talked about today,
visit the show notes atmyweeklymarketingcom.
Forward slash 111.
If you found this episodehelpful, be sure to follow and
(20:58):
subscribe so you don't missfuture episodes.
And hey, if you know a fellowbusiness owner who could use a
little help showing up on Google, share this episode with them
too.
Thanks for joining me today.
See you next time.
Bye for now.
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