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      Generate More Leads with a Strong Google Business Profile


      Attracting new customers online is not always an easy task. Finding your audience and ranking higher in search results can be more complicated than you expect. However, with organic search driving 53% of web traffic, maximizing your online presence is crucial if you want to grow your business.

      While there are many steps you can take, creating a strong Google Business Profile is one easy way to boost your digital visibility. A fully-optimized listing can help you reach potential clients, scale your business, and generate more quality leads.

      This post will discuss what a Google Business Profile is and how an optimized business listing can benefit your web presence. Then we’ll describe five of the tool’s newest features and how they can fuel lead generation. Let’s get started!

      What is a Google Business Profile?

      A Google Business Profile is an online tool that allows you to take charge of how your company appears on Google. This platform was formerly known as Google My Business (GMB), but in 2021 Google announced that it was updating GMB and rebranding.

      This change is still in progress. Overall, it aims to simplify profile management and make Google Business listings more accessible for small businesses. However, Google Business Profile still helps all business owners to create an online presence and connect with customers:

      The Google Business Profile website.

      A Google Business Profile allows you to list the name and location of your company on Google Maps and Search. These listings can display further relevant information, such as your hours of operation, phone number, and website. The top Business Profile listings appear when a user types a query into Google Search, Google Maps, or Google Shopping.

      All businesses that have a physical location or come in contact with customers can create a listing. Unfortunately, online-only businesses don’t currently qualify. However, if you meet the minimum requirements, it is completely free to create and maintain a listing. This makes it one of the great tools for small businesses with minimal marketing budgets.

      After you sign up for your Business Profile, you can edit it to provide essential information and media in the knowledge panel. This is an automatically-generated information box that appears on Google when you conduct a search. A fully-optimized Google Business Profile will typically look similar to this:

      Google knowledge panel with Hula Bay Club Business Profile.

      Google Business Profiles’ extensive features help advertise your business and find more customers online. You can also save time and energy by providing important details ahead of time. For instance, if you post your business hours, you’ll likely reduce customer questions about what hours you’ve available.

      When creating your listing, it’s wise to include as much information as possible. That way, you’re answering customer questions before they arise.

      We highly recommend including all the basics, plus anything else that makes your business stand out. You can also provide information for special attributes, such as accessibility, activities, and dining options:

      King of the Coop restaurant’s Google Business Profile.

      Furthermore, you can upload photos and videos of your business’s location, products, and services. There is also a feature that allows you to accept orders, quotes, and bookings directly from your listing.

      Your profile is also a place to interact with potential customers. They can use the Ask a question button or leave reviews about their experiences. The instant messaging feature even lets you chat directly with users to quickly answer questions and assist with any concerns directly from your account. However, you will need to enable this feature before you can use it.

      How a Google Business Profile Works

      Generate More Leads with a Google Business Profile

      A Google Business Profile improves local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for your business. If your listing is fully-optimized, your business is more likely to appear when customers make a related search using Google Maps, Google Search, or Google Shopping. That alone can generate plenty of new leads.

      Since Google holds most of the search engine market share, it’s extremely likely that potential customers will see your Google Business Profile when they search for products and services. For listed businesses, Google’s search rankings are determined by relevance, distance, and quality. Therefore, ensuring that your listing includes the correct business name, location, and phone number is critical. You might also want to encourage customer testimonials in the review section.

      Of course, the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people shop. Many consumers now plan ahead and conduct a Google search to ensure that products are available before leaving their houses. In fact, the number of “Available near me” searches has grown by more than 100% since 2020.

      Google Business Profiles appear in the “3-pack” area of local search results. This is comprised of the three business listings Google displays when a user conducts a “near me” or “near [location]” search:

      Local 3-pack for “restaurants in Tampa” search.

      If your listing is optimized for your Google Business location and you have solid reviews, the 3-pack feature can send leads your way. In fact, customers are 70% more likely to visit a business and 50% more likely to consider purchasing from it if it has a complete Business Profile.

      5 New Google Business Profile Listing Features for 2022

      Along with general improvements, the updated Google Business Profile account offers several new features. Google should continue rolling out more developments over the coming year. In the meantime, let’s take a closer look at some of the latest updates.

      1. Simplified Profile Management

      One of the most prominent characteristics of the new Google Business Profile is the way it is managed. Previously, most Google My Business listings had to be created and maintained through your account or the GMB mobile app.

      The new Google Business Profile is designed with local businesses in mind. Now, you can verify, edit, and manage your business profile directly in Google Search and Google Maps. Simply search for your company’s name, and you will see an option to claim and verify your Business Profile.

      This new feature makes it easier to get your business on Google. Once your profile is verified, you will be able to edit your details by clicking on Edit your business information. From this page, you can list important information, such as your address and business hours. You will also see options for uploading photos and responding to customer reviews.

