Digital marketing is the best way to attract customers and organic traffic, but there are so many different avenues that business owners can get confused about what they should spend their time on and what they don’t have to. At Fu Dog Media, we sing the praises of Google My Business and how critical it is for companies to use it as a conduit to drive traffic to your website and convert that traffic to a consumer. If you aren’t aware of the essential part that Google My Business plays in your bottom line, you are missing out—big time!
What is Google My Business?
Google My Business is a free tool for business owners that helps to promote and grow their businesses. It is also a way that you can continue to speak to your current clients. Google My Business is a Google-sponsored platform that allows potential customers easy access to your business phone number, address, website link, reviews, directions and more.
It also provides consumers with images and videos of your business as well as the latest business updates.
What are the Benefits of Using Google My Business?
When customers sign on with us for SEO, one of the first things that we do is evaluate and educate them about Google My Business and how to maximize their listings. Billions of people around the world tune into Google daily and use it for everything from shopping to services to news.
Currently, Google maintains over 90% of all search engine visitors, registering over 5.6 billion inquiries daily, and most of it is local intent, which means people searching for something located nearby. When someone wants to find a gym or a specialty store, Google is almost always where they go first.
Therefore, the more searchable you make your GMB listing information, the more website traffic and foot traffic you will gain. Consider the fact that up to 50% of people who search use their mobile phone and end up heading to the business they found during that search.
GMB Places You in Maps and Google Local Pack Listings
The Google Local Pack appears right near the top of each Google search, and there are two reasons why it is critical for your business to be listed in that pack. The pack is highly visible when you search on Google and is likely the first thing that is seen. With it, potential customers can get all the information that they need before they even get to the organic results.
Not only do they see your business, they see everything else that might pull them in your direction on the map. Google My Business is one of the biggest factors in why a business comes up in the Local Pack rankings. Updating, optimizing, and verifying are essential to captivate your intended audience.
Screenshot from Google 10/18/22
Reviews Mean Everything
Another reason you want to keep up with Google My Business is that it allows people to leave reviews about your product or service. Never before have people become so review-savvy, meaning they place high value on what the reviews say. According to the latest statistics, as many as 93% of potential customers say that they are “highly influenced” by online ratings and reviews.
Reviews also improve your local SEO and are responsible for as much as 10% of why search engines rank you. Additionally, reviews help increase your overall sales and they cost nothing. It is like free advertising and has an enormous impact on why people will choose you over a competitor.
Not only do you want to make sure that you obtain positive reviews; you have to monitor to ensure that if they happen, the not-so-good ones are addressed immediately. When you use negative reviews in the right way to promote trust, they actually can end up being positive.
Google My Business Provides Useful Information to You
Google My Business is a great tool to try to understand your industry’s market because it provides you with insights and features that help you make decisions about which strategies are working and which ones are not.
The insight tools give you relative statistics that describe what your audience is looking for and what their opinions are so that you can adjust your marketing and product or service to meet those expectations. You can use the insights from the following data.
Views
GMB tracks how many views posts and photos get. That helps you to fine tune your marketing campaign by seeing what is working and what isn’t. That way, you aren’t just spinning your wheels on something that isn’t working, and you are maximizing what is.
Search Inquiries
GMB gives you relative data that helps you decipher who your consumer is and how to better understand them. By seeing what people are searching for via keywords, to find your listing, you can better pinpoint your audience and find out how to get in front of them. When you know which keywords are most often used, you can use them effectively to attract and drive traffic to your listing and ultimately, to your website.
Engagement
The analytics in Google My Business can show you how an audience is engaging and interacting with your post. You can see what customers liked and commented on, which will help you to enhance future campaigns.
Audience
In the audience section, there is a summary of all of the people who follow you. You can check out demographics related to your customers, including their location and region.
Clicks on Website Link
People can click directly from the Google My Business link to your website, which means if they find you on Google My Business, it is the catalyst that drives them to your website.
There is Nothing Better than Free Advertising
If there is one reason you should use the power of Google My Business, it’s because it is free. All that it takes is persistence and a little bit of time and energy, but the payoffs are fast and amazing. Creating and maximizing your listing takes very little time, and what it provides is a wealth of free exposure.
Our mission at Fu Dog Media is to help you dominate the web by using all the resources possible, so YES, Google My Business really is IMPORTANT. Contact us to get started today.
