It’s September and the Andersons want to go apple picking. Last August, the family met a farmer at their local farmers’ market. She mentioned that she had a pick-your-own orchard, but now the Andersons can’t remember the name of the farm. They can only remember that it was near Zumbrota. Hallie Anderson pulls out her smart phone and starts up Google Maps. She searches “apple orchard near Zumbrota” and four orchards pop up on her phone.
The first orchard didn’t seem familiar, but the second orchard included a photo of the farmer Hallie met at the market. Above the photo, Hallie sees that the farm will still be open for a few more hours, so the Andersons jump in the car and head to the farm.
Although the Andersons are fictitious, their use of technology to find a specific business is happening every day. If your business is not present online or has out-of-date information, you may be missing customers who are turning directly to Google Search or Google Maps to look for farms like yours. Luckily, Google has created a simple and free way for small businesses to keep their information up-to-date through a service called Google My Business.
Google My Business Benefits:
- Helps you keep your business information accurate and up-to-date
- Provides insights about your business listing like how people found your website or the number of views your business is receiving
- Can use it to create a simple website that is easy to edit from a computer or phone
- Creates a “listing" on Google for existing websites so customers searching for farms similar to yours will see your farm website in their search results
Having accurate information on Google Search and Google Maps is extremely powerful because of the number of ways in which your customers can interact with your posting. They can call you directly from the phone number listed in the search results, find your website or Facebook page, look at your business hours, and see photos of your farm. Further, reviews of your business posted by current customers can be a key way that potential customers choose between visiting your farm or farmers’ market and other farms or markets in the surrounding area.
Results from searching “Minnesota Grown” in GoogleMaps (above). The Minnesota Grown program has its own website, but Google My Business helps people searching for us to quickly find our location, website, and phone number.
Trying to decide how and where to be present online can be daunting. Google My Business is a key entry point for your business to have an online presence, even if you already have a website. If your business is already present online, reviewing the accuracy of your Google My Business information and keeping an eye on any reviews left by customers is useful in growing your customer base.
Because they found the information they wanted quickly and easily, the Andersons had a lovely fall day on an apple farm. They even posted a thank you for the fun day to the farm’s Facebook page and included a picture of their family picking apples. Pumpkin season is right around the corner and it will be time for more family fun. Will the Andersons find your farm next?