GMB Website Builder
Quick Guide on Google My Business Website Builder
Businesses with Google My Business or GMB listing can take advantage of the website builder. Just so you know, at SEO Heroes we consider the Google My Business website builder part of our local SEO Strategy in Thailand. It is basically a free tool meant to create websites for those non-technical people.
Google My Business Website – What is It?
- For businesses without their own website, it is a great chance put more details regarding your business online to explain about your product or service offerings.
- This is a good alternative option for Facebook page, the second most common site that small businesses use.
- This is simpler compared to free websites on other platforms.
- This is another excellent online asset for businesses with existing websites to get your business right in front of more people.
There are zones of content of the website dependent on how you completed your profile in GMB. These include:
- Banner image
- Header
- Navigation
- About Us
- Contact
- Gallery
- Testimonials
- Updates
How GMB Website Works
Just to be clear, it is only a plain and simple website with a single page. This has been designed to be responsive, lightweight, and fast and made end to end for mobile. Most mobile users only look at one page on a website. The key actions are there already to eliminate the need to scroll.
The site also pulls information from your GMB listing. These include:
- Business name and address
- Phone numbers made automatically as click to call
- Photos
- Operating hours
- Services for limited categories
- Google Posts
- Menu for categories like restaurants
The site might go live prior to the verification of your listing. But, the site might be taken down if your listing has been suspended.
Creating or Editing GMB Website
Start by going to your dashboard in Google My Business then login using the same email you as the owner of the business listing. If there are several business listings on the dashboard, choose Manage Location. Switch to card view from list view if you cannot see this option for a location.
Click on the three stacked horizontal lines found on the upper left to reveal a menu. There must be a new option Website right under Photos.
Users of GMB at manager or owner level can access and edit the site builder from GMB dashboard.
A screen that states “creating your website ” will greet you if this is the first time for you to go in and you may also get an automated tip window fort getting started.
You can then proceed with the following:
- Choose a Theme
There is a small selection of website themes provided by Google. You can change the theme itself but you cannot modify the theme settings, including color scheme, font, and font size.
- Call to Action
Decide on the key action that you would like people to take. It can be sending you an email or calling you. When you give people just one primary thing to do or action to take, it will be quicker and easier for customers to begin a relationship with you.
- Tell Your Story
The site builder defaults it to the business name you used on your GMB listing. However, it is recommended that you change it to a headline that will grab attention since Google automatically adds the name of your business name on the published page’s upper left hand corner.
- Description
The site builder defaults it to the category of your business from the GM info and is formatted in standard text.
- Summary Header
It shows under the banner image on the page, serving as the introduction to the full description.
- Summary Body
You get the most freedom on the summary body where you can add links and do basic rich text. Some link ideas include:
- Key pages of your website
- Online menu or booking system
- Email subscription form
- Social media platforms
- Credentials or certifications
- Menu and Photos
This is the place where you will be able to add the images you want to be added to the photo section found after the description. Google pulls the images from the photos sections in your GMB listing and are added to the website in the sequence they come. You cannot change their order here.
- Navigation and Header
Business name is found on the upper left hand corner. The button for call to action is at the middle of the banner and there are 2 to 3 action buttons on the upper right hand corner.
- Banner Image
The site builder uses a generic image by default if it thinks there is no suitable option in your existing collection of photos. If you fail to give a banner image, Google inserts one as default according to the category of your listing when the site was created.
- Services
The website builder no longer includes the services section and no longer appears on published sites.
- Testimonials
It seems that this section is something that you can control. The read more and write a review both redirect you out of the site and to your listing’s knowledge panel display
- Gallery
Google takes 9 random images from your listing on GMB and puts these in 3×3 grid. These images are actually clickable and would take people to your GMB listing in maps.
It’s Time to Publish
At this point, all the things you did remain private. There is a big blue button labeled publish on the upper right corner of the screen. Just press this for your website to go live.
And just like that, you are done. In just a few minutes, you were able to publish your first ever Google Website builder site!
Just remember though that the site still competes with thousands of others in the world. For this reason, an additional site with accurate details and several links back to your primary website can be of great help for your online presence as a whole.