A Google Business Profile, previously known as Google My Business, is one of the most effective tools used in the online marketing world to reach new clients and customers. As a real estate agent, when you have a GBP account, you allow yourself to feature on searches made by people looking for your services.
Without this valuable tool, that opportunity wouldn’t exist, and you’d need to continue cold calling and endlessly scrolling through Property24 for your leads.
Research has shown that 97% of consumers learn more about local businesses online than through any other source. That means that when you begin advertising yourself as a “business”, people will find you! This is why we believe that GBP is a game changer for the real estate industry.
To have a fully functional Google Business Profile account, you’ll need to set one up first. For the remainder of this article, we’re going to take you through a comprehensive guide to show you how you can setup up a Google Business Profile account.
Create a Business Google Account
Before creating a local listing for yourself on Google, you first need to create a Google Account. The good news is that Google Accounts are available to everybody and are easy to use. You can use an existing email to set up your Google Account or make a new one. It’s up to you!
You can visit accounts.google.com to get started.
Visit the Google Business Profile Gateway
Once you have the email address you will use, go to google.com/business and select the ‘Manage now’ button to get started.
Add Your “Business” to Google
Odds are, you won’t find yourself as a listed business just yet, and that’s okay. All you need to do is click on ‘Add your business to Google’ to begin the process.
Add Your Name & Category
This is the part where you can enter the name that you want to appear as on a Google search page. This can be your name followed by your agency, your position at an agency, or anything you like! Just make sure it’s correct and easy to understand.
You can then choose the category that you fall under, and fortunately for us, Google has “Real Estate Agent” as an option!
Does the Business Have a Physical Location?
If you’d like clients and potential clients to be able to come and see you at your office, you can click ‘Yes’ at this point and proceed to enter the details of where your office is located.
Does the Business Provide Home Deliveries or Services?
On the other hand, if you’d prefer to visit clients and potential clients at a place of their choosing, then you can also select ‘Yes’ at this point. You can opt for both options if you like to make yourself more accessible. People will appreciate this.
You’ll then be asked to specify which areas you travel to. We’d suggest filling in the areas you cover as an agent and possibly any surrounding areas.
Add Your Contact Details
The next step will be entering your phone number and then selecting that you don’t have a website (or you could put your agency’s website here if you’d like). This information can be changed and edited down the line.
Business Verification
Once you’ve gone through these particular steps, Google will then require you to go through a verification process to prove that you’re indeed operating at your stated address. This is usually done through a postcard delivered to the address, but it can also be done via phone or email.
• Postcard Verification
This kind of verification is available for every type of business. A postcard is sent to your business address stated earlier. It usually arrives within five days.
The postcard contains a code that you’ll need to enter into the appropriate place within your GBP account. If you don’t receive a postcard, you can request a replacement.
• Phone Verification
If you’re lucky, you’ll be able to verify your account over the phone. You’ll see the option on the verification page
if you’re eligible to do this.
You’ll then receive a code via an automated phone call.
• Email Verification
As with phone verification,
you’ll be lucky if you’re given this option!
Add Your Business Hours
This is a crucial bit of information for clients and potential clients to be aware of, as these hours are when they will be able to contact you (and will be expected to reach you). These need to be as accurate as possible and also constantly updated to accommodate any temporary changes to your hours.
Messaging
If you’d like to receive messages from people who come across your profile, simply click the button to enable these messages. You can change this at any time.
Add a Description
You can type up to 750 characters to best describe who you are and what exactly you do. The goal here is to help potential clients get to know a small part of you in order to better identify with you and feel comfortable getting in touch with you.
Add Photos
The final piece of the GBP puzzle is simply adding some photos to your account for people to be able to see. These can be photos of you with specific properties, closing deals, and general on-brand and professional snaps to help clients better visualise what you’re all about as an estate agent.
A Few Extras
Once the above is completed, your Google Business Profile account is finally ready! Your profile will now be visible to the public on Google, but there are still a few things you’ll need to do consistently to appear more and maximise your visibility.
You can create posts to offer any updates on your activity and listings, you can add your current listings and details to your GBP profile so people who view your account can see them, and you can ask your existing clients to head over to your profile and leave a review for you.
These practices are highly valuable for optimising your account and increasing your overall visibility and engagement.
That’s a Wrap
There you have it! Your very own complete and comprehensive guide to setting up your Google Business Profile account. We here at BRBD believe that this is one of the very best ways for a real estate agent to market him or herself in this modern age, and we’d be thrilled to assist in this process if you’d need it.
We consider ourselves real estate marketing experts, and we’ve got a good amount of experience and success behind us to back it up. If you’re a real estate agent and you’re looking to get more listings or grow your personal brand, we’d love to chat with you. Just head to our website and book a call with our CEO, Brad.
We can’t wait to meet you!