Click the image to go claim your business with Google.
You've heard of Google. You've heard about their star ranking system. But have you heard of google.com/business?
In short, this is a service that adds relevance to the star system. You've probably seen the result of claiming a business when you look a service up on Google and the little tab pops up on the right-hand side of the screen portraying their ratings, hours of operation, phone number, etc. This is the result of claiming your business.
Here are some ways that you can boost your chances of being a recommended business the next time someone types in 'funeral care near me.' We will be using some tactics that ringringmarketing.com lays out in their video How to Get Ranked in Google's 3-Pack (To watch that video click here).
The more information, the better
Isn't it frustrating when one of those little sidebars pops up on a business you really want to know more about and information is false or not even listed? Or how about this, would you recommend someone for a job at your company if you only know their name and phone number and nothing else? Probably not and Google feels the same! In order to rank you in their '3-pack' of businesses that sit atop their list in respective fields, Google needs to know a lot about you. You can start with entering in a current address, business hours (preferably that you are open 24-hours), phone numbers, a link to your website, and a lit of services that you offer. Again, the more information that you include, the happier you, and Google, will be.
Reviews
Look up 'restaurants near me' in your search engine real quick, does it pull up the dark alley sketchy food place that gave you food poisoning the last time you ate there? The chances are very low that this is the case. More likely than not, the first three suggestions that got pulled up were rated with anywhere from 25-100+ reviews. Now just know this, it is not vital that you have a perfect record with all '5-star reviews' it is, however, important that you can accumulate as many reviews as you can and that they are as high of ratings as you can manage. Despite 5-stars not being the most important thing in the algorithm, it still carries a lot of weight.
Luckily, that is not too hard to do. One way that you can improve the amount of reviews you receive is by simply asking all your customers to let you know how they felt with your services. More often than not, they will be more than willing to leave behind a good word for you. Not only does this give your business the upper-hand in the area when it comes to search results in Google, it will give you the upper-hand as a funeral director in general as you will be able to get honest feedback from those you serve, providing you with the opportunity to make necessary changes to the way you interact with your families.
Reliable Information
The address is the main piece of information here that is important. Google will check other sources i.e. Facebook, Twitter, and other sources where you may list similar information to what is found on the Google Sidebar. Important thing here, is that all information matches. If Google can prove that you are a reliable source, your name will be put out in front of a researchers eye more often than not.
These are just a few of the tactics that are simple and available to you as funeral directors in your attempt to make your business stand out on Google. If you would like more information regarding ways that you can more successfully market your services online, then we would suggest taking a look at the work done by ringringmarketing.com. They have been very helpful to many people in the funeral industry.