You are at your wits end with SEO. You already feel like you are just barely holding on in the digital marketing game. The last thing you need is something else to learn. Well, at the risk of sending you over the edge, there is one more tool you really should be using if you aren’t already: Google My Business (GMB).
If you’re new to GMB, Salt Lake City-based Webtek Digital Marketing has a great post walkin through optimizing your Google My Busienss profile. Webtek goes through GMB point-by-point, helping those unfamiliar with it get a handle on what it is and why it matters.
This post will summarize GMB in an easy-to-understand way. Should you get to the end and decide you are ready to jump on board, be sure to go back and read the Webtek post. It is going to help you considerably.
What It Is
Do you remember when Google decided to try a muscle in on Facebook’s territory a few years back? They launched their own social media platform that they called Google+. That platform is no longer around. In simple terms, it flopped. But Google still wanted to take advantage of the business potential of social media. So they developed a new platform. GMB is that platform.
GMB is a cross between Facebook social media and LinkedIn, the business-focused social media network for professionals. Google invites businesses and organizations of all types to establish their own GMB profiles. Said profiles can be populated with organization information, photos, written content, outbound links, and more.
All of this is free, by the way. Google is happy to give it away because it is a goldmine of information that only helps the company improve its search results. Business owners and nonprofit organizations benefit from being able to establish a profile hosted by the world’s most powerful search engine.
Preferring GMB Pages
The marketing benefits of establishing a GMB profile should be obvious. For starters, there is no doubt that Google prefers GMB pages when ranking sites. Just establishing a profile gives you a competitive edge over other companies that have decided to forego the service.
A GMB profile also gives you an opportunity to get better performance from your keywords. For example, maybe your SEO provider as intimated that your company needs to take more advantage of keyword variation. A good place to implement the practice is in your GMB profile.
Customers Can Leave Reviews
A GMB profile represents a place customers can find accurate contact information about your organization. At least that ought to be the case. If you are going to go to the trouble to set up a profile, make sure all the contact information is correct. Go back and check it every now and again for accuracy.
The icing on the cake is the ability to leave reviews on GMB. As far as Google is concerned, genuine customer reviews are the gold standard of engagement. They prove your customers are engaged with your organization. They prove your customers are engaged enough to let others know about your products and services. That says a lot to Google.
Anyone who is anybody online knows that it is important to make Google algorithms happy. If for no other reason, that is motivation to make use of GMB. Establishing a profile could mean the difference between getting a ton of new traffic and remaining stagnant for the foreseeable future. Which outcome do you prefer?
Now you know what GMB is and why it matters. What will you do with what you just learned?