      This simplified management option can also help you edit your profile faster. Since an updated profile signals to Google that your listing is more relevant, you can more easily improve your SEO and improve your chances of appearing in Google local 3-pack.

      Moving forward, the website for Google My Business will be renamed Business Profile Manager, and its primary use will be for larger businesses with multiple profiles. Google My Business profile management will be available through Search and Maps. Google also plans to retire the Google My Business app in order to streamline account management.

      2. Customer Engagement Options

      The new Google Business Profile includes additional ways to engage with customers. Business owners have always had the ability to message customers and respond to reviews through GMB listings.

      Now, Google has created a call history feature for businesses in the U.S. and Canada. This will allow you to see a list of calls you’ve initiated, answered, or missed, right from your Google account.

      You will also be able to send and receive messages directly from Search (with read receipts). As a result, customers will have a more direct way to reach you. With this tool, you may be able to provide a better customer service experience and convert more prospective visitors into customers.

      3. Opportunities to Display Your Inventory

      If your business sells products, the new in-stock feature is a great way to display your inventory and advertise to potential customers. This filter allows shoppers to see specific items that are in stock at nearby stores. When users see that products are available, they’ll be more likely to visit your store and make a purchase.

      In order to take advantage of this new feature, you’ll need to sign up for Pointy. This is a free tool that connects to your point of sale system and automatically updates your inventory. Pointy uploads a product’s title, image, and description directly to Google, by simply scanning the barcode:

      The Pointy inventory tool.

      To do this, navigate to your Google Business Profile listing, click on Edit Profile, and then select Products from the drop-down menu. You can either add products with Pointy or upload products manually with Pointy’s Product Editor:

      Adding products to Google with Pointy.

      Automatic product uploads work best with items that have standard barcodes. If you sell products with non-standard barcodes, adding them manually is likely the best option.

      4. Promotional Opportunities with Performance Planner

      You can also connect your Business Profile account with Google Ads to take advantage of the new Performance Planner. This tool enables you to create advertising plans and illustrates how campaigns affect your key metrics and performance.

      Performance Planner analyzes billions of queries each day and simulates relevant ad auctions to collect data and create forecasts. You can manage your budget, see campaign forecasts, explore possible outcomes, and gauge seasonal opportunities directly from the Performance Planner:

      The Performance Planner analytics tool.

      Once you connect your Business Profile to your Google Ads account, you can use your inventory to create local search campaigns that display your ads in search results. These ads include images and product descriptions based on your inventory. This can help you easily generate leads by putting your relevant product ads in front of more prospective customers.

      5. Expanded Attributes

      When creating or updating your listing, you’ll want to complete all applicable profile attributes to be sure potential customers understand your business. Attributes are personalized descriptors and identifiers that show what your company offers.

      Attributes can vary depending on your Google Business categories. The most common attributes include Accessibility, Amenities, Payments, and Service Options. For example, if your business location is wheelchair-accessible, you can update your Accessibility attribute so customers will be aware.

      The Health & Safety attribute is a relatively new option that was added due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This allows you to share important details, such as your mask guidelines and whether you have a temperature check policy in place.

      There is also a category titled From The Business, which allows you to share more about your leadership. In this section, you can highlight additional unique details about your company. For instance, if your business is women-led, veteran-led, or black-owned, you might want to include that information here.

      Customers can then conduct a Google Search for a specific attribute. For example, when a potential customer searches “black-owned restaurant near me,” they will only see results with this attribute:

      A search for businesses with a specific attribute.

      Adding all applicable attributes to your Google Business Profile can optimize your listing and influence your local SEO. It can also help potential customers narrow down their search results, making it easier for them to choose your business.

      How to Get Started with a Google Business Profile

      Getting started with Google Business is straightforward. However, Google has several guidelines you must follow to avoid getting suspended.

      First, you’ll want to sign in to the Google Business Profile Manager and search for your business on Google or in the Google Maps app. If you do not immediately see your company, you can select “Add Your Business” to Google.

      You will then be prompted to verify your business using your real physical address. Physical businesses will receive a postcard by mail, while service-area businesses can verify their details through email. Once your business is approved, you can edit the listing to add your details and important information.

      Like building a website, setting up a Google Business Profile can be somewhat challenging for beginners. Fortunately, you can hire industry experts to create and optimize your listing. Doing this will ensure that your profile is properly managed, so you can focus on running your business.

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      An Important Marketing Tool

      Attracting leads to your brick-and-mortar location can be difficult. Therefore, maximizing your online presence should be critical to your overall marketing strategy.

