The Importance of Google My Business
Update November 2022: Without the Google My Business app, you have become entirely dependent upon Google Maps and access your business profile there. Yes, this is a royal pain, but we must all accept change. Each day more and more accessibility options get added, so it isn’t all bad, but it definitely makes life for us as an agency more difficult and more reliant on such tools as Local Viking that can amalgamate all of our listings into a platform for posting and monitoring.
Update for November 2021: Despite some rumours you may or may not have heard, Google My Business has been officially renamed to Google Business Profile. With the new name comes changes. Instead of logging in to a particular website or app, this new update will allow users on search engines and map apps on-the-fly access to their profiles so that they can make changes at any time with ease.
Google is pushing to create an easy-to-use system that will allow more and more business owners to launch local ad campaigns directly from their simple interface. The new feature called “Local Planner” allows advertising access and the ability to manage Business Profile ads in just one click on any device without dealing with multiple logins or accounts. Sounds great, right?
There has been a lot of talk about the importance of using Google Business Profile Manager (formerly Google My Business). It’s no surprise that customers often choose to look at your Google Business Profile profile to get familiar with a business before purchasing.
It’s worth noting that GBP constantly gains in popularity. More and more people prefer to use Google Business Profile to analyze companies and get opinions and reviews about different local businesses. Consumers use Google Business Profile accounts to compare businesses from one to another and make a purchase decision.
Most likely, your prospects will pay close attention to many important aspects such as:
- Business physical address
- Location of a business on the map
- Business phone number
- Operating hours
- Information about products or services
- Information on payment options
- Customer reviews
That’s why it’s so important for a local business to update a Google Business Profile page and provide consumers with the most up-to-date business details.
If the information about your business is inaccurate, you should make changes to your GBP profile as soon as possible. Make sure your prospects can access all the information they need on your Google Business Profile page easily and quickly. Most importantly, the information about your company on GBP has to be accurate.
Top Benefits of Google Business Profile
Creating a Google Business Profile listing is mandatory today. So, setting up a GBP listing has become the number one priority for every local business.
It’s important to note that GBP increases its online presence and provides customers with detailed information about your company, its products and services, operating hours, etc. Now, we’ll talk you through the most significant benefits of Google Business Profile.
- People tend to study businesses carefully before buying something. Your Google Business Profile page allows you to provide customers with important business details. GBP has become a source of information about the local business for your customers.
- GBP makes it easy for customers to find your local business. The reality is, your GBP listing is connected to Google Maps. That means that your business will be displayed on Google Maps. So, your customers will be able to see your business location and manage to find your company quickly when such a need arises.
- GBP creates great marketing opportunities for different types of local businesses. Google Business Profile is a powerful online marketing tool that works well for small and large businesses.
- Google Business Profile profile helps improve local SEO. If you create a Google Business Profile account, you will put your business in front of the right audience. When creating a Google Business Profile account, you have to specify a location for your business. That means that GBP will contribute greatly to the success of your local SEO strategy.
- GBP increases web traffic. People tend to take advantage of the local search when trying to find businesses close to them. They use local keywords to find businesses near them. That means that the Google Business Profile page will drive a high amount of targeted traffic to your local business. So, you’ll find it easy to turn your web traffic into real customers and increase your revenue.
- Another important thing that you need to be aware of is that a well-optimized Google Business Profile leaves a positive impression on a client and has a big impact on their buying decision.
- Google Business Profile account comes with online analytics tools. With such online tools, you’ll manage to estimate the efficiency of your advertising strategies.
- Google Business Profile helps gain customer trust. People tend to deal with local businesses that have a GBP profile. With Google Business Profile listing, you’ll find it easy to boost consumer confidence and earn trust. As a result, more people will visit your website, go to your store and decide to purchase.
As you can see, GBP has many great benefits for local businesses. There is no doubt that Google Business Profile has to be a key part of your local business marketing strategy.
Google Business Profile Optimization Tips
When selecting local businesses, consumers always take a closer look at GBP. Interest in Google Business Profile grew fast during the pandemic, when businesses needed a quick way to keep customers updated on changing hours and availability, and that habit of checking a business’s profile before visiting has stuck.
There is no better way to do this than update Google Business Profile listing. The information on your GBP profile is updated easily and quickly. Prospects want the most up-to-date details on a business’s GBP profile: things like address, phone number, and hours. That’s why every business needs a Google Business Profile page these days.
Simply put, your prospects may choose to go to your competitors if you don’t have Google Business Profile page and can’t provide customers with the information they need. That means that you have to create and update your Google Business Profile page to prevent these kinds of things from happening.
