You may have noticed some businesses that come up in your Google searches have a professional-looking listing in the sidebar that includes all of their contact information in one spot. You can do the same for your child care center using Google My Business!
Tip: Follow these directions to set up your own Google My Business account.
What is Google My Business?
Google My Business is a free tool that allows you to manage how your center appears on Google Search and Maps. When you create an account, the information you submit about your center is placed in a Google knowledge graph, the box that appears on the top right-hand corner of the Google search results.
Why Use Google My Business?
Google My Business is a simple, free way to make it easier for parents searching for a child care center to find your daycare online.
Here’s why an accurate Google My Business listing is so important:
Stand Out with a Business Listing on Google
Google My Business helps you stand out with a free business profile that appears when parents search for your center on Google. A professional business listing makes it simple for customers to find your center’s exact location on Google Maps and other information, like your phone number, hours, website and social media accounts.
You can also keep customers up to date with any changes to your contact information, recent photos of your center, your latest blog posts and more.
Connect with Customers
One of the best features of a Google My Business account is customer interaction. Let parents get in touch with you through a private message, email, a phone call with a clickable number, or through your website. Your physical location is easily accessible for parents on Google Maps, so they can navigate to your center using their smartphone!
Families can also post reviews on your Google listing to share their experiences with your center online. You can respond to reviews and manage them easily with your Google My Business account.
Improve Your Center’s Local SEO
Google My Business makes it easier for families to find you not only physically, but digitally as well. Like other directories, including Yelp and Yellow Pages, Google My Business is an important part of local SEO.
A Google My Business profile makes your center visible to potential families searching in Google with a knowledge graph. More importantly, it’s a big factor of where you stack up against other centers in the search results. For child care centers, this means turning local searchers into leads. In addition, the information you include in your listing is distributed by Google into many other places online for parents to find you.
