n today’s Digital World, gathering a strong online presence is important for the success of any local business. Google My Business is one such platform that can help businesses boost their online visibility and attract more customers.
Google My Business for local business growth acts like a superhero, helping them reach more customers, no matter how big or small they are. With Google My Business Account, users can easily create and look after their business profiles, show up on Google Maps so people can find them easily, chat with customers by responding to reviews, and keep an eye on how well their listing is doing. It's like having a personal manager for your business, making sure you're always visible to potential customers.
Here are some interesting facts that will help you understand the ‘Google My Business benefits’ and why you must create an account immediately!
- 82% of consumers check online reviews for local businesses.
- 87% of customers use Google to make decisions about a business.
- 86% of customers rely on Google Maps to find nearby businesses.
- 45% of companies receive appointment requests through GMB.
- GMB listings with accurate and complete information get 7 times more clicks.
- Over half of interactions with Google Business Profiles lead to website visits.
- 97% of users primarily learn about local companies online.
- Using images in a Google Business Profile can increase revenue per visitor by 17%.
Why Do you Need a Google My Business Profile for Your Business?
GMB for local business growth does not refer to any basic listing. It’s a powerful platform that can charge up your online presence in order to attract more customers for your local business. Here’s why you need to jump onboard!
1. Brand Identity
GMB for local business growth can help create an impact for brand awareness. When you use Google My Business account the right way, it helps you reach out to nearby customers effectively.
The customers gain trust which automatically helps a local business shine even with similar businesses around. It's all about creating a strong brand value that is recognized easily in one’s local area.
Apart from this, if you think about it, your brand logo plays an important role because it represents your brand clearly. Updating your logo in your GMB profile can help build an impactful brand identity.
GMB lets you add media to your profile such as images, videos, etc., allowing you to indirectly interact with your customers by showing them your products and services. This also helps you create your own brand identity.
2. Showcase Your Business
Remember this, your Google My Business Profile is like a Digital Storefront. With it, you can make your business stand out. You can add valuable details like working hours, website link, products, pricing while highlighting what makes your business special in front of your potential customers.
Having a Google My Business Profile improves a business’s local search results making it visible to more customers and giving them a way to connect. By optimizing your Profile, you can improve your visibility on Google search maps, making it easier for customers to locate you.
In order to improve the visibility of your GMB Profile, you can also try to optimize titles, use generic key-words to titles, stop mentioning publish dates on posts and continuously strategize and create content that viewers want to see.
3. Get Access To Important Insights
GMB gives you access to key insights about your audience and how they are finding your local business. You can keep a track of what search terms are leading customers to your Local Business Profile.
You can also track actions taken on your listing and check the performance of your photos and updates. Insights also help in identifying trends that will help you improve your business in future.
By checking on GMB insights you can get a clearer picture of what your business needs and how it can improve its services. These insights give you an idea of why and how customers are approaching your business and what are the things they like or dislike.
4. Boost Your Local SEO
Do you want to rank higher in Local Search Results? GMB can help! You can use keywords and optimize your Business Profile to improve your chances of appearing in the Top Three Listings that show up in all Local Searches.
Local SEO also helps in creating an online presence that makes customers easily notice your business. Optimizing your business profile can also help in generating more leads, calls and even sales as you attract targeted traffic.
Integrate GMB With Heyo Phone
While mentioning the key points on why you should choose Google My Business for local business growth, it is important to keep in mind that a call management app like Heyo Phone, helps in boosting local businesses by generating more positive reviews.
Heyo Phone allows you to link your business number to your GMB profile. After every call, your customer will receive an automated rating message to review & rate the conversation.
Once your GMB profile is linked with your Heyo Phone Account, any 4 or 5 star ratings made by each customer will get diverted to your linked GMB profile automatically. Thus, never miss out an opportunity to uplift your business and reach more customers in your area.
For just Rs199 per month, Heyo Phone gives a powerful way to boost your business through Google My Business. By integrating GMB you can improve your business visibility by appearing more on local searches, you can create more customer engagement by managing reviews and messaging and you can also get valuable insights on customer behavior and search performance.
