Improving web visibility is a significant priority for almost every business. Typically, most of your focus is on enhancing your website to get more organic traffic or working on PPC bidding to improve your Google Ads’ visibility. However, some companies fail to capitalize on Google My Business, which can impact how often your company is seen and how well of an impression it makes on potential customers.
Google My Business
Google My Business is a service provided by Google to help companies show up for relevant searches and provide information about the company to people who are searching for it. The profile is set up and managed by you via Google My Business and allows you to provide essential business information clearly and concisely.
Typically, these business profiles appear on the right-hand side of the results page, which displays your business name, geographic location, service provided, hours of operation, reviews, images, and contact information. There are also more options available regarding advertisements, promotions, and more to help you improve your business’s appearance and garner more leads.
How To Optimize Your Business Listing
The first step to optimizing your Google My Business profile is to ensure that all the information you provide is accurate. Having false or misleading information can hurt your reputation and make you appear less trustworthy.
When you first set up your business listing, you’ll want to ensure that your contact information, location, and services are correctly listed. Next, you will continue through the prompts and add photos of your company, reviews, and a short bio to help sell yourself to those who have viewed your business profile.
Once you add that information, Google will send your business a postcard with a code to verify your business address. Once you’ve verified your address, your listing will appear in search results anytime someone searches your name or when you fit the criteria for a relevant search.
What More Can You Do With Google My Business?
Your listing can also do more for your business than just showing basic information. You’ll have the option also to link your social media accounts, allowing people to see more of your brand and experience your brand voice.
You’ll also have access to Local Posts, allowing you to post on your business profile, similar to how you would post with social media. You can use it to announce promotions, company info, new products, and more. It’s a great way to promote upcoming changes for your business and get more people engaged with your company.
Lastly, you can showcase your products with the Product Editor tool. This is a Google tool that allows you to add different products to your profile so visitors can see what you sell and visit the purchase page. This is only available to small or medium-sized businesses. Other larger companies will have to run ads with Local Inventory Advertising, which costs money. Larger companies can sometimes post a handful of products but won’t be able to present their entire catalog.
Using these extra elements to optimize your listing can help you stand out from competitors as it shows you’re active and care about providing accurate information to your users.
The Takeaway
The primary takeaway is that Google My Business is a crucial part of the Google results page and can significantly benefit your business’ visibility in an increasingly competitive market. You’ll be able to provide all of your essential business information to help users understand your offering and provide an easy way to contact you. Google My Business also offers excellent tools that can help you with sales and customer support to help ensure that every interaction with your listing is meaningful.