Why Google My Business is important for your SEO strategy
Vu Tran, Digital Marketing Specialist
Google My Business is a freely available tool that can help level the playing field for small and medium sized businesses who compete with larger companies for the same customers.
Designed to promote small and medium businesses that may otherwise be lost in the glut of information online, Google My Business can bring more foot traffic and online visitors to your business and grow your revenue. It is also a pivotal component of local SEO that helps make your business easier to find through tools like Google Search and Google Maps.
So, if you’re in business and you don’t have a Google My Business profile, it’s worth setting one up. And if you already have a Google My Business profile, it’s worth reviewing it and ensuring that it is fully optimised and performing on all cylinders for your business.
What details are included in a Google My Business listing?
Businesses with accurate Google My Business listings are much more likely to be considered reputable by customers searching locally. So, what information should you include in your listing? When creating your Google My Business listing, be sure to complete each of the following fields:
- Business name
- Business description
- Street address
- Business hours
- Website
- Photos
- Reviews
The more complete your Google My Business profile is, the better it will perform for your business, so it’s worth taking the time to populate it with information your target audience will find useful and informative, while highlighting the best things about your business.
Inputting your business information into your Google My Business profile isn’t overly hard but optimising it so you are using this handy business tool to its full potential can take a bit of work, consideration, and technical nous.
It requires using relevant SEO keywords at appropriate places in your Google My Business profile, ensuring that your profile is rich with key information about your business, and matching your Google My Business details with what’s on your company website. It can also include answering FAQs about your products or services, and regularly adding photos relevant to your business and customer base.
“The more complete your Google My Business profile is, the better it will perform for your business.”
Five ways an optimised Google My Business listing will benefit your business
- An optimised and complete Google My Business listing can dramatically improve the local SEO ranking for your business.
- Your Google My Business listing integrates with Google Maps, which makes it easier for potential customers to locate your business using the ever-popular mapping and location app.
- Customer reviews, if your customers have created them, will be displayed under your Google My Business profile. This gives your business real-world credibility that can help sway potential customers who find your business through Google search engine results pages and are trying to evaluate your credentials.
- It creates a great first impression of your business for online, where potential customers can instantly view all essential information about your business.
- Using your Google My Business profile, potential customers can send messages directly to your company’s phone number or company email via the Google My Business interface.
How to get started with Google My Business
If your business doesn’t already have a Google My Business listing, your first move is registering and claiming your business on the platform. You’ll then be asked to verify that it is indeed your business, which may take a few weeks to process.
Once your location is established and verified, go through your Google My Business listing and optimise every aspect of the listing that you can. Add, review, and tweak your listing as needed.
Need a hand? Our Digital Marketing team can work with you to set up and optimise your Google My Business listing to ensure it’s firing on all cylinders for your business.
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