As someone who understands the value of having a presence in the world’s biggest and most influential search engine, I always recommend that my clients set up a profile with Google Business as soon as their new website is live (and even sooner, if they can).
In fact, it’s something I offer as part of my digital marketing services as standard.
Getting listed with Google will enable you to:
Share your essential business information easily
Your Google Business profile displays key information like your address, phone number, hours of operation, and website link.
Accurate and up-to-date details make it easy for customers to find you and engage with your business, without having to visit your website and navigate to your contact page. The fewer clicks there are to navigate, the higher the chance of getting a conversion!
Boost your local visibility
A Google Business profile helps your business appear in local search results, many of which are supported by the data in Google Maps.
When people search for products or services “near me,” Google often prioritises local businesses with optimised profiles – so if you’re listed in Google, you’re waiting to be discovered by potential customers who are nearby and looking for exactly what you offer.
Build your credibility
Having a Google Business profile that’s well-populated and up to date can enhance your business’s integrity.
Customers expect businesses to have a professional online presence, and a verified Google profile will help to assure them that you’re a legitimate company that’s trading and contactable.
Showcase your products and services
With features like photo uploads, posts, and service lists, you can showcase your offerings directly on your profile. This helps customers understand your business at a glance and see what makes you stand out from your competitors.
You only get a matter of seconds to impress prospects if and when they reach you via a search engine, so the more high quality content you can get in front of them, the better!
Make it easy for customers to engage with you
Through your Google profile, you can interact directly with customers by responding to reviews, answering questions, and updating information. This open line of communication fosters better customer relationships and helps to build that all-important loyalty.
Stay in control of your digital reputation
Reviews on Google help people make decisions about who to buy from, so you want to collect as many of these on your listing as you can. By managing your Google Business profile, you can respond to both positive and negative feedback and show your prospective customers that you care about their experience.
Just make sure you reply to any comments quickly, as every interaction can affect the way you’re perceived. Remember, most people would prefer an honest response to a complaint rather than radio silence – plus, it gives you a chance to put across your side of the story and help rebuild trust in your services.
Drive more conversions
Google Business profiles include call-to-action options, such as “Call Now,” “Visit Website,” and “Get Directions.” These features encourage customers to engage with you right away, which can lead to actual business opportunities.
Get access to analytics
Another benefit of getting a Google Business profile listing is this: Google automatically provides you with valuable insights into your customer behaviour, including how they found your business, what actions they took (calls, visits to your website, direction requests, etc), and the keywords they used to find you.
This data can help you better understand what prospects need and expect from you. It can even shape your marketing strategy and impact the way you operate.
Why is your Google Business profile important for SEO?
One of the main reasons I always recommend creating a profile with Google Business is that, as long as it’s well-maintained, it will help you generate better rankings in the search engine results, especially for local queries. This is because, as I mentioned earlier, your Google Business profile is linked directly to Google Maps, which is one of the biggest drivers of local SEO out there.
A well-optimised listing will also give you a greater chance of ranking in Google’s Local Pack, which appears in the map view and is often the FIRST place people visit when they are looking for a business nearby.
My top tip…
Don’t just launch your Google Business profile and forget about it!
Once you have verified your listing – which Google allows you to do by phone, text, video recording, live video call, direct mail, and sometimes a combination of several of these – you’ll need to update it regularly with posts, promotions, photos and events so you’re providing engaging content for users and proving to Google that you’re an active and respectable business. Doing so will naturally help with your SEO, and you can also include some of your targeted keywords in your profile content to maximise your chances for ranking for relevant phrases.
You’ll also need to make a note to edit your company information if it changes (for example, if you move office, or get a new phone number or website domain). Bear in mind that you may need to re-verify your listing every time you update it.
Setting up and actively managing a Google Business profile is a powerful, cost-effective way for small business owners like you to improve your presence locally and capture more of your target market via organic search. In my opinion, it’s one of the quickest and easiest ways to get your business and its website seen quickly – and best of all, it’s completely free!
