How can you expect to acquire traffic, leads, and sales if potential clients can’t locate your business online or if you’re invisible to them?
It’s also worth mentioning that, with over 75% of the search market share, Google remains the most important source of traffic. As a result, you’ll need to increase your visibility, and one way to do so is to use the Google My Business service.
Google My Business Page: A Brief Introduction
Google is continually looking for new methods to provide the most relevant and accurate information to its consumers. In this line, the search engine giant developed Business Profile a few years ago. This is a tool that compiles data from various sources on the internet to produce a basic profile of organizations.
The business profiles will appear on the Google map page and the local search results page. Businesses have little influence over the information that appears on their profile because it is generated automatically.
Later, Google created Google My Business, which allows you to manage what appears on your Business Profile. Businesses may create, manage, and optimize their profiles with a GMB account.
You can add the business name, logo, location, contact information, website address (if applicable), and much more to the GMB page. Before building a profile for your business, Google searches the internet for duplicates or other issues. Customers can also ask inquiries and provide reviews on your Google My Business page.
Why Do You Need A Google My Business Page?
The fact that GMB is a Google product is incentive enough to use it. Furthermore, there are numerous advantages to adopting Google My Business. Here are a few of the advantages:
Increase in Search Visibility
A significant portion of Google searches has local intent, which means consumers are looking for products or services in their immediate area. So, how should you go about finding a nearby store? In Google Maps, look for a business. Your business will also appear on Google Maps if you have a GMB page.
Local SEO has recently gained popularity. Google has taken notice and made changes to its algorithm as a result. Local results will now appear before the organic list on the SERP.
Previously, the local results had seven listings. This is currently down to just three options. What exactly does this imply? As a business, you must strive to be among the top three. Create a Google account to boost your chances by creating a Google My Business page.
Possibility of Interacting With Potential Customers
Businesses frequently invest thousands of dollars to increase engagement. They make movies, infographics, and other materials just to connect with their intended audience. Google My Business has a number of features that encourage interaction.
Potential clients can call, mail, or visit your website with the click of a button. Google also lets companies add features that let clients book a table (at a nearby restaurant), attend an event, schedule an appointment, and much more.
Google My Business assists businesses in gaining customer trust.
People may be interested in a brand or business but will only become paying customers if they have complete faith in the brand. There are various options for accomplishing this. Showing you have a location, answering any questions they may have, and inviting feedback are three of the simplest approaches.
Customers will trust you because of this functionality in the Google My Business tool. For many people, online enterprises, especially if they are local, are formless entities. When your business’s location appears on your GMB page, the odds of a buyer believing you improve dramatically. Consumers know that firms must go through a rigorous verification process to open a GMB account.
Keep an eye on your Google My Business page’s performance.
Gaining critical information about the success of your Google My Business page can help you stand out from the crowd and increase visibility.
Visit the GMB dashboard to see the page’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). The list of searches used by potential consumers to locate your GMB page may be found here. You can also analyze the performance of your films and photographs, among other things.
Businesses can use the data to improve their GMB page by analyzing the analytics.
Google My Business is free and simple to use.
If you’re still on the fence about using Google My Business, here’s an offer you can’t refuse. To make a GMB page, you don’t need to know how to code. Furthermore, businesses do not have to pay anything to open an account. This useful business tool is completely free.
Furthermore, there are tools available on the internet to assist firms with GMB creation and verification, as well as page performance analysis.
How to Make the Most of Google My Business
We’ve proven that the Google My Business service can provide significant benefits. Let’s talk about the best ways to use the tool to boost your ranking and revenue.
GMB Page Optimization
Incomplete or unoptimized profiles might sometimes get past Google’s screening and appear at the top of the search results. However, these businesses will never gain client trust.
Present the public with an accurate business record that includes the most recent address, contact information (including phone number), and a business description. The business description is your first chance to make an impression on a potential customer.
Make the summary intriguing and brief, and fill the first few lines with the most important details. While you’re at it, throw in a few keywords (but not too many) to boost your local search rating on Google.
Posts on the GMB Page should be published.
Businesses can use the opportunity to publish brief posts to GMB to explain their service, highlight special offers, promote an event, and so on. You may also upload an image in addition to the text. GMB posts are also visible on Google Maps. Posts promoting an event must include a start and end date, and you can use a Google-provided button to accompany the announcement.
You can entice potential buyers to visit your website by including a blog summary and a ‘Read More’ button. Remember that each post will be deleted after seven days, and in the case of events, the post will be deleted on the day of the event.
Never Miss The Opportunity to Interact with Potential Customers
Creating a Business Profile isn’t enough. Customers want to know that the company they’re dealing with has a human face. So take advantage of any opportunity to interact with potential customers, and Google My Business provides plenty of them.
Encourage your current consumers to rate and review your services. Respond to reviews, thanking customers for their patronage or, in the case of a negative comment, apologizing and promising a better experience next time.
Allow folks who aren’t yet customers to ask questions as well. Answer the questions quickly and in a polite manner. Businesses can boost engagement even more by enabling direct messages and setting up corresponding alerts.
Better-engaged GMB pages will appear higher in the search results. Customers also utilize ratings and reviews as social proof when deciding on their next line of action.
Upload Video and Image
People prefer films and visuals to text, according to most consumer behavior studies. As a result of the shifting preferences, Google now allows up to 10 videos and photographs on the GMB page.
Videos can be used to tell a story, highlight product features, describe corporate culture, and give client testimonials, among other things. By putting product photographs on their Google My Business profile, e-commerce enterprises can get more leads.
Google emphasizes freshness in your Business Profile, just as it does in websites. To show the search engine that you’re active, you must be consistent with your postings (pictures, videos, and text). Consistency will bring you more attention and improve your rating.
Customers should be given relevant business information.
With Google My Business, you may cut down on the number of stops clients make while looking for information. Add operating hours, address, phone number, and other essential information to your page to make their search easier. Google Maps will also display these facts.
Make your business stand out by responding to clients in real-time. Turn on the texting option to communicate in real-time. Visitors to the GMB website can open a chat room by clicking the ‘Message’ icon. You can respond to potential consumers by text message or messaging app.
Last Thoughts
If you’re a small or local business, you should take advantage of every chance to increase your web visibility.
Google My Business is likely the most effective technique for attracting new clients. It will raise your visibility and boost your ranking. Customers may easily locate you (location listing) and contact you using GMB (by displaying email, phone, chat, and address).
Overall, using Google My Business is not an option for any business; it is a requirement.
What are you waiting for? Create a Google My Business page today and start reaping the rewards right away.