August 11, 2016

By Intrigue

Everyone you meet has their own opinion on which social media platform is the most important for marketing your business. Some people will claim that Facebook is best due to its huge user base and broad targeting options. Others will insist it’s LinkedIn because it’s built specifically to enhance B2B marketing. Some will claim that Twitter’s versatility offers the most possibilities for growing your business.

Few people will claim that Google+ is the best social media platform. However, despite the shortcomings of Google’s social network, Google My Business is undoubtedly the most important platform for local businesses.

Why is Google My Business so important?

The easiest way to understand the importance of Google My Business is to look at these two examples. First, here is a business with a proper Google My Business profile (see sidebar):

Ollie's Roofing Google My Business pageNow check out the same business, without an existing Google My Business profile:

Screenshot 2016-07-04 14.53.18

You can see the difference immediately!

Google My Business offers a variety of benefits to a business, especially if people are searching your name directly. These profiles will display your brand prominently on the 1st SERP (Search Engine Results Page). This allows customers easy access to contact information like your phone number, address,  and hours of operation.

Even if you are not being searched directly by name, Google My Business integrates automatically with Google Maps. Your page will rank for your chosen category — for example, ‘roofing contractor’ — in your geographical area. People searching for a ‘roofing contractor in Milton’ will see you pop up as a pin on the map. This will help customers find your location.

Showcase Customer Reviews

This brings us to the next point — Google My Business will also showcase your customer reviews on both SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) and Google Map.

Better reviews will help you stand out from the crowd of competitors and look good on the front page!

This is you without Google My Business.
This is you without Google My Business.

How does Google My Business work?

Google My Business brings together various different Google platforms into one central dashboard. This dashboard includes your Google+ profile, Google Maps profile, your Google Reviews, access to data on Google Analytics and Google Insights, and more. All of this information can be controlled via a Gmail account that is free to create.

Building your Google My Business profile is a fairly straightforward process, but a simple mistake can lead to major problems — such as your page being flagged or even disabled. It’s very important to fill out all your contact information with 100% accuracy as Google will verify it. This information will also be referenced in citations to businesses around the web. The number and quality of these citations will help your Google My Business page rank higher on Google Maps.

Google My Business

A citation is an instance of your business name, address and phone number (NAP) on the web. Usually citations are located in online directories.

Pro Tip: Something as small as writing ‘Road’ instead of ‘Rd’ can disqualify a citation. So it’s very important for citations to match your exact Google My Business page information.

After filling out your contact information, you will need to get your page verified by Google. Now this next bit is going to sound ridiculous. To verify your page, Google will send an actual postcard (via snail mail) to your physical address with a verification code. I couldn’t believe it either. Google?!

For home-based businesses, you will still need to input your actual address to get this postcard. But don’t worry, you won’t have strangers coming to your house — you just need to follow this next important step.

When adding an address for a home-based business, check the following option ‘I deliver goods and services to customers at their location’. Now you can select the geographies for your service areas. If you run a dine-in-and-take-out style business, you have the option to list your address as well as your service area, by checking ‘I also serve customers at my business address’.

Screenshot 2016-07-04 16.27.03

If you only select the first option, your address will be hidden on your Google My Business profile.

What if I have questions or need help troubleshooting?

Running a Google search will generally turn up good answers for Google My Business-related questions.

There is a page you can use to request a call from a Google support specialist. If you are patient and persistent, you will generally be able to resolve the issue in question.

Where does Google My Business fit into my marketing strategy?

Google My Business is best understood as a multi-purpose helper, a hand-holder for other platforms. If you are running Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns using Google Adwords, or just trying to rank for certain terms, your Google My Business page will boost the visibility of both paid and organic search results.

It also provides an extra social media platform where you can cross-post content. 

Most importantly, Google My Business directly improves the SEO of your website and helps it rank better. Its integrated Google Analytics features allow you to easily track traffic data, and the platform free to use and easy to set up. 

Take advantage of the visibility boost that Google My Business can provide to your local business. Don’t wait for tomorrow — do it today!

If you’d like help setting up a profile, contact the team at Intrigue.

Intrigue is a Canadian digital marketing company delivering solutions to help businesses get noticed and found. Guided by a commitment to empower leaders to strengthen communities, Intrigue offers website design and development, branding, online advertising, content marketing, graphic design, video production, SEO, and analytics. Take your marketing to the next level and Get Noticed. Get Found.® intrigueme.ca

2 thoughts on “Why Google My Business is the Most Important Page for Local Business

  1. Let’s face it. Google likes Google a lot. So when it comes to deciding who’s behind to kiss, you had better consider who’s back you are riding on. It’s going to be Google. With new changes to the structure of the web such as the map pack, schema, mobile updates, AMPed pages….is there any doubt who is leading the charge?

    It’s Google and you best agree with the author on this. Get your Google My Business page in order ASAP.

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