What is google my business?

GMB News 12 Jan 2021

Are you a local business looking for a bit more online exposure in google search and want to make sure you reach those potential customers?

Maybe you’re unsure of what to do or where to start to improve your search results? Or maybe you’ve heard the term “Google my business” kicking around and you keep asking yourself: what is google my business?

Well in this article we talk about how to gain control of your google business profile and how to make your Google listing’s more search engine optimized.

Firstly, in order to gain control of your content, so you can effectively manage your google listings and turn them into a successful lead generation tool, you need to have a “Google My Business” account.

If you’re somewhat familiar with a google business profile, you’ll know that once a google profile is posted, you have little to no control over it. It’s out for the world to see. You’ve laid everything out on the table and said what do you think…

Making a Google my Business account is the only way you can get full control of your Business profile, the management rights to edit it, and additional features to increase optimization and visibility.

Google my business is an essential tool for any business big or small to grow and become more accessible online.

Sound like what you’ve been looking for right?

Why do you need google my business?

So what is google my business and why do you need it? Well, let’s dig a little deeper into it.

What is google my business:

Google my Business is a tool which enables you to manage your Google Business Profile and verify your business. Key information like; services, phone number, google maps, service area, website info etc. More importantly, Google my Business enables you to optimize your Google business account!

In order to explain deeper about what google my business is and how it works it’s first imperative that you understand what a Business profile is:

To cut a long story short, a Business profile is essentially google’s term for your google my business listing (GMB listing). If you want your company to appear on google maps or on google devices you need to have a Business profile.

Once Google confirms that your business isn’t a duplicate, they create a business profile for your company! Pretty sweet right? The business profile is then live for consumers to see, use, comment on and review! Google also works its magic and provides additional content which it pulls from the web to strengthen your business’s profile.

The one problem with a Google Business profile is you don’t have the capability to manage the information which gets displayed to consumers. How do you fix this? Well, this where Google My Business comes in to save the day.

Optimizing your Google My Business listing and profile:

Here’s a quick guide on how you can bulletproof your Google my business profile and really optimise your content to help generate those leads.

There are a few important things you NEED to know when editing and running your Google my business profile to really make it stand out from the rest: Business Categorisation, Upload Consistency, Customer Service, Information Accuracy and Information Frequency.

Let’s dig a little deeper:

Business Profile Categorisation:

One of the most important parts of your GMB profile is the categorisation. This is very, very important as the algorithm which Google uses filters out businesses which do not match what google deems the customer’s enquiry.

Therefore, the accuracy of categorisation is paramount to the success of your profile. Make sure to specify all of the services your business offers and accurately choose the appropriate category is tip number #1.

Upload Consistency:

Gaining the customer’s trust is key for any business to succeed. You need to be reliable in order to reassure potential customers that your service is right for them.

A proven way of gaining potential customers trust is by uploading pictures of your service. Customers who can see your service will be reassured that your service is what they’re looking for!

Frequently upload pictures of happy customers and a happy workforce is tip number #2!

Customer Service:

All customers do their background research, especially when there’s a lot of money involved. Customers will dig deep into your archive of customer reviews.

Therefore, it is so so vital that all reviews, whether good or bad, must be responded to in a friendly and professional manner. If a customer sees a professional customer service, it will aid in building trust and potential leads.

Information Accuracy:

The accuracy of the information uploaded to your GMB profile is another very very important part of the success of your listing.

Tip number #4 is: Keep information up to date, such as amending opening hours or closing hours throughout the week/year is key. If the customer can see a profile is active and frequently posting and updating information about the business, it gains trust and helps secure potential leads.

GMB Regular Post Frequency:

Similar to tip #4, tip number #5 is to keep your GMB profile active and keep potential customers up to date with your businesses offers and specials.

An active profile is a trustworthy profile.

How to use Google My Business for local marketing

So we’re on the same page when we say Google My Business is different from a Google Business Profile.

Instead, it is a tool which simply enables business like yours to enhance their Business profile and improve its visibility and effectiveness.

Google My Business improves a business’s profile and makes listings more optimized and effective.

Here are four beneficial local marketing tools which improve through a more optimal Business profile:

1. Consumer Engagement

The way a business engages with a customer is key. Therefore, having a Google My Business profile enables you to engage with consumers.

