Google My Business – It’s Worth More Than You Think!

For smart business people who are looking to expand their digital presence, few options surpass the one presented by Google My Business. In the coming years, this already important channel will gain even more prominence.

Local search is now the primary channel for businesses to gain website traffic. Google Maps and related properties not only send qualified local traffic, but they also send people who are far into the purchasing cycle. For just about any business, what’s better than eligible customers arriving or calling due to a search?

Take Advantage of Google’s Booking Feature

Does your business use an appointment model? If so, Google has a powerful feature for booking. If you integrate the button with your scheduling software, web searchers will be able to book with you quickly with one-click. That’s a significant advantage because these customers are actively looking for a provider. They will be happy to book, especially when they see Google recommends your company.

For medical practitioners and other office-based businesses, the Booking objective makes practical sense. It’s a surefire way to use digital marketing to deliver qualified prospects directly to your doorstep. Search traffic remains a profitable channel for local businesses because customers are engaged and actively seeking solutions. Other digital marketing initiatives require more warming up of the prospects to ensure conversions. Mobile searchers are ready to take action, making them ideal for acquisition.

Go for Consistent NAP Information

Most business owners don’t understand how crucial accurate Name, Address, and Phone number (NAP) information is for their potential customers and search engines. Oddly enough, despite the essential nature of this information, many online listings contain errors. Fortunately, there are four major information providers, and clearing up confusion with them is the first fundamental improvement that site owners should initiate.

Ensure that your Google My Business Phone Number is right at all times because it’s the line people will call to connect. Google, and other search engines, also check to ensure that this data is accurate across as many sources as possible. When it is, they have a higher degree of confidence in showing your page to their users. Your local search engine experts will have several methods at their disposal to ensure NAPs are accurate and always up to date.

Don’t Forget to Post Regularly

Your profile has powerful posting features that empower you to make timely updates about your business. Companies report doing better in GMB when they update on a consistent schedule. GMB does an excellent job of displaying all of the stats related to your update. That’s motivational to see that your activity is causing a spike in the numbers. Like almost all posting platforms, the algorithm favors those with robust activity over part-time posters.

Think of your profile as a hub for your activity related to Google’s local search listings. There you can manage many aspects of how your company’s information appears to the searching public. Posting is not particularly hard work, but it still takes time and consistent effort. Don’t fret if at first, your posts aren’t viral. People who are interested in your business will begin to see them over time, and engagement will rise.

• Create links to updates on your company blog.
• Include promotional items and short blurbs to preview content or special offers.
• Post individual custom messages to increase engagement.

The same principles that apply for proper corporate messaging will work on this platform. Stay consistent with your voice, and the brand value will come across to everyone. Fortunately, Google wants you to keep profile short, so there’s no need to spend all day crafting your entries. Instead, stay topical and relevant and make the most out of the space. Google is partial to content published on its platforms, so bear that in mind when deciding on your publishing priorities.

You Need a Constant Supply of Reviews

A steady stream of reviews helps build your credibility. Put yourself in the shoes of random web searchers. They’re looking for a solution to a problem, so naturally, they’re curious about the experience others have with your company. If there are few reviews, poor ones, or no recent ones to judge, they may skip based on fearfulness.

Recently Google My Business have been experimenting with ‘review carousels’ within the listing. What better way of showcasing what your customers have to say about you and your business!

Most people won’t leave Google My Business reviews without a bit of prompting. One way to ensure that the reviews come in regularly is to subscribe to a service that automates the process.

Be Visual and Capture Market Share

Visuals are what drive people to buy, so don’t skimp on pictures and other visual media for your Google Business page. Customers are looking for as much visual proof as they can and respond well when they get it. If your business is well-suited for visual marketing, you probably already have content that would find a home on your profile.

It’s also worth sharing images frequently on all social media channels. For specific industries it helps build credibility and trust. Restaurants, doctors, orthodontists, and even beauty salons are all examples of businesses that benefit from lots of images. People want to get a glimpse of the facility before committing to a visit, so this is their way of discretely researching before showing up.

Plan for Future Growth

It pays to have a bit of imagination when you’re starting up a new profile. At first, the road seems long, and there’s not a lot of instant gratification for your efforts. Push that thought out of your mind. Instead, focus on results for the companies that maintain their social profiles for an extended period. They receive more and more benefits for the same amount of work!

• Local search is the most crucial factor for fueling business growth.
• The winning strategy to gain top rankings takes technical expertise and demands consistent effort.
• The search channel overpowers its rivals for providing engaged, converting customers to your local business.

One of the main requirements for good rankings is doing a thorough job of keyword planning and research. After that phase, it’s imperative to format your descriptions and meta information in a standard format that’s SEO friendly. The technical requirements can’t be wrong because they invalidate all of your efforts with errors. It’s also worth doing competitive analysis to target the phrases that have the highest likelihood of being overtaken. It’s important to gain rankings in a reasonable timeframe and to ensure they remain stable over time. Actively managed accounts have a significant advantage in that department.

The work needed to gain local rankings adds up over time. That’s why you may want to consider offloading the job to a third party. Increasing rankings in local search will boost your revenues, which means your team will have more regular work to do. Even if you’re successful with your digital marketing at first, that success will overburden your team’s primary mission.

That’s why it makes sense to hire local search marketing experts (link opens in a new window) who will handle all of the heavy lifting. Not only that, but the work is extremely technical, which makes it not much fun for people who aren’t savvy on the finer points of web development. Why add more burdens to an already busy lifestyle when Blend Local Search Marketing is here to help.

Google My Business – It’s Worth More Than You Think!

Perry Stevens

Perry Stevens is the founder and CEO of Blend Local Search Marketing Ltd. He’s a tea drinker, cocoa grower and a frequent traveller.

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