These past few years, Google My Business is something that people, especially businesses, have been talking about. As businesses shift towards better online presence and desire to strengthen their local SEO value, creating a business profile has never been more imperative.
Despite the staggering positive impact of having a Google My Business account, there are some businesses who fail to take advantage of it. To shed a light on this matter, we’ll discuss the most important things you need to know about Google My Business and how it plays a crucial role in SEO.
Google My Business: An Overview
Generally, Google My Business is a free marketing tool that allows users to manage and optimize their business profile or listing. Now, there is a misconception that Google My Business is the same with Business Profile – well, it’s not. To settle things, Google My Business is the tool used to manage and optimize the Business Profile with the intention of getting better web visibility, presence, and improved effectiveness.
If you’re familiar with Google Maps, it’s easy to understand Google My Business. Using this platform you can add all the essential information about your business including location, store hours, product/services highlights, and more. Your business profile can also contain reviews and questions and media files such as photos, videos, posts, etc.
Google My Business has its own set of rules and guidelines that users need to observe and strictly implement before submitting any business listings. Remember, as Google changes its algorithm, these guidelines change, too. Keep in mind that you need to have a Google account in order to get things started.
What Happens With Your Google My Business Profile
Once you have submitted your listing, it is your responsibility to optimize it in order to achieve your primary goal of building your online presence.
Once you have established a Google My Business profile, it will appear on search results pages, both on mobile and desktop. With this, you can have the following opportunities:
Keep The Audience Informed
First off, Google My Business can help you relay information to your audience. Instead of having your customers guess about your business info, provide all the important details to them like contact information, business hours, offers, etc. This will help them get the idea of how you can help them upon searching the internet.
In addition, posting about updates, especially during COVID-19 pandemic, is of the essence. Certainly, you don’t want your customers to be misinformed and later, lose their interest. Be sure to keep your information fresh, updated, and accurate.
Be Discoverable
One good thing about Google My Business is that it allows users to discover you. For example, your business offers kids shoes. Once you’ve got your business listed, your profile will show up in the results. Remember, we’ve come a long way from brick and mortar stores – most users are relying on the internet for their needs.
Regardless of your purpose, may it be looking for foot traffic or web traffic, Google is a reliable tool. It allows users to find your business or store whenever they need it and once it appears on the search results, users will know what you have in store for them, as well as, how other customers think about you.
Build Trust and Confidence
As mentioned previously, Google My Business allows customers to leave a review about their experience with a product or service. Given this, businesses can build trust and confidence with their customers based on the credibility you’ve built with your previous customers. Satisfied customers always leave positive reviews and that can create a domino effect, gaining other users’ trust, and so on. It is one of the most important factors that affects their purchasing decisions. Let your Google reputation do the talking.
The Importance Of Google My Business Today
According to research, almost 70% of customers are likely to visit businesses with a Google My Business listing. This alone should be enough reason for businesses to pay attention to their business profile. On the other hand, Google My Business plays a crucial role in the success of every business that aims to grow.
We’ve discussed the opportunities and advantages of having a business listing above. Now, those afore-mentioned advantages are not the only reasons why Google My Business is important in this digital era. Let’s discuss more aspects of this marketing tool that makes it highly impactful today, such as:
- Build and establish brand awareness, leading to authority online.
- Convenient way for potential customers to reach your business.
- Resolve location barriers.
- Establish strong customer relationships – both new and returning.
- Improved customer support: convenient, easy, and quick.
- Lower operating cost.
- Keep up with competitor strategies by researching how they’re doing online and learn from it.
- Encourage customers to leave reviews that can attract more potential customers.
Moreover, Google My Business is an important factor that boosts SEO value and potential. Consider your business profile as a suitor and Google as the girl being persuaded. The more the suitor shoes off his good side and boosts his presence, time and affection, the more the girl will like her. Therefore, gaining her trust and approval, as well as her parents. It’s pretty much the same thing.
Now, the more Google likes your information in the business profile, the more likely you’ll rank better in the search results. With this, you can expect a boost on your online presence, leading to an increase in leads and sales.
Key Takeaway
The competition online is tough and it’s critical to build your business identity online. Thus, don’t miss out on the benefits of having a Google My Business account and start building your business profile. Be sure to optimize your profile and put all the essential information in there. If possible, include FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) in there, too. As long as you know how Google My Business works and how it’s done properly, you can outshine your competitors.
Keep updating your profile and head on to building a venue of success online!