You can respond to customer reviews, questions, concerns, queries. You can build trust and a relationship through direct messaging.

Google my Business is essentially the formula and solution to an attractive yet difficult math equation.

One of the most important things in business is customer retention as customer accusation is far more costly. Therefore, being able to directly engage with potential new business in a way which builds trust and relationships is the major benefit of Google My Business listings.

2. Highlight your business

Another way which Google My Business can improve your companies marketing capabilities is by adding highlights to your business profile.

What is a highlight? I hear you ask… well a Business Profile alone contains little to no information about your business. It simply states your name and your reviews. A highlight is essentially a dashboard for you to add information about your company’s hours, website, products and pricing, discounts and other details that make your business unique from its competition.

Highlights appear next to your google business listing and provide consumers with all the information a business owner would wish to say about its business!

Google recommends adding between 2-5 highlights to your profile for optimal engagement however none are required at all if you so wish.

3. Gain Valuable insights

The third why using google my business can improve your business listing is through gaining valuable insights on your audience and local search performance.

Why is this important you ask? Well, knowing how your business listing is doing and how your photos are performing compared to other profiles in your category is paramount to marketing success.

If you are able to tell something isn’t working you can change it. It prevents businesses from being deluded to their success. Customers have varying preferences and being able to pinpoint these preferences through data and analytics will only lead to long term business success.

In the analytics tab, you can analyse the queries individuals are using to find your business and a break down of the actions taken on your listing.

4. Do Local SEO

Just like most adverts are ranked off the back of high tech algorithms, business profiles on Google My Business are no different.

Your Google my Business dashboard enables you to add keywords into your business profile and perform other key optimization work to aid with web ranking.

The goal of any business profile should be for its listing to appear in the coveted top 3 options when a customer searches for a specific service in your area.

How to use Google My Business for SEO

Now into the nitty-gritty of SEO and how google prioritizes sections of your profile based on what term customers search.

The algorithm Google uses is set up to ensure that customers get the answer they so require from your profile. Google will highlight the keywords in your business listing which it thinks are relevant to the customer’s needs and requirements.

But here’s the catch, there needs to be “information” for Gooogle to prioritize and also “keywords” for google to highlight in your profile in the first place.

Without Google My Business, it isn’t possible to add these features to your listing.

So how do you use Google My Business for SEO?

The answer, in short, is Targeting, Quality of information, and trust.

Targeting:

To use Google My Business for SEO, it is important to incorporate relevant keywords to your business profile so you can indicate to Google, what you’re trying to rank for in the google listing and local pack.

Use keywords in your responses to online customer questions. In your google my business profile there are sections called: ‘from the business’, ‘respond to questions’ and ‘reviews’, these sections should be filled with targeted keywords and also in any posts you publish.

The key is to incorporate them naturally in a non-forced manner.

Maintain quality of information:

The completeness and accuracy of your business profile have a big influence on your SEO rank, so therefore consistency is key.

Staying consistent with the info your provide in every section of your Google my Business dashboard is paramount. Particularly the contact information, special hours and other attributes people look at in their google search criteria.

Build Trust:

The final way to use Google my Business for SEO is to appeal to the trust component of googles complex algorithm.

Let’s say you own a restaurant and keep your business listing constantly updated, with accurate business information about your restaurant’s opening times, menus, bookings etc, as your restaurant profile grows it will improve the trust of consumers.

A business listing with a steady flow of consistently positive reviews but also a business which responds to these reviews is a great way to improve your SEO ranking within the google algorithm matrix.

This also signals to Google that your business listing is active. By regularly adding photos of your food and publishing posts to your business profile through Google my Business, it will only make your Google my business listing more optimized and better ranked.

SEO is important for any business, even more so if your business is small. Local targeting is key to compete against large competitors on the SERP.

SEO and digital marketing are becoming easier than ever thanks to Google making business profiles more robust. Google my business app is becoming an essential part of any business trying to improve their visibility in their local market.

Final Thoughts

Get your business on google today and let clients or businesses search with ease to help you rocket your 2021 campaigns! If you haven’t already got a google my business account, set one up today!