4 minute read
5 Benefits Of A FREE Google My Business (GMB) Listing
It is easy to dismiss Google My Business (GMB) if you are a business-to-business (B2B) without a storefront. The FREE listing was designed primarily to showcase small to midsize local businesses. However, GMB offers a great deal of value to all types of companies including B2Bs and those that conduct all of their operations online such as eCommerce sites.
Consider the following statistics:
- A typical business receives 59 actions from their Google My Business listing each month
- Clicks to business websites grew 29% on average with a GMB listing
- 16% of businesses receive more than 100 calls each month from their Google business listing
1. More Accessible Information
Google My Business listings makes it fast and easy for users to find important info about your B2B and answers to their search queries. They no longer need to visit websites to get certain information about an organization such as their phone number or hours.
While this may sound like a drawback, taking them away from your website, the fact of the matter is it actually has a positive effect. It draws them in by giving them little nuggets of information about your business, such as good reviews, and compelling them to seek out your services.
In fact, on average, 56% of actions on Google My Business listings are website visits according to Bright Local.
2. Better Search Engine Results
Consumers conduct a mind-blowing 100+ billion Google searches per month. Think about the what this could mean for your B2B. Benefits include:
- Improved search engine ranking since the GMB listings are towards the top of results.
- A chance to show up in both Google Search and Google Maps at the same time, doubling your chances of an action right off the bat.
- Obtaining more reviews which is a ranking signal Google uses in their algorithm to choose the best results to display.
- Giving your leads a more positive first impression of your brand.
Each listing provides information about the business, increasing the chances of capturing potential customers’ attention. Google updated the tool back in 2017, making it possible for organizations without a brick-and-mortar location to target a local service area.
3. Everything Under One Hood
Google’s suite of FREE tools allows users to more effectively manage their company’s online presence under one central place. Also, everything is cloud-based, so you can sign in to view from any device, anywhere as long as you have an internet connection.
GMB, Google Analytics, YouTube, Google Maps, Google Search, Gmail, Google Reviews, Google Sites, Google Messaging, Google Drive, Google Hangouts, and others are very critical tools offered by Google to help your B2B’s long-term success.
4. Mobile-Friendly
The importance of availability to mobile users cannot be overstated. A whopping 76% of consumers begin their buyer’s journey on a mobile device. Furthermore, a growing number of people conduct many of their daily business tasks on a mobile device.
When you add your B2B to the Google My Business listings, you increase your chances of showing up in the results of a Google search conducted on a tablet or smartphone.
5. Ideal For Voice Searches
The use of voice recognition devices such as Apple’s Siri on the iPhone or Alexa-powered speakers from Amazon is growing rapidly and search queries are no exception. In fact, it is estimated that 50% of all searches will be conducted through voice recognition by the end of 2020.
With voice surpassing the phone screen, Q&A search terms will become the norm. Google My Business is a perfect match for these simple search queries because the platform provides basic information and featured posts in each listing, as well as, its own question and answer section.
PEOPLE ARE GOING “LOCO” FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES DURING CORONAVIRUS
Optimization Tips For Your Google My Business (GMB) Listing
As with any marketing tool, getting the most out of your Google My Business listing hinges on how you leverage it. There are certain steps you can take to increase your chances of success with the platform.
Keep your listing active by including the tool in your online content strategy. The more your content encourages target audiences to engage with it, the more likely it is that Google will reward your listing with better rankings.
Obtain a solid number of positive reviews. Positive customer reviews not only build trust with consumers, but they also help your standing in search results. In the case of GMB, the more favorable reviews you have, the higher Google will rank your listing – which in turn will improve your search engine rankings and click-through rate.
Images have never been more important in marketing than they are today. People’s attention spans are getting increasingly shorter and new competitors appear in the market every day. As a result, content that captures consumers’ attention and is fast to digest is more likely to make them want to learn more. Populate your listing with as many images as you can (at least 10 images are recommended) and it will generate a better result for you.
It may be obvious, but a completed listing will perform much better than one that is partially finished. Think about it this way: Would you hand out a business card without your company’s phone number or email address on it? Of course not!
Let A Professional Enhance Your GMB Listing For You:
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