It is no secret that Google is one of the most powerful tools of our day and age. Having over 8.5 billion searches a day, its uses are infinite and now a part of daily life. With many audiences searching on this platform everyday, Google has also now become a main hub for businesses to be discoverable, drive traffic, and grow their engagement and sales.
Google My Business is a Google affiliate platform that allows your business to set up a profile, post pictures and content, and overall make your business accessible to consumers who are searching your business. Although most businesses believe this is just a place to input their location and contact information, Google My Business can actually be utilized similar to any other social media platform, in order to generate leads through increased discoverability, engagement, and ultimately drive interested consumers to your website page.
So now you may be wondering, how can businesses like yours use Google My Business to its greatest advantage in your strategy, and is it worth your time and investment to include it as a social channel into the list of digital spaces that you market your business in?
Whether finding directions or for a list of local businesses in the area, we have all used Google Maps to search for a destination in some capacity. For your business to be found on Google Maps, you must have a Google My Business account activated with your address listed. Additionally, with 72% of users preferring a business that is closer to their location on Maps, it is crucial that your business is actively listed, otherwise you could miss out on some of the most easily accessible potential consumers.
Did you know that although the majority of businesses are searchable on Google, about half of their profiles have not been claimed? Just like any other social media platform, inactivity could lead to a loss of opportunity in discoverability and engagement from potential consumers, especially if you appear to no longer be open based on your GMB Profile and details.
In contrast, businesses who are active and keep their GMB updated see positive results in the way that consumers respond to your business in a search. The more time and effort your business spends on its Google Profile, the more reliable and credible you are to be perceived by users, and they are consequently more likely to choose your products or services over any other competitors.
Although it can be thought that most Google searches relating to businesses are specifically searching for one local business, this idea is in fact a misconception. This statistic shows that user behavior tends to actually be the exact opposite, where consumers will search for a type of business in their local area, and choose a business to inquire about based on the list of results. The more active your Google My Business Profile is, the more discoverable your business will be in these listings, and ultimately drive more consumers to choose your local business or visit your website.
Just like any other social media page, building your GMB profile can take a lot of invested time and effort from your business, so it is extremely valid to question its return and the magnitude of results that you could see from it. Theoretically, if your business disregarded GMB as a whole, you could miss out on at least 1,000 if not more views per month that could be converted into sales or recurring consumers. By keeping your profile active and posting relevant content, your business could see a surge of engagement just by adding this piece of marketing into your overall strategy.
When searching on Google, consumers are directly looking to discover businesses like yours to solve whatever problem they are experiencing. Improving your discoverability, by building a strong presence on your GMB profile, can create yet another avenue of traffic for your business that many businesses can miss out on simply by ignoring how their business appears in Google searches.
Reviews can make or break a business’ success on Google, especially in leading consumers to their business over a local competitor. Not only do reviews help build your GMB profile as a business, it furthermore helps build your credibility and demonstrate your quality of service to those who are just getting to know your business through a Google search.
Just as fast as good reviews can bring new business, negative reviews can drive potential consumers away. No business is perfect, and every business will eventually get a bad review from a customer. But, it is still important to your business’ GMB listing that your customers are overall satisfied with your quality of service, as it could affect how your business presents itself to newer potential consumers on Google searches.
One major aspect of a GMB profile is pictures. Just like any other social platform, posting updated and enticing pictures of your business makes your business more appealing, visually attractive, and will ultimately drive more users to engage and click on your business to learn more.
Even if you are a small, single-location, local business, there are still people who are searching for your business in the area every day. As stated in the previous statistic about location, people are searching for businesses on Google who not only have good reviews and quality pictures, but are also located near their area. Having an active GMB profile is important therefore for all operating businesses, even if you are small and local.
If you did not believe that Google My Business could be important for any business, you must now. Users are searching for businesses like yours in your area every single day. By not having a GMB profile that shows your business is still open and grabs their attention from the businesses listed, you are missing out on huge opportunities that require minimal effort within your overall marketing and social media strategy.
If your business is not actively building its profile on Google My Business, you are missing out on huge opportunities for your brand exposure and traffic that gets driven to your website. Unlike other social media platforms, Google searches do not come with a like or follow that lets your business know you are gaining traffic or more engagement. But, with that being said, searches on Google ultimately lead to the most success in discoverability, increasing your brand’s awareness in its local area, and the amount of traffic and recurring consumers that your business has and continues to grow upon.
To learn more about these statistics, click here.
Ultimately, Google My Business is an amazing platform to increase your business discoverability, brand awareness, build credibility, and drive traffic all through Google searches that your potential and recurring consumers are performing every day. Although Google in itself is not a “social media platform”, it can be used by businesses as a place of direct and indirect communication to your audience to boost engagement and drive consumers to be interested in your brand, just like any other social media outlet. Ignoring Google My Business could lead your business to miss out on being included in searches, allowing your audience to access you within the digital space, and drive away countless opportunities and interested consumers who are actively looking to invest in your business.
To learn more about how to effectively utilize Google My Business in your business marketing strategy for the overall success of your business, click here to schedule a personalized one-on-one demo with our team.
