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Do you remember the last time you looked through a phone book to find the number or address of a local business? It’s probably been a pretty long time. We have now become dominated by the power of our mobile phones to quickly search whatever we need — whenever we need it — and phone books have become a thing of the past.
We’re in a time when information is at our fingertips. 68% of consumers use their mobile devices to look up businesses and products, and more than 70% of users are searching on Google to find what they are looking for.
If your customers cannot find you online or if you have an outdated online business listing, you will lose out on a lot of business opportunities and sales. That’s why so many companies partner with marketing agencies who offer business listing management services.
So where does Google My Business come in, and how can it help you get more customers?
What is Google My Business?
Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that indexes your business information in Google searches. It will ensure that when someone is looking for your business or searching terms related to your business, they will find you. This is a more practical way to share your information with customers without having to rely on phone book advertising — which may never get seen.
A comprehensive, updated listing should include the following core information:
- Business name
- Address
- Website
- Contact number
- Hours of operation
- Description of your business
- Business category
- Company attributes
By updating and optimizing your business listing with Google My Business, your customers will be able to find information online to visit your business, contact you, or purchase your products and services. This tool has made it easier than ever for your customers to find you through an online search.
What are the benefits of Google My Business?
So now that you understand the basics of what Google My Business is, why is it important?
Well, Google takes this information from your listing and uses it for a variety of things. It serves as a basis for contact information and offers more credibility to your listing in search rankings when you claim your business and verify your physical location, which leads to more relevant local searches. Your GMB listing also serves as a crucial reference point for related sites, reviews, and dialogue for interacting with your target audience.
Let’s go over a few of the added benefits of using a Google My Business listing:
- Improves visibility and offers a local SEO boost. Keeping your listing up-to-date can improve your search visibility, offering more exposure to potential customers and more accurate local searches. The improved visibility of your business listing will result in more quality website and foot traffic.
- Increases engagement. You can let users call you directly from your listing or book an appointment with no hassle. Potential customers can easily contact you with one click, or view updates about your business from additional features such as posts, events, and special offers.
- Earns trust with potential customers. Because Google is the leading search engine, it’s a highly reputable source — many users inherently trust Google. So when your potential customers find your listing with a verified physical location, they are more likely to trust your business.
- Easy review management. Your profile will come with a dashboard to easily monitor your listing. Within this dashboard, you will also have access to monitoring and responding to your reviews so you can stay connected with your customers and improve your online reputation
If you need help claiming or optimizing your Google My Business listing, the experts at UpSwell are just the people to help!
We’ve seen firsthand how important it is to make business listing optimization a part of your digital marketing strategy, especially in terms of higher quality leads and high conversion rates for local searches. When you maximize your listing and gain more user engagement on your business profile, you’ll drive more traffic to your physical business.
Ready to learn more about our Google My Business optimization service? We can set you up with a specialist in your industry and a free marketing assessment. Go ahead and give us a call today to get started!
