Google My Business: The What, Why, & How

Everyone has been talking about Google My Business (GMB), and how important it is for your business. But what is it, and how do you use it? This is a short guide to the What, Why, and How of GMB, so that you can start using it right now!

GMB is an offshoot of the now defunct Google+, and is an essential part of your company’s Local SEO. It’s easy to set up, and it’s a great way to show up on page 1 of the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) with minimal effort on your part (providing you set it up correctly)! It contains a list of relevant information about your business, including the company name, address, phone number, hours of operation, photos of your location and products, posts, and Google reviews. It’s basically a one-stop-shop for someone who is looking for your company or a business like yours. Your GMB listing shows up on Google Maps, and also in a featured box on the right hand side of the SERPs – but only if it’s optimized!

Reason one why you should use GMB? It’s free. Very few SEO tactics are free, and with just a few moments of setup, and weekly checks, you can be showing up prominently for local searches. It’s an excellent way to personalize your business with photos and posts that tell more about your company – specials, new products, your employees, or exciting new projects. It allows you to manage your reputation with reviews that customers leave on Google, thanking people for positive reviews and responding quickly to customers who did not have an optimal experience. Over 60% of people that search online for businesses say that online reviews affect their purchase decisions, so this can be crucial.

So it’s free…but why do you need it? The way Search Engines like Google work is they crawl the web, making what amounts to a big chart that contains all of the information, sites, and links they find, and then when someone types in a search query, they use an algorithm to determine which sites in its vast library are the most relevant and display them in a ranked list. Every time your business is mentioned online it can contribute to your rankings and relevance – so having a listing in Google’s own local business listing seems like a no-brainer, right? Another benefit of a GMB listing is that it enables you to track analytics – you can see who is clicking to your site, who is making calls from the listing, and many other actions that help you to understand your target consumer better.

Now that you’re ready to get started – we can help! We at AdsIntelligence are pros at setting up and optimizing GMB listings. Our local SEO experts will make sure that you show up for relevant local search queries, and ensure your information is updated, reviews are answered, and relevant, engaging posts are made on a regular basis. Contact us and learn more about our services!