Love it or loathe it, Google is still the primary search engine in the world, pulling in over 90% of the search engine traffic.
Every day there are approximately 3.5 billion searches per day on Google.
That’s a lot of chances for you to get your coworking space in front of your future community members.
But how do you utilise this search capacity, and turn it into leads for your coworking space?
If you’ve read any of my other blogs, then you’ll know that I think that one of the simplest, cheapest and most effective ways to increase traffic and customers for your coworking space is to claim and optimise your Google My Business (GMB) listing.
Marketing doesn’t have to be complicated And this is one of those really effective, but really simple steps that you can take to improve your business.
So, in this blog I’ll look at what Google My Business is, plus six ways to optimise it in order to get more leads for your coworking space.
What exactly is Google My Business (and what are the advantages)?
Google My Business (GMB), is a free listing of your business operating information that has the ability to display reviews, posts and more.
You’ll see it when you Google a business, it pops up on the right-hand side of your listing.
There are a number of things that you can do using GMB including:
- Display business information and post opening hours
- Post news and updates on Google and stay engaged with your customers.
- Share photos that make your business stand out.
- Gather reviews, to share social proof with potential customers.
By registering your business Google will automatically show your coworking space listing in relevant search results, specifically to people looking in your area, which is crucial for driving local traffic.
In fact, your Google My Business profile will get more traffic than your website.
But how do you convert these visitors into customers?
According to Google, those with a GMB listing are twice as likely to gain trust, and 38% more likely to entice potential customers to visit their premises than those without a listing.
Luckily, you can enhance your local visibility on Google for FREE by simply listing and verifying your business on Google My Business. It’s the perfect addition to your coworking marketing strategy and it doesn’t cost a penny.
How to use Google My Business to generate more leads for your coworking space…
But it’s not enough to just register and be done with it. You need to ensure that your listing is up-to-date, and taking advantage of all the different elements of Google My Business.
There are a few things that you can do to optimise your listing:
- Register your Google My Business account…
- Fill out your whole Google My Business profile…
- Add photos to your Google My Business profile…
- Post news and updates to your Google My Business profile…
- Encourage customers to write reviews to demonstrate social proof…
- Link Google Analytics to Google My Business…
1. Register your Google My Business account…
I know it seems a little obvious, however, you need to list and verify your business on Google My Business. If you don’t do this, then your website may show up in relevant searches, but you will not have a GMB listing.
It’s a really simple thing to do, but trust me when I tell you that it will make a massive difference to your business. Not only will it make your business stand out in searches, but it will make you seem more legit.
You register your coworking space here.
2. Fill out your entire Google My Business profile…
I know, I know it can be tempting to just fill in the bare minimum and hope it increases your coworking space leads. But you should really fill in as much information about your coworking space as possible.
Google says: “Local results favour the most relevant results for each search. Businesses with complete and accurate information are easier to match with the right searches.”
Google decides who to show in a search based on three factors:
- Relevance: How well does your listing match the search?
- Distance: How far your location is from the searcher?
- Prominence: How well known is your coworking space?
Making sure all the relevant information is included in your listing will ensure that Google can match your community to as many searches as possible, therefore allowing you to pop up in front of more potential future coworking members.
Hint: Search for other coworking spots local to you to see what they include in their listing
3. Add photos to your profile
People love “seeing” things with their own eyes.
Much like social media, it’s important that you add images of your logo and branding to your GMB listing so that people recognise and relate to your brand online.
But I’d recommend that you go one step further and upload pictures of your coworking space, and maybe even community members.
This will help people visualise what it’s like to be part of your community, and will help your listing stand out.
In fact, Google says that businesses with photos receive 42% more requests for directions, and 35% more clicks through to their websites.
So, taking time out to upload some professional looking photos to your listing will really help boost those leads and potentially turn them into paying members.
4. Post news and updates to your GMB profile…
Neither your business nor your Google My Business profile should be a static thing. They are both dynamic, living, breathing entities, and your GMB profile should reflect this.
Google My Business allows you to keep your members, and potential members up-to-date with what’s happening by posting news and updates. This could be anything from change in opening hours, to a special offer.
For example, right now they have the option to post a COVID-19 update. So you can easily let people know whether you are open or closed, or whether you have any special measures in place.
Updating this also shows Google that you are still active and relevant, which means they will know to rank you higher in search results.
5. Encourage customers to write reviews to demonstrate social proof…
Of course, you are going to say your coworking space is great. And I know that it is.
But, potential members are more likely to believe it if other people rave about your community. This might be the deciding factor in some choosing you over another space.
That’s why it’s important to encourage (hopefully positive) reviews from your existing coworking members.
PS. You might have to ask your coworking community to leave a review if they have a minute. It’s not always something that people will do without asking.
And, don’t forget to respond to those reviews, not only is this really polite and good practice but it helps to build trust. Even if you happen to get a not so great review, responding well publicly can help build trust and confidence in your coworking space.
6. Link Google Analytics to you Google My Business profile…
You can never really know how effective something is until you track it.
Which is why it’s important to make sure that you link your Google My Business into your Google Analytics account (this is your reminder to set up your website Google Analytics if you haven’t yet).
Setting up a UTM link will enable you to track how many people make it to your website from your Google My Business profile, and what exactly they are looking at (so you know what to focus on optimising).
So, are you ready to use Google My Business for your coworking space?
In my opinion, not using Google My Business is a total waste. Not only is it FREE (so there’s really no reason no to use it), but it can help you drive local business to your coworking space, especially if you take a few steps to ensure it is fully optimised.
It’s really too great an opportunity to pass up, especially for a coworking community which relies on local traffic.
If you want to learn more about how to market your coworking business then let me know. And it might be worth booking in for my Digital Marketing 101 workshop — to make sure the fundamentals of marketing are all in place. Sometimes it’s the simplest things that make the biggest difference.