Take a look at Some Important GMB Features that Help Local Businesses
Posts - Sharing Updates and Offers
With GMB you can easily share updates, offers and promotions, creating relationships with your audience. This powerful tool optimizes your Business Profile, maximizing its potential for growth and promotion.
GMB posts appear directly in search results and on Google Maps, giving your business a high visibility to potential customers who are actively looking for products and services like yours. By keeping your profile up-to-date with fresh content, you not only attract new customers but also build trust and loyalty with existing ones.
Additionally, posts can include call-to-action buttons like "Buy," "Learn More," or "Call Now," making it easy for customers to take the next step. This easy integration of updates and offers into your GMB profile keeps your business as the top-of-mind and encourages customer interaction and engagement.
Taking advantage of GMB features is a solid way to connect with your customers effectively and boost your visibility at the same time.
Reviews - Managing and Responding to Customer Feedback
GMB plays a vital role in managing and responding to customer feedback through reviews. As customers leave reviews and ratings, potential clients get insight into others’ experiences with your local business.
By managing and responding to reviews on GMB, you can address customer concerns, thank them for positive feedback, and show that you value their opinions. This interaction not only improves customer satisfaction but also enhances your business's reputation.
Prompt and thoughtful responses to reviews show your commitment to good customer service, which can positively influence consumer decisions.
This transparency helps businesses with services or products. Users can easily access details like location, contact information, website, and operating hours, along with the Q&A section. This access to information supports customer interactions and makes it easier for potential customers to connect with you.
While supporting healthy business-customer interactions, GMB also serves as a platform for rating and reviewing companies, influencing consumer decisions and shaping overall customer experiences.
Messaging - Interacting with Customers Directly
GMB Messaging is like chatting with your customers but on Google My Business Profile. It allows them to talk to you right from your Google Listing. This helps in boosting lead generation and allows quick customer responses. It’s all about interacting with customers directly.
Quick responses can majorly improve customer satisfaction and increase the chances of converting inquiries into sales.
This direct interaction through messaging generates trust and shows that your business is accessible and responsive to customers’ needs. Using GMB Messaging as part of your customer service strategy can lead to stronger relationships, higher customer satisfaction, and increased business growth.
Q&A - Providing Information and Engaging with Potential Customers
Q&A on Google My Business lets you share information and chat with potential customers. It is a great way to interact directly with your clients and offer helpful details about your local business to them.
By utilizing the Q&A feature effectively helps your business to connect with potential customers, and improve your business's reputation.
By providing clear and quick answers makes customers feel more confident in choosing your business. It shows that you are responsive and knowledgeable about what you are offering.
Always remember that answering frequently asked questions can provide valuable information to all customers. Common queries about your services, pricing, hours of operation, or specific policies can be addressed publicly, helping others potential customers who might have similar questions.
Insights - Analyzing Performance Metrics
GMB Insights are just like Google Analytics but for your Google My Business Listing. They help you track how customer’s discover your business.
Whether through Google Maps or Search Results and how they are engaging with your Business Profile. It's a very simple and handy tool to track performance by understanding what’s working and what's not.
How to Improve GMB Reviews & Ratings?
Here are 5 major tips you can follow to boost your GMB reviews and improve your online reputation:
- Make it easy for every customer to leave reviews by sharing the direct review link via email and SMS. Make sure that the audience is able to access it easily after their interaction with your small business.
- Embed the review link on your website, especially on the e-commerce platform’s footer, to encourage more reviews and increase credibility.
- Utilize website pop-ups to collect feedback directly from visitors, making the process convenient and encouraging more reviews on the go.
- Initiate feedback surveys by adding your Google Review Link to the survey’s ‘Thank You’ Screen, promoting customers to share their experiences.
- Always ask the right review prompt questions crafted after individual experiences that will encourage detailed and insightful feedback.
- Create a Heyo Phone Account and link your GMB profile with it. Keep sharing positive customer reviews on GMB for improved business.
- Another added Google My Business benefit that comes with the Heyo Phone App is that you can increase your GMB Rating by diverting positive Staff Ratings to your linked GMB profile.
