Google My Business (GMB for short) is a free web tool which My Social Biz excels at helping our clients scale with. The main objective of the sub-platform is to help local businesses achieve higher visibility on Google Search for relevant local searches. Through the use of Google My Business, owners of local companies can control and improve their visibility on Google Search. Optimizing your listing and page can help your business stand out against your competitors, especially if competition is dense on a local level.
The more space you occupy on the web, especially on Google Search, increases the opportunities your customers can see and engage with your business. Here are just a few reasons why GMB is a great tool to leverage:
- Local SEO
- Collecting reviews
- Business info directly from the search engine
- Marketing and communication tool
- Google My Business Insights and its benefits for analytics
- Free of cost
- Ease of Use
Better Visibility From Google Search: Increase Traffic From Google Maps and Local Searches (Local SEO)
Google My Business is strongly visible in local search terms. You can achieve higher search ranking positions (SERP) in related search terms in your business’s local area. Optimizing your local SEO enables smaller companies to compete with companies with a more substantial online presence in your local area.
In terms of local search, it’s extremely important in order to expand your reach in your area.
It helps customers find you and your services at the right time when they are searching for relevant businesses and services nearby.
Visibility on Google Search, and Google Maps
When customers are searching directly with your company’s name, the listing is visible to the right of the search on desktop and mobile; the listing is visible below the ads and the first organic result. It is visually compelling for people to click on, and helps them understand the proximity of them to your location. Having your address on Google maps with the proper listing makes your business more discoverable and more attractive on the search, and that can drive more sales. Google My Business listings are seen in Google Maps on the left on the desktop, and it displays the crucial information to help customers make quick decisions on-the-go to make them go to you.
Google My Business Reviews
Reviews are an essential tool for businesses to use. Reviews build trust, create and show approachable experiences, build brand recognition, and drive sales to your business.
Reviews shown in Google My Business listing improves your local visibility on Google Search. Shopify says, for 93% of customers say that online reviews have influenced them.
In short, online reviews have a strong correlation in building visibility and trust online, especially in Google Search. A strong value-prop of Google My Business is how much they emphasize feedback and how that impacts the consumer.
Display Business Information In Google Search
What you should include in your GMB listing is just as important as having one. GMB will always show the latest info you have submitted in your listing. The more information you post, the more there is for Google to “crawl” which is a positive factor in SEO. My Social Biz recommends adding the following info into your GMB page:
- Company name
- Address
- Phone number
- Recent images
- Industry
- Opening hours
- Reviews
- Website
- Google My Business posts
Marketing Via Google My Business Posts
Within a Google My Business post, you can choose from different call-to-actions to increase clickthrough-rates such as buy, learn more, sign up, call now, and more.
By updating your posts you are showing that you keep your business up to date and want your customers to see what is important to you.
Experimenting with different post types can increase your overall clickthrough-rates to your website, which is beneficial when you’re trying to increase traffic to your company’s website.
Keep in mind that posts expire in seven days. Create new posts as old posts expire. That’s why incorporating it into your posting strategy is a great way to improve your Google ranking with your social media “freshness”.
The benefits of Google My Business are vast, and companies who take the time to optimize and manage their profiles are more likely to gain more reach and sales from nearby customers. On top of this, it is a free service which adds no overhead to your business. My Social Biz has remained at the helm of top content strategy practices, and GMB has always remained at the top of the list. Let us help you craft a winning Google My Business approach alongside of a content strategy that will increase web traffic and sales.