Google My Business do you know?
It is an additional tool that Google offers businesses free of charge to manage their online presence.
Are the local small and medium enterprises well equipped to meet this demand?
When more than 50% of smartphone users use their devices to search for local information.
The reach challenge is therefore not to know if having a presence on the Internet is possible, but to know if this presence is visible.
Most small businesses know this and invest good time and money in their online strategy.
Resource Article: Local Online Marketing Puts You On The Map
The challenge lies in achieving sustained search success, and business map listings are a vital part of this.
So, what is Google My Business?
A Google My Business (GMB) profile is essential for local online business.
It’s free and enables you to appear in local search results for queries specific to your products or services.
Without local SEO, you won’t be appearing on any local map listings in which Google displays search results for the vast majority of local queries.
Who can use Google My Business?
To be honest, any company can use GMB, even if they don’t operate a storefront.
Examples include:
- Retail store
- Plumber
- Manufacturing facility
- Restaurant
- Ecommerce store
- Car dealership
- Utility Provider
- And the list goes on…
Even if your company doesn’t maintain a physical address, Google allows (and recommends) that you create a GMB listing because it can help people search for your business, your products, and your services, find you.
What can you do with Google My Business?
In addition to simply updating your business information across multiple platforms at once, there are other ways you can use the Google My Business dashboard:
- Foster Follower Growth On Google+: Google’s social network hasn’t reached the epic proportions of Facebook for everyday conversation. Still, given its tie-in to everything Google including organic SEO, it’s an opportunity you don’t want to pass by. By sharing informative content, you can engage followers and even earn new businesses through Google+.
- Get +1s And Positive Reviews: Encourage your followers to write positive reviews and +1 your content for an SEO and reputation boost. Users can endorse products on Google Search, Maps, and even ads.
- Track User Engagement: You won’t be flying blind when it comes to figuring out what’s working on Google+. Track user engagement for your Google+ Pages and posts for valuable insights. Once you identify the content that resonates the most with your audience, create more of it to increase your exposure and boost your organic reach.
- Get Information On Other Google Channels: In addition to Maps, Google+, and search, the My Business dashboard includes information on your Google Analytics and YouTube Channels.
- Create And Track Adwords Express Campaigns: Yes, even paid search is present in Google My Business. You can not only create AdWords Express campaigns but monitor performance as well, straight from your My Business dashboard.
How to utilize Google My Business?
Even if GMB mainly impacts SMEs and VSEs, all Google+ users have access to the new features of the interface.
The accounts, automatically updated, allow you to manage the visibility of a company on Google directly, Google Maps, and Google+, whatever the medium used by the Internet user.
Useful when you know that 97% of Internet users conduct an online search to find establishments near their homes and that mobile phones are used more and more in this context.
How do I use Google My Business?
You can get started using GMB with the following steps:
- Log in to the Google Account that you want to manage your GMB profile
- Go to httрѕ://www.gооglе.соm/buѕіnеѕѕ/ and click “Manage Now“
- Create or find and Claim your GMB profile
- Verify your business and GMB profile
- Update your GMB profile with your name, address, phone number, and more.
- Encourage your clients or customers to share their experience via reviews
- Optimize your profile with posts, products, or service listings, photos, and more.
For the best results using Google My Business make a routine of updating your profile.
It will help your company provide users with the latest updates fast but also make it easier for them to find and visit (or use) your business.
Benefits of using Google My Business
All of this provides time-saving benefits to business owners.
But beyond that, there’s a lot to be gained from GMB.
Below are a few of the benefits which I would like to address –
Gain Instant Trust
If your listing appears in a Google search, consumers see that Google has endorsed you.
If Google trusts you enough to display you in its results, they know they can trust you too.
Get More Website Visitors
Your GMB listing gives customers the means to access your business.
Still, more importantly, it depicts what it’s like to go there.
Even more importantly, it displays all of this information before a user even has to click through to your website.
The more a person can envision what it will be like to contact or visit a business, and the more quickly they can do so, the more likely they are to do so.
Get More Sales
Google uses your listing and other real-time data to be able to answer highly specific queries, such as “hair salons near me open now”.
This allows for more of the most qualified people to find your business, those who are highly likely to make a purchase.
Engage with Customers
GMB now has a posting feature where you can communicate announcements, events, and promotions to your audience.
Keeping customers up-to-date on your business keeps you on top of the game.
Also, each of these post types has a call to action, making engagement easier and more likely.
If applicable to a particular search, content from your posts may even display in your result.
Keep Improving Your Google Presence
With Analytics built right into your GMB dashboard, you’ll have quick and easy access to key metrics.
Organic visits took a nosedive this week?
Seeing this in your dashboard will prompt you to investigate, allowing you to pinpoint problems before they wreak havoc on your profits.
To Wrap Up…
Having your business listed with Google My Business helps you find new customers who will be keen to visit your store in person.
Google My Business will allow your business to engage with new customers and encourage them to review your business.
If you plan to do SEO for your local business, then Google My Business is the perfect platform to start by listing your business.
So, the information you provide to Google My Business listing must show up when people are searching for your kind of services in their local vicinity, complete, and optimized as possible.
Sadly, not many people are using this powerful listing tool for their business marketing strategy.
By listing your business with Google My Business is a beautiful opportunity for you to gain new targeted customers who will be keen to do business with you in the long-run.
I hope you enjoyed reading my blog post.
Let me know your thoughts or suggestions in the comments below.
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My name is Sujoy Mukherji. I am an Internet Marketer, Entrepreneur & Professional Blogger. Founder of the Affiliate Hub Blog.