Davis Advertising's New Years Gift to Local Businesses
Free Google My Business, and the Quest for Chinese Food in Upstate NY
Post by Chris Gregoire, Director of Digital Strategy
I am like most people my age—I live by what my phone tells me.
While traveling for the holidays, I was in an unfamiliar area of the country and had a craving for Chinese food. My brother, who I was visiting, is not a Chinese-food-kind-of-guy, so he had no idea what would be a good option, or even if there were any restaurants nearby. So what was I to do?
Of course, I first turned to Google Assistant (“Hey Google, where is Chinese food near me?”) and the results came back with three different restaurants. Of these three Chinese restaurants, only one had a website. The website was most likely built in the late 2000s, and it didn’t load on my phone well. It also looked extremely out-of-date, so I didn’t know if it was accurate. The other two restaurants had reviews posted that seemed a little questionable (interestingly, the one with the outdated website did not have any published reviews). I don’t know, even now, if that one was even in operation…
The two that had “reviews” basically just had a number of stars or complaints; there was very little written content about the experiences reported. They may have each had a single positive review written, and not just the yellow stars as the rating, but neither seemed to provide any real answers. And as neither of these two restaurants had their Google My Business profiles set up correctly, there was no way to tell if the negative reviews were accurate, and there was no way to find any additional information. It was getting to be later in the night, and I didn’t know their business hours. There were no menus attached to the restaurant reviews, so I couldn’t really learn much about what they had to offer that way, either.
Although I’m of the age to still know what a phone book is, my brother certainly didn’t possess one. We ended up heading over to a Tim Horton’s instead. It satisfied a completely different craving (because who DOESN’T like Tim Horton’s donuts and iced coffee!), and I decided to just get Chinese food later on, when I got home.
Websites are extremely helpful, and every business should have one, but building and maintaining a website costs both money and time. On the other hand, a Google My Business profile is free, and although it does take time and effort to do well, it can generate a ton of business for you. Although it is relatively easy to set up, I understand that not everyone is comfortable working with it.
At Davis, we will set up your Google My Business profile for you—at no cost—if you are located within the Worcester area. It simply requires you to come to our office at a scheduled time, and sit with us for about 15 minutes. Then, you’ll be on your way. Call it our gift to other local businesses to help them start the new year off right.
This offer expires on January 31st, 2019, and is only available to the first 50 businesses that apply, so take advantage soon.
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