      The new Google Business Profile can organically promote your products or services. Let’s recap the five newest features that can help you generate leads:

      1. Streamlined profile management: A new, simplified way to create and modify your profile directly in Google Search and Maps
      2. Customer engagement: Enhanced user interaction with direct messaging through Search, read receipts, and a call history feature
      3. Real-time inventory: An in-stock feature to display your local inventory
      4. Performance Planner: To help you use Google Ads for enhanced ad campaigns
      5. Expanded attributes: Further tell your business’s story, and share its health and safety standards

      Are you looking for additional ways to grow your online business? Learn more about DreamHost’s SEO Pro Services and explore our extensive marketing and local business support solutions. If you need help setting up your Google Business Profile, you can always chat with an expert or schedule a free consultation for advice and guidance!

      Now get out there, and get your business on Google!

      The post Generate More Leads with a Strong Google Business Profile appeared first on Website Guides, Tips & Knowledge.



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      How to Create Strong Passwords to Keep Your Website Safe


      Your birthday. Your dog’s name. Or even worse, 1234. These are common passwords that are easy to remember — and an easy way to let people exploit your website.  When you own your own website, it’s even more crucial to create a smart password that will keep your site safe and secure, since upping the ante on your password game is one of the best ways to protect your business.

      “It’s important to have strong passwords because 81 percent of hacking-related breaches are due to weak or stolen passwords, according to the 2018 Verizon Data Breach Report,” says Darren Guccione, CEO & Co-Founder of Keeper Security. “Passwords are the single easiest entry point you can protect.”

      While a quirky word or secret nickname might seem unexpected to you, that’s not much trickier for a pro to solve.

      “Criminal hackers have password cracking tools at their disposal that actually plug-in well-worn, easy to guess passwords into website logins,” says Robert Siciliano, a security analyst with Hotspot Shield. “For example, many usernames are ‘admin’ and if the password is ‘princess’ that is easy to crack with a ‘dictionary attack,’ which is a software used to crack passwords.”

      If you have employees who have access to your company’s website, it’s crucial to share with them how to create a secure password. After all, even if you maximize all the steps to creating a strong password, if you’re not requiring your users to do the same, then that’s essentially creating an Achilles’ heel. Stay safe and secure by trying these 12 techniques to build a strong password.

      11 Password Tips to Help Keep Your Website Safe

      1. Make your password long.

      “Generally, a longer password takes longer to be cracked; however, it should also follow other rules to make it strong,” says Rema Deo, Managing Director at 24By7Security, Inc. “Length alone is not enough.” Aim for at least eight letters and/or characters since anything less than that takes less time to crack. The longer the password, the longer it takes to figure it out.

      “However, a long password doesn’t necessarily make it more secure,” Guccione cautions. “To be secure it should be both long and random, meaning it should contain a combination of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols. A password should be no less than eight to 16 characters, but certainly, more can be better. Some websites require a certain character length so be cognizant of those requirements when creating your passwords.”

      Want more security tips to protect your website? Sign up for DreamHost’s monthly newsletter today!

      2. Don’t use a common phrase.

      As Siciliano mentioned, the ‘dictionary attack’ is the main reason to avoid popular words and phrases. Passphrases are increasingly becoming more popular, but they can easily be guessed if it’s something obvious to you or the account. And don’t make the mistake of thinking that using an exclamation mark instead of an “I” or a “3” for the letter “E” will throw them off guard.

      “Algorithms used to crack passwords already consider common phrases and even common letter substitutions,” Deo cautions.

      3. Test your password.

      “Most websites have testing tools built-in to the setup process when creating a password,” Siciliano says. “The other option is to go to haveIbeenpwnd.com and look at their password checker tool.” While password strength meters help, keep in mind that they are not necessarily fool-proof.

      4. Don’t reuse your password.

      More than half of all people use the same password for all their websites and applications. “This is a common and very dangerous problem,” Guccione says. “Hackers keep dictionary lists of the most commonly used passwords. They also know that if they are successful in breaching a single account, they will often be able to access multiple accounts for the same person due to the high frequency of password reuse. So, the more you reuse passwords the easier it is for an attacker to gain access to every account that uses that same password.”

      As security breaches have become increasingly common, that’s another reason to keep mixing it up when it comes to your password.

      “There have been 12 billion records compromised just in the past two years alone, equating to over 10,000 data breaches,” Siciliano says. “That means criminals have access to billions of usernames and their associated passwords. This allows them to use that data to access any site where your credentials are reused.”

      Related: Why Security Through Obscurity Isn’t Enough to Keep Your Website Safe

      5. Use a password manager.

      If you’re creating passwords the right way — meaning they’re long, with lots of numbers and characters and on the gibberish side — it’s probably pretty tough to keep track of all of them. That’s where a password manager comes in. They allow you to have multiple passwords for all of your accounts and it remembers them for you.

