Marketing is an important part of any business. With excellent marketing, business owners can generate more leads which translate into more revenue and faster business growth. Being the most used search engine worldwide, Google offers one of the biggest marketing platforms to business owners. Through the free Google My Business (GMB) listings, businesses can optimize themselves to get seen and heard more.
However, many local businesses aren’t taking advantage of this powerful tool to grow their business. If you’re wondering Why Your Business Needs a Google Business Profile, the answer isn’t far-fetched. A 2020 research study revealed that over 80% of internet searches tended towards local content. Another study revealed more than 67% of mobile searchers are likely to initiate a transaction following their mobile search.
If you haven’t already claimed, optimized, and managed your GMB profile, the chances are high that you’re leaving thousands of dollars on the table for your competitors. Unconvinced? Here are 10 more reasons you need a Google My Business Account.
- Boost Business Visibility
Every business owner understands the importance of visibility. The more visible your business is, the higher the chances of generating leads and engagement. Similar to the brick-and-mortar shops situated in a prime location for visibility, your GMB profile positions you to get seen and heard more.
With a claimed and optimized Google business listing, you can position yourself to be found by customers in the Local 3-Pack. This gives your business the visibility it deserves from over 63,000 local searches conducted per second.
- Communicate and Engage Customers
Google understands the importance of communication and engagement. This is why they introduced Google Posts. This feature lets you update customers on the latest business news, offers, and newest developments.
The Google post feature can be used to keep your customers up to date with the latest news and also keep them engaged and loyal to your business.
- Free Advertising
As a business owner, you’ll quickly understand that nothing comes free. However, Google offers you this one marketing solution to grow your business free of cost.
With a properly optimized business listing, you can generate more calls to your business, improve your sales and revenue figures, and increase website traffic at no cost.
- Boost traffic
Local businesses with an online marketplace can benefit more from claiming and optimizing their business listing. Customers can easily click through their business listing to their website to shop online. This reduces the stress of physical shopping, connects them to their target audience, drives traffic to their website, and ultimately puts more money in their pockets.
- Gain insight into customer behavior and preferences
For a free online marketing tool, Google is sure loaded with many features. GMBs come with personalized analytics that shows business owners what their customers are looking for and how they’re getting found.
This insight offers business owners the tips and tricks needed to get found better. Business owners can also leverage this information to grow their customer base while monitoring targeted keywords.
- Enhances local SEO
Local SEO and its importance have grown over the years. Google has found that more searchers are interested in local content and are prioritizing local information.
With Google My Business listing, businesses can now target their local customers better. They can also increase their local market share.
- Real-Time Messaging and Replies
Customers often have questions about products and services. Being able to ask questions drives engagement and increases the business owner’s chances of converting the lead.
With the in-built messaging feature, business owners get a chance to reply to inquiries from customers and direct them on how to complete their orders.
- Build Trust and Social Proof with Reviews
More than 80% of online buyers admit to reading reviews and comments before making a buying decision. With the GMB review feature, businesses can build a social currency that boosts consumer confidence in their brand.
- Allows sharing information about offers and events
Is your business planning an event? Are you looking to offload your old stock? Your GMB profile allows you to keep customers up to date. Using the Google Post feature, you can easily create an offer to drive more customer engagement. You can also create an event that can either be on-site or online.
This creates a sense of inclusion and keeps your customers loyal to your business.
- Help customers find your physical location easily
Your business Name, Address, and Phone number are the three most important credentials to pay attention to. You can keep customers updated on these details through your GMB profile.
Your GMB profile, with integrations to Google Maps, also serves as a direct guide for your customers. Customers can now easily find your business using the free online marketing tool.