However, setting up a Google Business Profile listing is not enough. You need to get the most out of your Google Business Profile page. That means that you have to constantly update your Google Business Profile and refresh the information on your business page. You need to take several steps to achieve success with GBP and grow your local business.
- First and foremost, you have to create a Google Business Profile listing that stands out.
- After that, you have to do Google Business Profile page optimization.
- It’s essential to manage the listing successfully as well.
Below, we’ll provide you with the tips that you need to follow to optimize your Google Business Profile profile in the best possible way and achieve the most effective results. This will help you promote your local business more successfully and get more sales.
Keep Your GBP Listing Active and Up-to-date
Having the right information in fields on Google Business Profile listing is incredibly important for the success of a local business. Inaccurate information in these fields negatively affects local search engine rankings as well as conversions.
If, for example, you provide the wrong address or wrong phone number on GBP listing, then prospects may find it difficult to get in touch with you.
Let’s say that your business information has changed. In this case, you have to refresh your Google Business Profile page as soon as possible and provide customers with the correct information.
Make all the necessary changes to the business page immediately. Remember, your GBP profile has to contain relevant and the latest information about your local business.
You must check the information provided in all fields of a GBP listing. Update your Google Business Profile account if necessary.
You need to know that the description field on Google Business Profile page gets a lot of attention. That’s why it’s so important for you to provide the most important information about your local business in this field.
Categorize Google Business Profile Listing Properly
Keep in mind that the way you categorize your business on GBP has an impact on local SEO. The fact is, you get a local citation if you create Google Business Profile listing for your company. That’s why it’s so important to pick the right category for a local business on Google Business Profile.
Give preference to the most relevant category that corresponds to your business in the best possible way. Sometimes, it makes sense to add a secondary category for a local business. By doing so, you’ll be able to categorize your GBP listing in a better way.
Update Photos on Your Google Business Profile Page Regularly
Sometimes, local businesses have to change their interiors and do renovations. Local business owners decide to make changes to their interior designs for various reasons.
Let’s say that you’ve changed the interior design. In this case, it would be better to update photos on GBP listing as well. Make sure your Google Business Profile will contain the most relevant and most up-to-date photos.
It’s recommended to update photos on Google Business Profile profile from time to time. So, shoppers will see that you are changing and improving your business.
Actually, it’s pretty easy to replace photos on a GBP listing. All that you need to do is to delete old images and add new ones.
Add “Click to Call Button” to Google Business Profile Page
Once a potential client comes to your Google Business Profile page, you have to turn them into a real customer. Use any splendid opportunity to convert your Google Business Profile listing’s traffic into customers, sales, and revenue. In other words, you should aim to motivate your prospects to contact your business and make a purchase.
Integrate the so-called “click-to-call” button into your Google Business Profile listing. A button of this type is used to connect a business to customers. Such a button makes it easy for consumers to contact you. As a result, your conversions will increase significantly.
Make Posts on Google Business Profile Page Regularly
Google Business Profile provides local business owners with the possibility to add blog posts to a listing. And of course, you should take advantage of this option. Blog posts will help you get attention to your GBP listing.
Making posts will help you keep your target audience informed about the events and news which are relevant to your industry. You can also optimize your blog posts for the keywords that your target. If you publish posts on Google Business Profile Page, then you’ll remind people about your business.
It can be difficult for business owners to come up with blog post topic ideas for GBP posts. Google posts have to provide content that brings value to the target audience. In fact, different types of posts can be published on your Google Business Profile page.
- Would you like to provide your prospects with discounts?
- Do you have a special offer for your customers?
- Have you launched a new product or service recently?
- Do you need to inform your customers about important news?
- Are you going to organize an event that’s related to your business?
If so, you can create posts for Google Business Profile listing and share the content with your target audience. This type of content is suitable for Google blog posts.
You have to create great posts for Google Business Profile page. It’s recommended to write eye-catching headlines for posts. Such posts get a lot of attention and help attract the target audience to a local business. It can also make life easier for posting, if you use a social media content publisher that will post to GBP, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X simultaneously.
The information in Google posts has to be relevant to your business. It would be great to add photos or videos to your posts on GBP listings as well. And, of course, you should add a call-to-action to your Google posts.
Conclusion
As you can see, Google Business Profile plays an important role in the online promotion process. GBP contributes greatly to local SEO and business success. However, you have to stay active on your GBP page all the time.
Google Business Profile will work well only if you provide accurate information on your page. Such details as business hours, description and contact information have to be accurate.
That means that you should update your GBP profile regularly and keep the information about your local business up-to-date. Check your Google Business Profile profile and make changes to it if necessary.
Best of luck, and feel free to reach out to us at any time with questions!