This is a free digital tool allows you to manage your local SEO. Your Google My Business (GMB) profile shows your subsidiary or your company in local search results. This can help your potential customers find you more easily and make your brand more visible to them. With GMB your company appears locally at the top of the page, it is prioritized over organic search results, improving your online presence.
In this article, we will examine the benefits of GMB and the ways to use it effectively to boost your local SEO.
The importance of GMB and the local SEO
With Google My Business you’ll be able to:
– Manage your information
Here you can manage the information you wish to present to Google users when they search for your company or the products and services you offer. When Internet users find your company in Google search and on Maps, they have direct access to certain information such as your opening hours, your website, your email address, phone number, etc…
– Interact with your customers
You can easily view the reviews that have been left by your customers and answer them. What is more this is a great way of creating a more direct link with customer and provides you with an opportunity to listen to your customers’ opinions. It is important to show your customers how important they are to you by answering their opinions individually.
The GMB mobile app also allows users to contact you via your profile directly. So, you can chat with customers in real time. Answering their questions fast. GMB also allows you to add photos that showcase your products, location and services to your web visitors.
As a matter of fact, companies that add photos to their profiles register 42% more “Get directions” requests on Google Maps and 35% more clicks to their website than those without a GMB profile with images.
– Analyze and optimize your online presence
The GMB tool also provides you with a series of statistics. From this you can gather information about how users are searching for your company and where they come from. You can find out the exact number of people calling directly from the phone number that is displayed in local search results.
In addition, you can create smart campaigns and track their performance to increase awareness of your products and services.
Optimize your Google My Business page
Once your Google My Business page is created, there are several elements to fill in and optimize in order to promote your visibility on Google Search and on Google Maps including categories, attributes, menu/ services and description.
- Categories:It is important to choose a main category as well as the secondary categories on GMB. Here you can also describe your company in detail. Categories helps to direct customers to you, notably when they are searching for specific products or services that your company offers. This is great if, for example, you have a grocery store that also sells pharmaceuticals and is a delicatessen. It not only informs customers of your main category (“Grocery store”) but it additionally lets customers know that you have “Pharmacy” and “Delicatessen” as secondary categories.
- Attributes:This allows you to provide practical information about your company on several topics such as: accessibility (parking, elevator), type of customer (reserved for adults), payment methods (credit card, cash), amenities (air conditioning, toilets), etc.
- Menu/products/services:It is also possible to indicate your menu (this is particularly useful for restaurateurs), the products and the services that you offer with their associated prices and even a photo.
- Description:Here you can insert a full description of your business, using relevant keywords.
Additional information to consider:
- Specify URLs: for example, if you are a garage, you can specify a URL to book an appointment. If you are a restaurant or bar, you can indicate the URL to the menu to place an order. Google also now offers a system of reservations via different providers allowing the user to make a booking directly from your Google Business page.
- Specify your service areas: This can be useful if you wish to highlight that your restaurant offers takeaway and home delivery for example.
- Clearly indicate your opening hours and holidays:This information is important for Internet users. They will immediately be grateful to have this key information readily available. Furthermore, this information is particularly helpful for users looking for a store close to their location.
- Add images:With visuals you can clearly highlight the services you provide.
- Google posts:Create a post in your chosen format (e.g. news, event, offer, product) that will then appear during a select number of days that you have selected at the bottom of your Google My Business page.
- Insert keywords: It is important to position yourself on the keywords that are the most relevant to your activity. This will allow you to gain visibility on the web. You can integrate your keywords into the company name, into the description and into your tags, which direct people to your website.
The importance of Google My Business Reviews
Customer reviews are one of the most important aspects of local Google ranking. Google lists your company and your competitors based on this when it comes to local search. Here are a couple crucial elements to consider and optimize when it comes to reviews:
- The number of reviews you have
- The average rating
- The date of reviews
- Your replies to reviews
It’s important to get feedback from your satisfied customers to increase their number and also increase your average rating score.
Google Reviews are very important, especially as it can be a decisive element for your potential customers. It is also a strong SEO tool that increases your visibility. As a matter of fact, Google automatically adds the scoring to the search criteria in order to benefit those who have more reviews and the best average score.
Google My Business Review Management
They are an important indicator of your e-reputation:
- Quantity: The more opinions you have, the better it is because it shows a certain level of brand recognition and in turn attractiveness.
- Quality: The higher the score, the better it is for your e-reputation. Instantly encouraging people to visit your website.
It is a good idea to have a review policy that incites your customers to share their opinions regularly. In addition, we strongly advise you to answer the reviews left by customers and especially those that are negative in order to manage your image and show that you are listening.
To sum up, the more details you have on your GMB page, the more you will be prioritized in search results. In addition to this, your customers will have access crucial information rapidly. Moreover, your company will give the impression being up to date, modern and professional.
The biggest advantage of GMB is that your business will gain visibility on the internet locally, as it will be positioned in the first results in Google. You will also be able to boost your attractiveness, highlight your location via Google Maps and significantly improve your image and online reputation.
Do not hesitate to contact us if you need assistance when creating or optimizing your Google My Business profile. Click here to get in touch with us today: https://eminence.ch/en/contact-us/