Advantages of Google My Business
1. Signs of Improved Visibility
With a Google My Business Account, your business gets increased online visibility, making it easier for potential customers to find you on Google Search and Maps. This increased visibility attracts more traffic and boosts sales opportunities.
2. Better Search Ranking
Google prioritizes businesses with complete and accurate information on their listings, resulting in better search engine rankings. This drives more website traffic as your listing is properly displayed in search results.
3. Direct Customer Interaction And Engagement
Google My Business will help you to interact with customers by replying to reviews, answering queries and sharing timely updates about your local business. This creates a sense of trust, helps gain customer loyalty, and strengthens a brand’s reputation.
4. Marketing Placed Under Your Budget
As a free platform, Google My Business offers you an effective marketing solution for local businesses, especially those with limited budgets. By showcasing your business details, including photos, hours, and reviews, you can easily attract potential customers without having to bear additional marketing costs.
GMB is itself a great advantage to the local business owners and do you know what are the 2 most important things that a user looks for in a GMB profile?
1) Reviews
2) Contact Information
Before purchasing a product or service or if a person wants to know about a company, people generally prefer going to GMB where they can see the actual reviews of previous customers which has a huge impact on the sales and if they see good and valuable reviews the next thing they look after is contact information.
Having a separate business phone number will bring a huge impact in these situations as it looks professional and gives that extra trust authority to the customer. However, getting a dedicated phone number for your business was the costliest thing a few years ago. However, HEYO changed this entirely as you can get a dedicated small business phone number at less than ₹200 per month and that too with additional call management features.
Interesting thing is that you can integrate your GMB profile with Heyo Phone and you can get more valuable reviews to your business soon after your agent had a call with your customer, as heyo phone diverts the user to the GMB profile and get valuable reviews which is difficult in now a days to get a reviews.
Advanced Strategies for Local Business Growth with GMB
As a Business Owner, you must be aware of the importance of ranking high in Google’s Local Search Results. With nearly half of local search clicks going to the top three results, making sure that your business ranks among the top three can significantly boost your visibility and drive more customers to your local business.
Apart from setting up your GMB listing, there are advanced strategies that can help you with your local business’s growth. Take a look at some of the things you might consider:
1. Strategic Category Selection
Choosing the correct primary and secondary categories for your local business is important for improving your visibility in search results. Always choose categories that make you relevant to your target audience.
2. Optimize - About Business
Utilize the Business Description Section to highlight what makes your local business different from its competitors and why customers should choose you. Keep it short, informative and free from sales language to make a strong impression.
3. Create A Quality Photo Gallery
Improve your listing with high-quality photos that clearly display your products, services and brand personality. Don’t skip updating your photo gallery regularly to keep your listing fresh and engaging for potential customers.
4. Generate Reviews And Manage Them
Always encourage customers to leave good reviews. Respond quickly to feedback, both positive and negative. Remember that positive reviews not only build customer trust and loyalty but also help boost your local ranking.
5. Use Google Posts For Promotions
Utilize Google Posts to share constant updates, promos, events and product offers with potential customers. Keep your posts informative and engaging enough to gain the attention of local searchers.
In short, Google My Business is like a secret weapon for local businesses. By setting up your listing and optimizing it with the right categories, a catchy description, and lots of updates via photos, you can successfully improve your visibility and attract more customers or leads.
Encouraging reviews and responding promptly, shows that you care about your customers. Using Google Posts helps keep your profile fresh and informative.
GMB is the ultimate solution to make you stand out in local searches, connect with your community and grow your local business. That too - All For FREE! So why wait? Get started with GMB today and watch your business transform and improve.
In today’s Digital World, gathering a strong online presence is important for the success of any local business. Google My Business is one such platform that can help businesses boost their online visibility and attract more customers. Google My Business for local business growth acts like a superhero, helping them reach more customers, no matter how big or small they are.
With Google My Business Account, users can easily create and look after their business profiles, show up on Google Maps so people can find them easily, chat with customers by responding to reviews, and keep an eye on how well their listing is doing. It's like having a personal manager for your business, making sure you're always visible to potential customers.
