Nowadays, using Google My Business (GMB) to reference locally your BtoB business is a powerful tool if you have local customers and a limited catchment area. It allows you to highlight your B2B business in Google’s geo-localized results and in Google Maps to reach qualified leads while strengthening your company’s e-reputation.
In this article, our SEO experts explain the importance of Google My Business in B2B and how you can use it to strengthen your lead generation strategy.
What is Google My Business?
Google My Business is a free, easy-to-use tool that enables businesses and organizations to manage their online presence on the Google search engine. The aim is to help your local customers and prospects find your business more easily.
Searching on Google for a product or service has become a habit for buyers, even in BtoB. By leveraging the information provided in Google My Business, Google can make suggestions for the best local businesses that may be of interest to visitors. They can also find offers that match their search directly on a map via Google Maps.
In BtoB, Google My Business is a platform that allows you to promote yourself and make contacts with future customers located near you. It is an effective complement to the BtoB prospecting tools you use.
Its benefits:
- Manage your information: With your Google My Business profile, you can manage the information presented to users when they search for your business or the products and services you offer on Google. Users can find out where your business is, what it offers, your contact details, and access the link to your website to get in touch with you quickly and make a purchase.
- Interact with customers: by managing and responding to the comments and reviews posted by your customers, you increase the visibility of your business and build brand trust with your prospects. In addition, posting photos that showcase the products or services you offer, increases your credibility. According to Google, businesses that add photos to their profiles get 42% more requests for directions on Google Maps and 35% more clicks to their website than those that do not.
- Generate traffic from posts: GMB offers the possibility to create posts on your account. You can therefore take advantage of this feature to promote your professional events such as open days, webinars, or your special offers. It is also an opportunity to present your latest news and product launches to your customers.
- Analyze and evaluate your online presence: With the Insights feature, you can get insights into how people search for your business and where they come from. The tool also provides you with a range of useful statistics such as how many people called you directly to the phone number displayed in nearby search results, in Google search, and on Maps. You can also see how many people have clicked on your website and how many people have viewed the directions to your sale point.
How to optimize your GMB account in BtoB?
Having a Google My Business listing can be effective, but it must be properly filled out as the information you provide will impact your local SEO. Make sure that the details you enter are semantically relevant to your target audience and your business sector as if you were on your own website.
- Make sure you complete your Google My Business profile
Putting as much information as possible on your business profile is very important as it guides your target audience, builds trust, and helps them make a purchase. Also, take the time to write a short and punchy description of your business and post interesting articles regularly.
- Choose your category well
Do some research and find the one that is most suitable for your company. You can also add a few sub-categories if it makes sense.
- Update your information regularly
Keep your profile up to date, including information about your address, URL, phone number, and opening hours, especially when your business is listed on services other than Google My Business. Updating your profile in case of changes can be time-consuming, and a service like Company Data Optimizer can help. It allows you to easily synchronize your data across all the online services you use so that your company profile appears everywhere on the internet with the same information.
- Add photos and videos
Make your Google My Business profile more dynamic and powerful by adding photos and videos. Use several attractive images that illustrate various aspects of your business. A product image or video allows you to communicate essential information quickly and in an attractive way.
- Specify your location
It is important to indicate the location of your business, but don’t forget to check that it is correctly marked on Google Maps.
Google My Business is an essential tool for establishing your local B2B presence and attracting qualified prospects who are specifically looking for the products or services you offer. If you need help setting up your GMB account, contact us by clicking on the following link: https://eminence.ch/en/contact-us/