If you are about to or have already taken your business online chances are the first thing you did was create social media accounts and get a website built. That is fantastic, and is definitely the 1st place to start. However, there is one important element of your online strategy that cannot be overlooked. Your Google My Business listing. Why is that you may be asking? Here are 4 reasons why.
1. Easily be found in maps and local searches with your Google My Business Listing
When you make a local search for a service or product you will almost always notice this map with a list of businesses right at the top of your search. This is a collection of popular businesses related to your search term who are taking advantage of a Google My Business listing!
When you make a local search for a service or product you will almost always notice this map with a list of businesses right at the top of your search. This is a collection of popular businesses related to your search term who are taking advantage of a Google My Business listing!
Not only is this incredible brand awareness, it also allows potential customers to easily access directions to your business, hours of operation, contact details and more!
2. Your Google My Business allows people to review your business and view past reviews
Consumers and business owners are heavily influenced by reviews whether we like it or not. So, having several positive reviews can be the difference between a customer choosing you and another business in town. Take advantage of publicly displayed reviews on your Google My Business listing and encourage your loyal customers to review your performance!
This will have positive effects on your brand image, sales and search engine optimization. Google has over 200 factors they use to rank websites and reviews are thought to be a major player in this process!
3. View in-depth analytics in your Google My Business Dashboard
When you navigate to the insights tab on your dashboard, you are able to see valuable statistics of how your business is performing on Google. For example, in the image above you can see statistics on how customers are searching for your business. However, it gets much more in depth than this. You can see statistics on how much traffic you got from every single search term that your website served an impression for. On top of this you can view:
- Where customers view your business on Google
- Search or Map
- What actions your visitors took from your listing and the quantities for each
- Visit website, phone call, message, directions
- How many views yours photos had
- And more!!
4. Setting up and maintaining your Google My Business is Free and Easy To Do
Did I mention that your listing is free?? At least for now…. more on this is a later post. Yes, your listing is completely free and extremely easy to use. Simply use your work email to create your listing and choose the verification method that best suits your needs. Then you will have access to your dashboard where you can easily update information, add photos/videos and much more. It is equally as easy as setting up a social media account and the user interface is actually more favourable to most.
With the shift to an online presence for business becoming almost essential today, a Google My Business listing is a must. Click here for a guide on how to set up your very own listing!
If you have any additional questions about the process, please do not hesitate to contact the Imperium Team. We are always happy to help! Goodluck with your business.
