What is Google My Business: The Ultimate Guide for 2023

Any firm that interacts with clients in person would benefit greatly from Google My Business. Get a general overview of the GMB tips, tools, and techniques in this book for both large and small local businesses.

Do you remember when everything was governed by the printed phone book? On a Friday night, you might decide to order pizza, haul that bulky book out of the cabinet, and leaf through it until you find anything you remember. then place a genuine phone call!

These days, you probably go straight to Google and type in “pizza near me” when you have a taste for pizza. From the search results page, you can view reviews left by previous customers, browse the menu, and find out when they are open.

Showing up in local searches for individuals in your community is more crucial than ever for companies since the pandemic has inspired more of us to support our local businesses.

Google My Business (GMB) is an essential tool for any local business trying to sell its goods or services because of how simple it is to use and how easy it is to retrieve information. Not sure why you need a Google My Business profile or how to get one up?

Don’t worry; we have everything you need to know about GMB marketing right here. It includes a step-by-step setup tutorial for Google My Business, allowing you to start using this helpful feature right away.

What is Google My Business?

Google My Business is a totally free tool, you can use it to choose how your company appears in Google Search and Google Maps. You can add and edit the name, hours, and location of your business on GMB, read and respond to customer reviews, post images, see how people are finding you online, and a whole lot more.

It is an effective tool for many types of businesses, but local ones particularly benefit from its use. Google My Business enables people in and around your neighbourhood to discover your company, comprehend what it performs and what it offers, and obtain the details they require to pay you a visit or make a purchase.

Why Local Businesses Should Use Google My Business?

Why is GMB so important for neighbourhood businesses? It’s because individuals usually always search for local services like “pizza near me” when they’re about to make a purchase, like ordering that pizza, for example.

In actuality, 72% of shoppers who performed a local search went to a store that was five miles away from them. High-intent local searchers can identify your business and obtain the details they require to schedule a visit, give you a call, or make an online purchase using the local search results from Google My Business.

In case you were still unsure, Google My Business is actually free. Yes, it is, and for that reason alone you simply cannot afford to skip out on using it. Without costing you a dime, it can significantly increase traffic and sales to your company.

The sole restriction is that you cannot create a GMB account for an entirely online business because it requires that your company engage in some sort of in-person client engagement.

What Purposes Does Google My Business Serve?

Businesses can control how their establishment appears in Google searches, including in their Maps function, by using Google My Business. Even if you can’t completely control everything—negative reviews, for instance, cannot be removed—you can make sure that everything is correct and up to date.

You can provide images of your items and business to encourage members of your neighbourhood to visit. In order to let consumers know what to expect, if you own a nail salon, for instance, you can submit photos of the establishment, events you’ve hosted, and samples of the fantastic work your nail experts have produced. These suggestions for taking action are excellent ways to begin local marketing.

You can include menus, service descriptions, price lists, and contact details so that prospective clients have all the information they need to determine whether or not to make a purchase from you soon.

Additionally, GMB ensures that any paid advertising efforts you make are successful. For instance, prospective clients who are curious about your business are likely to conduct a Google search on your name if you execute an advertisement campaign to raise brand recognition in a local newspaper or radio programme. They’ll locate a favourable portrayal of your brand and make the purchase they were debating if you have an updated and appealing GMB listing.

GMB SEO Vs. Website SEO

Although there are notable differences, Google My Business SEO and conventional website SEO have many similarities.

The “local 3-pack” is the group of listings that Google has judged to be the most relevant and well-liked for that specific search. Having an updated and optimized GMB listing helps your business show up at the top of local search results in the “local 3-pack.”

Additionally, your GMB profile can promote traffic to your company website by telling Google that your company has social proof (your evaluations).

However, you don’t need to concentrate as much on keywords here as you would with website SEO, which is advantageous if you’re not yet an expert in SEO. You may just concentrate on producing an excellent, detailed, and accurate listing and update it frequently.

And one of the main advantages of GMB for new small businesses is that you may immediately start to get local SEO traffic from a finished GMB profile. Although it requires more effort and takes longer to see results, traditional SEO is still quite effective.

While you should ideally concentrate on increasing your long-term traffic, setting up and optimizing your GMB page first takes less effort, and you’ll notice those clients arriving straight away. When you first start your business, this should be one of your top priorities.

Guidelines for Using Google My Business

How precisely do you set up and enhance your Google My Business profile now that you are aware of the benefits?

Here is your step-by-step guide to setting up and using Google My Business, whether you are beginning from zero or your GMB page needs some significant tweaking.

Establishing a Google My Business listing

1. To access your business’s Google account, sign in. It’s time to make one if you don’t already if you don’t!
2. Visit Google.com/business and select the “Manage Now” option at the upper right.
3. The GMB wizard will guide you through each step of creating your GMB listing, starting with typing in your company name.
4. The next question is if you want to add a place that clients can view and visit.
5. If you distribute to customers, then your company doesn’t have a physical storefront. If so, choose no. It will then ask you to add the location where you serve your clients.
6. Add your company’s physical address in the following step if it does.
7. The next step is to include your contact details so that clients can get in touch with you. If your website isn’t yet set up, be sure to go back later and add it. It will also ask you for a phone number.
8. The next question from GMB is if you’d want to sign up for updates and suggestions for your business on Google. This is always a good idea because it keeps you informed about your listing and business recommendations.
9. Following that, Google will ask you to confirm your mailing address; you can do this later.
10. You will be prompted to enter operation hours in this step if your business has them.
11. Google will then ask you if you want your clients to message you on Google. If you think they’ll have questions and want to give them a choice other than a phone number or email, this can be a nice option.
12. Google will ask you to describe your firm in this phase. If your business is a nail salon, you could work in “nail salon in [location]” to improve your GMB SEO. This is a wonderful place to add a few keywords people might be searching for relating to your industry.
13. Add pictures of your company next. Make sure they’re of high quality because they can show up in Search, Maps, and other Google services.
14. Google will next ask you if you want to include advertisements in your digital marketing strategy. Once you’ve created the ideal Google Search ad campaign, you can always return to this.

You are there, then! You have completed the setup of your Google My Business profile. You may always come back and add additional details, modify the hours, upload new photographs, and do much more.

What is the URL for my Google My Business page? Later, you can easily update or modify your page by going to google.com/business and logging in with the account you used to create it.

you can also Calculate your ad money with the help of Google Ad Revenue Calculator is a tool that estimates your potential earnings from AdSense or AdMob ads.

Local Businesses on GMB

Any business that interacts with clients in person can benefit greatly from Google My Business.

Your local business may be able to draw in more clients who are interested in your products or services by creating and maintaining an optimized Google My Business profile. This article only touches on a few of the benefits that GMB optimization might have for your company.

However, not all business owners have the time to handle every aspect of this optimization by themselves. Choosing the correct partner may significantly increase your return on investment, which is where working with a GMB marketing agency can be highly beneficial.

Need assistance with creating leads or your GMB profile? To find out how we can help, get in touch with OTT SEO right away.