Why is Google My Business so Important for your Business? Wow, that’s a mouthful, but a really important thing to know, so stick around and find out more.
Today, everything and everybody is on Google, why would you think that your business shouldn’t be?! If you are standing at that point, you are making a huge mistake and we’re about to tell you why!
Like many of us, you have probably been in a situation when you are looking for information about a restaurant, store, shopping center, car service, travel offers, vet clinic, products, etc. It’s also very likely that you searched for that information on, where else than – Google. Google’s primary job is to offer you the most adequate answer to your search. And that’s what will happen because Google is the largest and most reliable online database on the Planet.
However, in addition to the list of links that are an adequate answer to your query, Google will also show you the Google My Business account of the location you searched for, or locations where you can get the services you searched for. The situation is the same with Google Maps search, clicking on a location on the map opens the GMB account, a tab that displays information about the business – location, working hours, address, contact information, website address, photos, reviews…
What is Google My Business?
Google’s definition is “a free, easy-to-use tool that allows businesses to present themselves to audiences looking for information through Google Search.”
How does Google My Business work?
The profile itself on this platform appears when searching for key phrases on the Google search engine, whether you search for the information by business name or service/product. If you try to search for a nursing home or vet clinic, Google will display all results of this quest near you. Here, among other things, lies an opportunity for small businesses to gain an advantage over large companies and businesses, because Google lists locations that are near you first, regardless of the size of the business.
Today’s audience certainly researches online, so whether your focus is on a physical or web location, Google My Business will help your audience discover you and find you in the top search results, thereby increasing the number of online visits. And that ultimately lead to an increase in real visits/purchases/bookings…
In addition, GMB will help you to be up to date with your audience and inform them about all important events, upcoming innovations, and other important information. On the Google My Business account, in addition to basic information about the location, website, phone, working hours, etc. You can also update information about changes in working hours, special offers, discounts, new services, and current products, because, in addition to text, photo and video content can be uploaded to the account.
Another important part of the GMB account is ratings and reviews from users of the service and customers. Good reviews and high ranking are the proof that services you provide are high quality. This way Google My Business helps you gain the audience’s trust.
In addition to all of the above, reviews and ratings have a big impact on SEO. Remember that we said that Google’s job is to show the user the most adequate answer to his query. Ratings and reviews send a strong signal to the Google algorithm about whether a particular business should be recommended.
The questions and answers section of the Google My Business account is especially useful because all questions and your answers are visible to everyone, which slowly builds a kind of Q&A list that users can search for and maybe find out what they are interested in.
Is Google My Business free?
We mentioned that Google My Business is a free tool. In addition, you will come across many texts that say that this is a way to get Google search results completely free, to “free marketing”. Whether free is really free, to begin with, depends on whether you value your time. If you think it’s free, then get ready to invest a lot of time first in research, and then in setting up, arranging, updating, monitoring, and communicating on your Google My Business account. Make sure you also learn how to write texts and posts adequately, how to interact with the audience and respond to questions and reviews, and how to resolve dissatisfaction or misunderstandings without adding fuel to the fire and igniting a crisis.
You will also need quality photos in the appropriate resolution.
If all mentioned above seems to you like it is free, think harder. Do you think that anything is free nowadays?! Google My Business requires resources, time and requires at least a basic knowledge and understanding of marketing and communications.
If you are asking yourself if can you take care of Google My Business yourself – the answer is, with invested extended effort and learning – YES.
Is it free – the answer is NO.
Google My Business can seem easy to handle, but it also requires a certain digital marketing knowledge and experience, so if you want the best possible results we recommend hiring an expert as Monument SEO & Design, a professional digital marketing expert team, to create and handle a Google My Business account for you and set up all the basic information and content. After set up, it is up to you to decide whether are you going to handle this platform by yourself or if you will leave it to professionals.
What is crucial is that success does not lie in technical steps, but in content, timeliness, and successful communication. All that requires a little knowledge.
If you represent a large business or a business whose information changes frequently, there are many events, activities, campaigns, and the like, then the volume of work will be greater, so you should definitely consider hiring someone who will take over and manage it in a professional manner.
Unlike social networks, Google My Business does not require a constant presence and content publishing. The dynamics of the activity depending on the dynamics of the business itself. When it comes to Google My Business, it is important that the contents and information are regularly updated.
Google Ads & Google My Business
One more possibility is to link Google My Business with a Google Ads account. In that case, when you create an ad on the Google Ads platform, in addition to the text of the ad and the plugins you choose when creating the campaign, you will have the option to include your location in the extensions. This is very practical and useful.
An important and very useful part of this tool is the reports that are sent to the mail every month and can also be viewed on the account itself.
There we can see how many people searched for directions to your location, how many clicked on the phone and initiated a call, and how many visited your site.
These insights are particularly useful for identifying keywords and further optimizing the content and the Google My Business account itself.
Ultimately, whether you decide to invest time and effort in your Google My Business account yourself or decide you need help, the goal of this blog was to inform you about how this tool is useful and to encourage you to get started with it. If you decide that leave it in a hands of experts, Monument SEO & Design is here to set up your Google My Business profile and offer you a full digital marketing service like SEO, PPC, Social media management, Web development, and other services that will lift up your business to a professional level and bring you closer to achieving your business dream. Call TODAY at +17864423622 and get a FREE analysis and expert advice.
