Local SEO is vital for many small and independent businesses—and the building block of any effective local SEO is understanding how best to use Google My Business.
So, What Is Google My Business?
Google My Business is at its core, a local business listing service and one of the most widely used and recognized of Google’s search features. It includes businesses of all varieties and sizes in the area, so if for example, you search for cafe’s you’ll see nearby chains alongside the likes of independent vegan cafes and long-running local business. These listings provide a quick and informative snapshot of all the relevant information about the company, as well as reviews, ratings, and more. Now that you know what it is, it’s vital to understand just how important Google My Business Is.
Stand Out In Search
Standing out in search results, and being easy for your customers to discover is vital for any business. This is where Google My Business can make a real difference. Something especially true for the all-important local search results—according to Google’s official stats, nearly 50% of all searches are local. Another defining trait of search traffic, and especially local search traffic, is the importance of mobile searches. With the vast majority of local searches occurring on mobile devices—Google My Business is vitally important. This is because Google My Business appears even more prominently on these results and is easily accessible for mobile users.
Make A Strong First Impression
Google My Business also enables you to make a strong first impression and communicate clearly with those users who find your listing. Because it displays all the relevant information—such as opening hours, directions, and more— it helps customers understand what they need to know about your business. It also helps to build authority, establish credibility, and create a professional first impression. In particular, the reviews and question and answer sections can be tremendously effective in achieving this.
Gain Insights
Once you’ve got it up and running, Google My Business services will also be able to provide you with useful data and critical insights into your customer behaviour. These are insights you can use to optimize your listing and to enhance your broader marketing efforts.
How To Setup Google My Business
The most important thing to do is ensuring that your account is set up correctly—letting you hit the ground running and giving you a platform from which you can make the most of your opportunities, and improve SEO ranking potential. Luckily setting up a Google My Business listing is free and easy—you should also check to make sure a listing doesn’t already exist, if it does all you need to do is claim that listing and fill out the details from there. It’s essential that you ensure all these details are both accurate and consistent with those on your website—as any mistakes will negatively affect your SEO rankings and diminish your customer experience.
For more information on Local SEO, as well as our national, and international packages, contact our marketing team!