      “Password managers generally store your passwords in an encrypted vault and therefore are meant to be more secure than other means of storing your passwords,” Deo says. “They also offer features like suggesting passwords; allowing you to enter, store and remember long complex passwords; identifying duplicate or reused passwords and allowing you to fix them.” Just be sure to pick the right one, since password managers have been known to have the occasional security flaws. Using a password management application will enable you to create stronger passwords, since you won’t have to remember each one.

      “They also allow you to be faster online by auto-filling your login credentials for you,” Guccione says. “Creating strong passwords is not difficult—remembering them is. We call this dilemma ‘password fatigue.’ The easiest way to create strong passwords is with a password manager. There are many options that once you’ve tried I can guarantee you’ll want the ease of use on every device.” And whatever you do, do not store your passwords on sticky notes or spreadsheets.

      6. Don’t store passwords in your browser.

      We know what you’re thinking: keeping passwords in your browser means they’re always at your fingertips. But like many other shortcuts in life, it just isn’t worth it. While password managers are security companies designed to protect your data, the same standards don’t apply to browsers for password management. “Browsers don’t encrypt your passwords, and if a hacker gets access to your computer, the passwords stored in your browser are open game,” Guccione says.

      “Further, passwords stored in a browser can’t be used for native applications and are also not available on your other devices or on other browsers. Passwords stored in a particular browser are not cross-platform, and browsers are not military-grade ‘vaults’ for securing and organizing your passwords and other private information.”

      And remember, generally speaking, Deo warns that passwords can be viewed once you are connected or logged in. If a hacker gets control of your browser with your login password, then the hacker can see all the accounts and their passwords. This is one risk that definitely isn’t worth taking.

      7. Follow the rules every time.

      It might seem OK to break a rule now and then, but that can be a slippery slope. Always — and we mean every single time — stick to the essentials. “Long and strong, lowercase, numbers and characters, indecipherable passwords that don’t spell anything out are best,” Siciliano says. “Otherwise, phrases incorporating the above can work. But a password manager does it best—that’s their job.”

      If you want to go above and beyond (and which business owner doesn’t when it comes to their website?), take it up a notch by setting a truly unpredictable password, one that simply has nothing to do with you or any other common phrase. “Since such unpredictable passwords are hard to remember, a password manager might be the next best thing to use to protect your accounts,” Deo says. “Multi-factor authentication is also a useful idea so that you would need multiple different methods to access your accounts.”

      8. Use two-factor authentication.

      Any extra protection you can take is a good idea, and two-factor authentication means that simply having your password won’t be enough. Two-factor authentication adds in a second layer of security for protecting access to your accounts, making the cracking process much more difficult. This second layer can consist of a code-generating app on your smartphone, a numeric key fob or a USB key.

      “A simple username and password combination has already been hacked and cracked with the 12 billion records compromised,” Siciliano says. “If you have two-factor installed, it doesn’t matter if a criminal has your username and password — they would need your mobile phone to get access.”

      Related: 13 of the Best Security Plugins to Keep Your WordPress Site Safe

      9. Consider the Passphrase/Diceware Method.

      The Passphrase/Diceware Method mainly consists of random words to create a secure password. “It is a good way to create a strong, long password,” Deo says. “Experts say that the number of words you need to truly make the Diceware passphrase strong used to be five, but now they recommend that you use a minimum of seven words to make a strong passphrase.”

      The downfall? “Just be aware that what you create, you also have to remember,” Guccione says. “Passphrases are becoming more prevalent. Therefore, it’s best used in conjunction with a password manager.”

      10. Use security questions wisely.

      Though security questions might seem like they’re there to help by adding an extra layer of protection, they can actually do more harm than good. “If possible, it’s best to avoid security questions because they tend to be questions of very common things about yourself,” Guccione says. “But if you do have to use them, I recommend setting a customized security question and answer to prevent hackers from planning a brute-force attack against common security question and answer lists.”

      In other words, be creative with your answers and record that data so that the information can’t be easily found via social media. “Answers to security questions can often be guessed easily or even found on public sources,” Deo says. “For instance, some security questions ask you the model of your first car or the high school you went to. These are not private questions. It is important to select questions that offer you a certain level of privacy where you may be the only one who truly knows the right answer.”

      11. Keep an eye on your smartphone.

      “Today, most people keep everything about themselves on their smartphones, from notes, contacts, lists, text messages, passwords, photos, videos, and emails—it’s all there,” Guccione says. “Hackers target smartphones because they are small and easy to steal. When a hacker is able to get physical access to your device, their chances of breaching that device increase exponentially. Each year, over 3 million phones are stolen. Keep them locked with a passcode and under a close eye!”



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