How to Set Up Your Google My Business Page for Your Martial Arts School

by John Graden | Nov 5, 2018 | Offline Marketing & Sales

GoogleMyBusiness (GMB) is a free tool that lets you manage how your business appears on Google Search and Maps. That includes adding your school name, location, and hours; monitoring and replying to customer reviews; adding photos; learning where and how people are searching for you, and more.

Your Google My Business and Facebook listings are the two most powerful influencers for search. We suggest that you focus just on these two platforms.

We can set up and optimize your GMB page. Find out more.

Accurate Information

It’s important the information about your school that shows up when people search Google is as accurate, complete, and optimized as possible.

Create a Google My Business Listing

Step 1: Log into the Google Account you want to be associated with your school (or create a Google Account if you don’t already have one).
Step 2: Go to google.com/business and select “Start now” in the top right-hand corner.
Step 3: Enter your school name and all the information fields.

Verification

Choose the method you want to verify.

Optimizing Your Account

Once you have been verified, you can focus on optimization.

Add as much information and media as you can, including a business profile photo, the area you serve, your hours, the day and year you opened, and a public phone number and website URL.

Keep in mind that anyone can “suggest an edit” to your listing, so it’s important to A) get everything right the first time (so you don’t encourage random people to make their own changes) and B) periodically log into your GMB dashboard and make sure all the details look right.

According to Google, businesses with photos see 35% more clicks to their website and 42% higher requests for driving directions in Google Maps.

Photos should be at least 720 pixels wide by 720 pixels high and JPG or PNG files.

Cover photo

Your Google My Business cover photo is one of the most important, as it shows up front and center on your listing.

Videos

You can also add videos. Videos must be:

30 seconds or shorter
100 MB or smaller
720p resolution or higher

Videos can add some variety to your profile and make you stand out among other businesses in your category; however, don’t worry if you don’t have any — unlike photos, they’re not a “must have.”

Google My Business Reviews

One of the best ways to encourage future customers to leave positive reviews is to respond to current ones. Not only does leaving an appreciative response show the original reviewer you’re thankful for their support. It also makes that positive review stand out on your listing and influences people to leave their own reviews.

People might be less inclined to leave a negative review since they see that you are highly responsive to them.

Easy Way to Get More Google Reviews for Your Martial Arts School

by John Graden | Oct 24, 2018 | Offline Marketing & Sales

Why don’t your students write reviews for Your Martial Arts School?

They:

(a) never think about it

(b) forget to do it

(c) don’t know where or how to do it.

Most of us have no idea how to send a link to students to post a review on your Google My Business (GMB) page.

I will show you how to direct students to review you on Google with one click. In fact, when they click through, if you set it up right, it will DEFAULT to a 5-star review (contact us for help if you need it.)

Okay now, just like Bruce Lee said, “You must focus….”

You must focus your reviews on two sites. Google and Facebook. Why? Google loves Google. They do not love Yelp or Manta etc…

You are much better off sending 100 students to review you on Google and Facebook rather than send them out into 10 different sites and watering down the results.

75 5-star reviews on Google is easy to see on one single page.

75 5-star reviews spread across ten different sites is not something anyone will ever see or be impressed by.

The flip side is that Facebook is Google’s worse nightmare. Yelp is not.

Facebook is where your ideal decision makers spend a ton of time each day. Yelp is not. That’s why you have to include Facebook in your review strategy.

I promised a way for you to send your students a direct link to review you and here it is.

Google Review Link

Again, if you need help setting this up, just let us know.

The Single Most Important Factor in Your Search Results for Martial Arts Schools

by John Graden | Oct 16, 2018 | Offline Marketing & Sales

Google My Business is the most important factor in search results for martial arts schools, yet many schools have not claimed their free page.

I’m amazed at how many schools have not claimed their business/school on Google My Business. It’s free. It has superpowers for SEO and gives you control over your online reputation.

Claiming your Google My Business listing does the following:

It is the only way your school can be listed in the coveted Google 3-Pack.
It gets your school found, not only on maps but on the web, in Google Maps, across all mobile devices.
It’s important for you to control the information out there on the web about your school. You can’t do that if you don’t claim your Google My Business listing.
If the listing isn’t claimed anyone can make changes to it! Anyone! Watch the video below to see.
Once you’ve claimed your Google My Business listing, you can get info on how customers find your school online.

Watch me hijack this school’s Google My Business page. Anyone can do this to you if you don’t claim your business first.

Let MATA Optimize Your Google My Business Page as we did for Tim McCahan After-School Sports.

Tim had 8,040 searches in just the past 28-days.

Optimize my GMB for $299