When you own a local business, listing your company on Google My Business (GMB) is incredibly helpful in building local SEO traffic to your website. Google My Business is a free marketing tool that allows you to manage how your business is displayed on Google Search and Google Maps. You know when you look up a business and a tidbit comes up about them on the side? This is what the tool allows you to do.
Sometimes Google will auto-generate a profile for you, and you must claim the profile to be able to edit it. Using Google My Business is crucial for your local SEO strategy. So make sure to claim your page, or sign up to make one, as soon as you can. This information needs to be as accurate as possible.
Google My Business also allows you to connect your website for easy customer access. It will also bring up any reviews people have left for you, along with other vital information for potential customers.
Why is local SEO so important?
Local SEO is very important because of the way that people naturally search for information. When someone searches for a service or business, they usually search with terms like “lawyers near me” or “lawyers in Orlando”. Optimizing your local SEO will help you rank higher when potential customers use these search terms.
Local SEO can be improved with well-optimized content, link building, and a good focus on local keywords and links on every page. Local SEO is so important because people who search for places near them are almost always thinking about going into that type of business the same day. In fact, 50% of people who performed a local search went into the store on the same day.
Mobile searches account for most local searches. Since mobile phones have taken over, it’s become easier than ever to look for new places to shop. If a customer needs something fast, they’ll often go to the first search result with the best reviews.
Attract Customers Through Exposure
The information that Google My Business provides is incredibly convenient for potential customers. It offers business hours, directions to the location, a menu or list of services, and other convenient information like a link to your website. Smartphone users (a.k.a. almost all of the population) will use this information to find services they’ve never used before. While some businesses generate traffic by word of mouth and referrals, a lot of traffic comes from a random Google search.
For example, a customer is looking for a lawyer or a new dentist. They’re going to look up “dentists near me” and look at the list of dentists that are located in their general vicinity. After that, they’ll look through the reviews and the websites and determine which one suits their needs the best. Customers can use this tool to find places they otherwise never would have found. If your business doesn’t have a Google My Business page, a customer may never even see it.
Build Credibility with Customers
Using Google My Business helps to build a sense of credibility with customers. In general, the population trusts Google. If a business doesn’t have a local listing, the customer is more likely to go with a place that does have a local listing. It gives the business a better sense of realness and credibility.
A business without a Google My Business page may seem fake or even sketchy in the eyes of a potential customer, simply because of their lack of online presence. Plus, if you don’t have a Google My Business page, that requires the customer to take an extra step to find your website, locate your phone number, and call you for more information.
With a Google My Business page, your phone number shows up right away, and users can even click it to call you immediately. In this fast-paced world, customers will almost always go with the action that takes up less of their time.
Google business reviews, listed on your Google My Business page, also build a sense of trust with your potential customers. If other people found and used your service and enjoyed it, it will lead more people to do the same. Positive reviews also lead to better local SEO, showing your page before others in the same area that has worse reviews.
Get Customer Search Insights
While helping to build customer trust, GMB also helps business owners to better understand their customers and what their customers need. GMB allows business owners to check their insights, showing information like:
- How did customers find your listing?
- What search terms did they use to find it?
- Where did they find you on Google?
- What actions did customers perform?
- How many customers requested directions?
- How many customers called you?
- Who looked at your photos?
This information can help you to make your GMB more user friendly, putting more work into the parts that your customers used most. If they often found you because of a specific set of search terms, implement those more on your website, and implement the search terms you aren’t ranking for yet.
Local SEO Should be Part of an Overall Marketing Strategy
Overall, GMB is an incredibly useful resource for business owners, and it can help your business grow. It’s easy to use and easy to set up. Quite frankly, not having it is not an option in the modern market.
Site Social SEO is an Orlando-based full-service marketing firm that builds a strategy around website design, content strategy, search engine optimization, and social media marketing. Local SEO for businesses is built into our mindset. Wanna see how we can help you gain exposure to the modern market? Contact us online using the form below.
What To Expect When You Contact Site Social SEO
Site Social SEO is a privately-owned small business operated out of Orlando, Florida. We have a small team of 6 people who are each managed by our two owners/lead strategists. We do not require contracts, make wild guarantees, or imply SEO is magic. It’s not; I can explain to you how everything we do will help your website and business. Contact us below for a free website evaluation or to learn more about our services. We look forward to helping you to grow your business so you can focus on the things that are important to you.
