10 Things Every Small Business Should Know About Google Business Profile
All of us involved in marketing in any way know how important online presence is today. However, while big brands leave it to marketing agencies, local businesses mostly have to take care of their own promotion.
One of the ways to improve visibility in the market is to use the full potential of the Google Business profile, which is almost crucial for small businesses. If you know the owner of a local bakery, workshop, or cafe, be sure to share this information with him - we will explain all the benefits of having and regularly updating a Google Business Profile account and reveal some tips for presenting in the right, most effective way.
First, to avoid confusion: in early 2022, Google My Business (GMB) was renamed Google Business Profile (GBP), but you will still often hear the old name among users.
Regardless of the name by which you know it, Google Business Profile is another of Google's extremely popular "products" intended for local businesses, helping them to position themselves as well as possible in search results (and in the top 3 positions), as well as on Google Maps. In addition, thanks to this option, your business will be displayed in the so-called Knowledge Panel, which contains all important data - company name, address, working hours, phone number, its logo, description, information about products, and services.
It is important to emphasize that a Google Business Profile account can only be held by companies that have a physical location or serve customers at a physical location, meaning that e-commerce and online shops that do not meet this requirement will not be able to activate a GBP account. Is Google Business Profile Necessary for Small Businesses? These are just some of the benefits:
- A Google Business Profile can help you bring in new potential customers, mostly clustered around a specific location. Did you know that 50% of people who use mobile devices for local search actually visit the business or store they are looking for?
- By using this Google option, you will increase the visibility and popularity of the brand (brand awareness), the number of visits to the website, as well as the number of phone calls - research shows that most calls are made by the user finding a phone number on the Google Business Profile account.
- Google Business Profile is a free platform for reviews that improve local SEO, boost sales, and openly show what users think about your products or services - they comment and rate your brand, and this kind of transparency is of great importance for building brand trust. This is also an area where it is good to place certain keywords to help your brand rank better in a particular search.
- Your small business will be even better presented thanks to the addition of photos, videos, and other visuals (your company logo, photos from the facility, photos with clients, virtual tours, and the like), and you will achieve additional promotion of everything you do by creating shorter posts in which you can present new products, services, important events.
- Probably the most important reason why you should use Google Business Profile is the opportunity to get important information related to your business that can be of great use to you - how many times your profile has been viewed as well as its content, how users got to it, how they react to your posts, what kind of comments they leave, and you also have information about the users themselves (gender, age, country they come from). To make matters even better, GBP is completely free and extremely easy to use, while being extremely useful for growing your business.
So, how do you get the most out of your Google Business Profile account? Here are some tips:
- The most important thing is to regularly update all information on the profile, especially working hours - this way, you will prevent misunderstandings that may arise due to incorrect information. The changes you enter will be visible on the profile after a maximum of 24 hours, but sometimes much earlier - within, say, an hour.
- Although Google Business Profile is great for presenting a small business, since it contains all the important information, it can never replace a website!
- Before creating an account, check if your business already owns GBP - if it's been around for a few years, it's possible that the profile already exists, so you just need to "claim" it so you can update and supplement the information as you wish.
- If you are creating a profile from scratch, it is important to verify the business profile to make sure that you can enter all the key data, but also to avoid the possibility of data manipulation on your profile. Verification will be easy - Google will send you a verification code, which you will then enter in your account. Verification can take up to a week but is crucial for you to be able to access your account.
- Pay attention to the category in which you will place your business - it should match it as closely as possible.
- Enter as much information as you can, while using keywords - profiles that are "richer" in information rank better in the search.
- Be creative with photos - take photos of the object from the outside for easy finding, from the inside, take photos of the products, maybe even the users themselves. Essentially, post all the photos you would post on your social networks and how they can appear on your Google Business profile. Feel free to use video formats as well.
- Pay attention to your users' comments - respond to them regularly, even the ones that seem negative to you, but will actually help you improve your business. That's what reviews are for - to always try to be even better.
- Allow your users to send you a message in case they have a question. You have the option of setting up an automatic reply if you are not able to reply right away. However, keep in mind that it shouldn't take more than 24 hours.
- If your business includes products, create a catalog that will include their photos, descriptions, and prices.
Overall, Google Business Profile is ideal for local businesses as it helps them grow and improve their online presence. In this way, they will be able to promote their products and services, increase the chances of being in the leading search results, connect with customers and users, and all this leads to better business and increased profits. The fact that it is an excellent performance monitoring tool should not be overlooked.
If you run a local business, don't underestimate the importance of a Google Business Profile account. By highlighting yourself on the web, in an adequate way, you can easily overcome the competition and guarantee the success of your brand. Please ensure that your account is active and that you regularly update your profile with correct and relevant information.
For Marketing mreža website text written by: Dušan Džakula, SEO Specialist, Smartpoint Adria
Photo: Unsplash