Google My Business (GMB) is a free Google tool that assists business owners in managing their online presence across the search engine and its expanding portfolio of utilities.
GMB listings are used by seasoned SEO professionals to leverage a location-based strategy.
The first step toward local search success is to create a GMB listing.
With good reason.
For brands looking for local exposure, GMB has the most impact.
For both new and existing businesses, features like Google Local Search emphasise the value of having a GMB listing.
For brands looking for local exposure, GMB has the most impact.
It provides a list of nearby businesses as well as a wealth of information needed to locate a specific business, such as:
- For brands looking for local exposure, GMB has the most impact.
- Address for a business.
- Hours of operation.
- Category.
- Reviews.
Top Reasons Why Your Business Needs an Online Presence
Whether it’s a website, a social media page, an e-commerce platform, or a combination of the three, going online for your business opens up a world of possibilities.
Here are the top reasons why you should create an online presence right now:
- Create a sense of brand authority
- Makes it easier for potential customers to contact you
- Market your brand to a broader audience
- Overcome geographic obstacles
- Strengthen ties with current and potential customers
- Improve customer service
- Lower operating costs
- Investigate your competitors and improve your company methods.
The internet is an important tool for reaching out to new customers and converting them into quality leads and sales. Make the most of this chance to improve your customer’s experience and pleasure.
Here are six techniques to optimise your Google My Business profile.
- Fill Your Entire Profile.
Give Google as much information about your company as you can. Why? It facilitates Google’s matching of your company to customer searches. In other words, it raises your search engine ranking.
You should fill out contact information, categories, attributes, and other information. When possible, use the appropriate keywords.
Google bases its local ranking on three factors:
- Relevance refers to how well your listing matches a search query.
- Distance: The distance between your location and the search or searcher.
- Prominence: The degree to which a company is well-known
- Make a Statement With Photos.
Make it easier for people to comprehend your company’s mission. You may incorporate a logo and cover photo in your Google My Business profile, just like you do on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Pinterest. If you don’t include these graphics, people will have more difficulty recognising your brand online.
Don’t just stop there. Post additional photos to showcase your location, products, or handiwork. Post photos of your meals, menus, and dining room if you own a restaurant. Check that they are appetising, professional, and not low resolution.
- Publish Updates, News And Special Offers.
Addresses, hours, and contact information on your Google my Business profile should always be correct and up to date. If this information changes, make sure to update it.
You can also make posts for your company to inform customers about updates, new products, special offers, and events. Depending on your goals, these posts can help you maintain your profile, drive sales, and encourage people to visit your physical or digital storefront.
- Include Unique Characteristics And Attributes.
Depending on the category you’ve chosen, special features are available for Google business accounts.
Here’s a rundown of the available category-specific features:
- Hotels can show a list of amenities as well as class ratings.
- Restaurants and bars can post menus, highlight popular dishes, and include a link for online orders and reservations.
- Businesses that provide services can display service menus and include a booking button.
- Product catalogues can be added by small and medium-sized businesses.
- Encourage and Respond To Customer Reviews.
Businesses should encourage reviews because they are extremely beneficial to SEO – even negative ones. When you come across a negative review, the best thing you can do is respond to it. Addressing and responding to problems and complaints is always perceived as authentic, and it aids in the development of trust in a business.
It demonstrates that you take pride in providing a high-quality product or service, going out of your way to meet customers’ needs and address their concerns. By asking customers to leave reviews, you can begin to lay the groundwork for trust, using both positive and negative feedback to your advantage.
Asking customers – past, present, and future – to leave a review on your Google My Business page is strongly encouraged by Google and us. It will benefit your company by instilling trust in your customers and aiding in the improvement of your organic rankings.
In the midst of a global pandemic, it is more important than ever to establish, build, and maintain trusting relationships with your customers. Make a point of responding to reviews in a professional, thoughtful, and consistent manner to highlight your customer engagement and propel your company ahead of the competition.
- Use Insights to Fine-Tune Paid And Organic Reach.
Another benefit of having a Google My Business profile is that it gives you access to data. These findings aren’t limited to Google Analytics.
Keep track of how many people look for you on the internet, phone your business, ask for directions, look at your images, and so on. Knowing which keywords, photographs, and actions are the most popular can help you tweak your profile—and even impact the social media material you create.
Google Ads can benefit from Google My Business analytics as well. You can utilise local extensions in your advertising if you have a Google Business account. These add-ons display adverts with clickable location information. Increase engagement and lower cost per click by combining this feature with insights.
Because Google My Business is growing at a breakneck pace, using it into an SEO plan is and will be a potent tool to draw attention to your company on Google. Pure SEO can help you increase your local SEO ranks by optimising your business and analysing your current local SEO portfolio. Right now, have a look at our SEO services.
Contact The Social Lions, a digital marketing agency in Mumbai, now to design an effective SEO strategy that targets your specific niche and improves your local business’s ranks.
