Optimizing your Google My Business (GMB) profile is the best thing you can do to improve your local SEO. This is the starting point for the local search strategy and cannot be skipped.
GMB shows your location on Google Maps, so whenever someone searches for you on Google, it’s easy to get there. It shows basic information about your business (hours, products, etc.) and contact information (phone number, website, etc.) so people can easily get in touch with you. And most importantly, it shows people’s experience with you in the form of customer ratings and the stars they give you. And it’s all free.
Find out how to optimize your Google My Business (GMB) profile and reach more customers.
What is a Google Business Profile? Why is it important?
Google My Business is a free listings platform that allows business owners to share information about their business. Creating or claiming a Google Business Profile is an important step in growing your business, gaining recognition, and ultimately attracting customers.
Your business profile shows customer reviews and any information you’ve added.
- Product or service description
- Your business hours
- Contact information, including website URL
- Product, service or business images
- Excerpt from Google Street View and Google Maps
The above information is typically spread across multiple locations, including websites. But putting it all together in your Google Business Profile has certain advantages.
Increase brand awareness
When a customer searches for your company name, it is called a direct search. When you search for a product, category, or service that you offer, it’s a discovery search.
Bright Local’s Google My Business survey found that 84% of searches the average business receives are discoveries. This means that a strong online presence is the key to expanding your business’ reach. For example, an optimized Google My Business restaurant profile allows customers to find restaurants using discovery keywords such as ‘Italian food near me’.
A GMB profile can link directly to your girlfriend’s website so you can drive traffic there, get new leads, follow up with mailing list building tools, and retarget. Your optimized Google Business Profile will appear to potential customers on Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Shopping.
Providing Accurate Online Information to You
Life-long relationships with our customers are built on trust. A stepping stone to building trust-based relationships is giving customers accurate information when they need it.
For example, in his 2023, Google observed a trend of searches for nearby gift shops to increase by more than 60% of his worldwide. Consumers don’t want to drive to find a store, even when going to a local store. You are looking for information online. How to optimize Google My Business to get more customers
And with Google My Business, you can keep your customers up-to-date online.
So when your customers search for nearby stores, your business profile gives them accurate information. They don’t show up after hours and have no problem finding your store
Build trust
Experts believe the ‘loyalty restructuring’ will continue into 2022. Rebuilding loyalty is a trend that emerged after the COVID-19 outbreak. Consumer behaviour research has revealed that consumers are increasingly switching brands and retailers in his COVID impact. This trend is an opportunity for small businesses. Grow your audience and build customer loyalty inspired by consumers’ willingness to try new brands.
First, collect more reviews for your Google Business Profile. Reviews are an important factor for both consumers and Google’s local SEO algorithms when evaluating local businesses. Google Business Profile signals and reviews account for 65% of ranking importance. And they are a great tool to gain people’s trust. Google’s rating system and the detailed review space it provides helps buyers make informed decisions.
Conclusion
For many prospective customers, their Google My Business profile only provides the basic information they’re looking for. So they take a few extra steps to learn more about you. They visit your website, social media profiles, or website reviews to learn more about your products and customer experiences. Examine in detail. It’s important to go beyond the GMB in your optimization efforts.
Make sure your website is working properly. A slow and glitchy website is one of the top reasons users leave your company. Use performance testing software to make sure your website is working properly.
If you were confused if how to optimize your Google My Business profile connect with SEOgrey to get more customers.