You’ve probably come across the term Google My Business from a friend or online while surfing the web. Well, perhaps you didn’t find anything interesting about it; but do you know the potential this Google application holds for your business if you chose to use it?
What is Google My Business
Let’s kick off with some definitions. Google My Business is a free and easy-to-use mobile and desktop application for businesses to manage their online presence on Google Maps.
How it works.
If you have ever had a chance to use Google Maps, you know how the application displays the layout of different cities in terms of roads, buildings, and other physical features. Well, you might have also noticed how it shows the location of different businesses in terms of icons that match different business categories. That is basically what Google My Business is all about.
Google My Business allows you as a business owner to add your physical business details to Google Maps. You can add details such as business contacts, physical addresses, opening and closing hours, links to your website, the services you offer, and social media contacts.
And it’s not only listing, but Google My Business also allows you to advertise your listing on the Google search engine. When you promote your listing, anyone in your region who searches on Google for services similar to the ones you offer sees your listing as the first result. Wouldn’t you want this?
The real question is, with you being exposed to a ton of online marketing methods that all promise high conversion rates, why would you care to spend a dime marketing your business on Google My Business? Well, you need to and here is why.
It’s Absolutely free
Google My Business is one of the few if not the only free marketing tools on the internet. Adding your listing to Google Maps is absolutely free and extremely easy to do. No specialised skills are required.
Of course, having a listing is not enough. You need to optimise your listing. Optimisation guarantees you a higher ranking than other businesses offering similar products in your locality.
Additionally, if you want to get results fast, you can create Google adverts through the Google My Business listing to promote your listing.
Unlike Facebook and other social media marketing methods, Google ensures that whenever you promote your listing, it appears first in the search results whenever someone searches your niche.
Is this important? You bet it is. The majority of people click on the first search results whenever they search anything on Google. By getting your business listing to appear as the first search result, you are guaranteed high traffic, and of course, high customer conversion.
Pin-Point Customer Target
Targeting is everything in online marketing. Google receives more than 63,000 searches per second. But the question is, how do you reach the few people in your region who search for services similar to the ones you offer?
Well, Google My Business is the answer. As you can see in the screenshot below, Google offers business listings on the search engine whenever you search for services such as dentists, gyms and spas, and barbershops among others.
By adding your business listing and promoting it, you are guaranteed to reach only the people who are in desperate need of your services in your region. Even better, you only pay Google when a serious potential customer clicks your listing. Wouldn’t you want that?
Option for adding important information
Google My Business allows you to add valuable information that customers would need to know for them to be convinced to visit your business address. We are talking about information such as a physical address, phone and email contacts, opening and closing hours, and links to your website and social media platforms.
Additionally, Google My Business allows customers to review your business which can act as a great promotion tool for new customers.
If you do not have a website, you also get a chance to create a simple website for your business at no cost. No programming is required.
All you need to do is edit your business information on the free website templates offered by Google add all the necessary pictures and boom! You have a website just like that.
Answering Customer Inquiries
Responding to customer inquiries means you care and it develops trust with new customers. Nobody would want to work with business persons who interact with them and genuinely respond to their problems.
You can quickly respond to customer comments and inquiries and comments through the Google My Business listing. Or even better, you can hire somebody else to do the work for you which acts even more convincing and more natural to trust.
By responding to the questions people ask online, you are also able to gain insights on what is being demanded most in your niche, and how you can provide it. Businesses are paying millions to obtain this from data analytics companies.
Increased Online Presence
Generally, Google My Business listing is the most efficient and easiest way for businesses to increase their online presence.
If you were to do a quick search on Google for the nearest restaurant in your location, you would get a list of the three highest-ranked restaurants by Google through promotion or generic traffic.
If you managed to make your business get ranked among the top three in your category, you would be guaranteed free genuine traffic. This is the easiest method businesses use to increase their online presence.
Conclusion
If you haven’t added your business to Google My Business listing, or haven’t claimed your listing yet, you are missing out on so many customers. Whether you are planning to promote your listing or just rely on Google’s free traffic, you need to list your business.
The best thing is, you don’t need any special skills to get it done. With just a few YouTube videos, be sure you can get it done in less than thirty minutes.