When it comes to Google My Business (GMB), it’s a no-brainer of its importance for a small business to get new customers – but is your profile deterring business or attracting business right now? Google My Business is relied upon because it’s the “truth” about your company/brand. In this blog, we’re going to highlight five reasons why Google My Business is a MUST-HAVE for your small business.

1. Visibility

GMB makes your small business so much more visible, especially since eighty percent of all searches happen on Google. Therefore, you want to ensure you’re doing everything you can to get into the “three- pack,” which is the top three recommended business for a local area that shows up just below the little rectangular map.

The three-pack used to be a “seven-pack” back in the day, but Google changed it to the top three in August 2015. They ended up discovering that fifty percent of consumers visited a store within a day of conducting a local search on their smartphone.

The bottom line, if your business isn’t showing up in the local three-pack, then you’re missing out on lots of potential business. Optimizing local citations, and updating your profile regularly will ensure that happens. Click here for more on LOCAL SEO.

2. Improves Your Local SEO/Web Presence

Continually updating your Google My Business is the same as watering a plant. If you water it regularly, it will grow to be a strong plant. If you don’t, well, you already know what will happen.

Updating your profile frequently with NEW information, photos, LIVE Google Posts sets your business up for local domination over time. Think about this; when you Google “pizza,” the first three are the businesses that have THE MOST local web presence in your area/suburb. The more directories that Google finds you on, the more they trust your business and the more local web presence you gain!

3. Builds Engagement with Customers

Customer engagement is, by far, one of the biggest perks of Google My Business. If a customer leaves a review, it allows you to respond directly to them, or you can utilize Google Posts, which started to be a thing in January 2016 and is pretty much the same as a Facebook or Instagram post. The only difference is you can add a call-to-action button on the bottom of each like “SIGN UP NOW” or “MORE INFORMATION.” And finally, the holy grail of engagement is now the ability for customers to directly message you through Google Chat! Chat with customers in real-time and answer questions and sell them on your customer service skills.

4. Customer-Centric – Promote Products/Services

Building clientele for a small business is often easier said than done, but with GMB, it becomes that much easier to accomplish as it equally benefits customers and businesses.  For instance, with the new product/services option, it’s become so much easier to purchase a service or goods from a business. This helps small businesses grow their clientele and can use Google Analytics (comes with GMB) to discover more about their demographic so they can tailor their marketing strategy based on the free data.

5. Cost-Effective

One of the biggest reasons why GMB is a must-have for small businesses is because it is incredibly cost-effective. As long as you create, claim, and verify your listing, GMB provides a fast and free form of advertising on Google, resulting in fewer costs and quicker results than website SEO strategies.  Especially with COVID19, it has been more important than ever to market your business online. It does take time and effort to make these updates in addition to what we mentioned earlier, but it does save and generates a lot of money at a faster rate.

As a small business, it is crucial to carefully invest, which is why if you’re not able to make the updates needed to get the most out of GMB for your small business, you can contact us to see what the best strategy for you is.

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Citations

https://www.brightedge.com/glossary/optimize-google-3-pack

https://www.digitalcoastmarketing.com/understanding-googles-local-3-pack/

https://www.postbulletin.com/marketing/a-brief-history-of-google-my-business/article_a8233a88-81f7-11e7-9bd9-f75e295737ab.html

https://support.google.com/business/answer/3038063?co=GENIE.Platform%3DAndroid&hl=en

https://www.socialpilot.co/blog/marketing-local-businesses-with-google-my-business-listing

https://www.internetlivestats.com/google-search-statistics/#:~:text=Google%20now%20processes%20over%2040%2C000,trillion%20searches%20per%20year%20worldwide

https://www.brightlocal.com/research/google-my-business-insights-study/