Our goal with this blog is to educate business owners about the changes and trends that affect their local marketing efforts. You run a business, you shouldn't need to get a marketing degree just to make smart business decisions. There are thousands of SEO blogs available online. And they all have a lot of great information. The problem is that most of these blogs are geared towards other SEO professionals. We want to give you valuable information without jargon and code names (but maybe some acronyms). I thought I'd start by answering one of the most common questions we get from potential customers: "What is a Google business listing and why do I need one?" With the vast majority of consumers using Google to help them make purchasing decisions, it's easy to see why a proper listing is one of a small business's most important marketing tactics. Because of this, I believe it is important for all business owners to know exactly what a Google My Business (GMB) listing is. All business owners should know this is a Google My Business listingfrei🇧🇷 If someone "calls you from Google" and says you need to pay for your listing, that person is trying to scam you. If you hire onedigital marketing agencyTo manage your Google listing, purchase a service called Local SEO, which is not free. notYour Google listing is not a website🇧🇷 is a Google listing that appears when potential customers search for your business name or a service you provide. It's like a hub that allows customers to quickly find all their contact information in one place, right on the Google search page. Your website can and should link to your GMB. In fact, with agood sitelinked to your GMB will help both companies rank better. come onBreak down Google search engine sectionsand see where a GMB listing might appear.Does Google My Business cost money?
Is Google My Business listing a website?
Where will my Google business listing appear?
At the top of Google is a section we are all familiar with; the advertisement area. That oneProcessThe section always appears at the top of a Google search. It displays paid advertisements to companies that target you as a customer.
Just below the Ads section you will find thelocal package🇧🇷 This is the first section that may appear on your GMB listing. The local package shows the top 3 local entries. It's about this section. Your marketing ambitions as a business owner and our goal as a digital marketing agency is for your GMB listing to be featured in this section.
Just below that, you'll see a "More Places" link, which expands the local pack to show local business listings from pages 1 to infinity, based on the search query you entered. This is the second place your GMB listing can appear.
Below the local pack, indicated by a wall of text, is the organic results section. Here, sites compete for rankings, not Google listings.
This concludes our tour of the Google search page. However, there is one more place your GMB listing can appear. If your business dominates the market through search engine positioning, your listing may only appear on the right side of Google searches. This gives you 100% local visibility.
What information does a Google My Business listing contain?
Now that you know how your GMB listing can be found, let me walk you through each section of the listing.
It is important for the ranking and for your customers that yourGMBThe list is populated as completely as possible. If it is not fully filled in, you may be penalized by Google's ranking algorithm. Also, customers are less likely to trust information in a local listing if it is incomplete. Your entry must include:
- Company Name
- direction or service area
- phone number
- website
- workday
- Photos
- assessments
- publications
- Description
Let's dig a little deeper into these sections to talk about their individual importance to overall health and optimizing your GMB.
Company Name
GMB displays your company name front and center. It's important that you don't try to "keyword" your company name into your GMB. This is a direct violation of Google's rules and will result in reduced visibility, if not suspension.
Keyword stuffing is inserting a bunch of unnecessary words into the business name that are not legally part of the business name. For example, "A Tree Cutting Service - Landscapers, Tree Trimmers, Stump Crushers and More in Phoenix, AZ." Sounds silly, doesn't it? Well, people really do. don't let it be you
Address/Service Area
Of course, if you have a physical store, it's extremely important to have your address correct. Customers have the option to click on your Google listing to get instant GPS directions to your store. If your address is wrong they will never arrive.
If you run a business, e.g. B. plumbers or electricians and customer travel, your service area is a priority. The service area listed tells Google how far you want to travel from your location.
phone number
As well as your address, customers have the option of calling you directly from your GMB listing. If your phone number is incorrect I can almost guarantee you will lose out on this benefit. It is also recommended that you use an area code in your phone number. Avoid using an out-of-state 1-800 number or area code if you can.
website
Again, customers can click through to view your site. But there is another very important reason to link a website to your listing. Google uses websites a lot when deciding on ranking placement.
use:It is also very important that your website isMobile friendly website🇧🇷 If a potential customer searches your services on a mobile device, but your website is not mobile-friendly, Google may choose not to display your listing.
workday
Your GMB shows your business hours. It will even tell people if it's open, closed or closing soon. There are a few reasons why accurate business hours are important.
- someone can decidenotCall him if you're not sure if he's open.
- If you say you're open and someone walks in and it's not you, you could lose that customer.
- The more complete your GMB is, the more Google will trust your listing.
Photos
Adding photos to your GMB helps convert leads. You want them to see samples of your work, your logo, photos of you and your team, and more. Basically anything you can show them to convince them to call you.
Additionally, photos uploaded to your GMB can be used as a secondary SEO fuel. Before uploading your images, give them a keyword and destination, for example "Phoenix Az plumbing service". Now, by submitting this image to your GMB, you will help Google index it correctly.
assessments
Reviews are extremely important for local SEO🇧🇷 If you have a lot of bad reviews, potential customers are unlikely to call you. It is imperative for your business that you work hard to get positive reviews.
Responding to the criticism you receive, both good and bad, helps a lot too. Responding to good reviews helps customers leave more reviews. And when you respond to negative reviews, you can either share your side of the story or make amends. Just make sure you're professional.
publications
google postsis a section of Google that allows business owners to post updates, sales, images, events, etc. When used correctly, Google Posts can be a powerful tool for converting views into paying customers. Even better, there has been talk suggesting that Google posts can affect relative keyword rankings. Ultimately, it should be considered important as it is another way to include keyword-based content in your Google My Business listing.
Description
In the description section of a GMB, you enter all the information about your company. You want to share as much relevant information as possible, especially location and keywords, without looking like you're "keyword stuffing".
But INeedONE?
yes yes you do
according to aCool study of clicks on local packsOn average, 24% of consumers click on the Local Pack when looking for services. Without a GMB listing, you would miss out on a lot of potential customers.
Furthermore, according to Entrepreneur magazine, his rankingGoogle local listing has a higher return on investment (ROI)in the long term as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. Therefore, investing time and money to optimize and rank your GMB listing is very important.
Fim…
To answer the question... a Google business listing is a central point for all of your Google contact information. Yes, you need a Google listing because without it you would be missing out on literally thousands of potential clients in your city who are looking for services like yours.
I hope this article has given you a little more insight into the world of Google and online marketing. We look forward to writing many more articles that we hope can help you make more informed marketing decisions for your business.