4. What GMB means for your business?
When a potential customer is looking for a product or service similar to what your business sells, chances
are they are going to plunge into the search engine to go online and find it. As reported in last year's
Google local search statistics, 88% of consumers that searches for local businesses either call or visit the
company within 24 hours. A fully optimised GMB listing of your business with strong local SEO will help
rank your business well in the search algorithm and consequently drive more traffic to your website.
"Google My Business has been an invaluable outreach tool, with a remarkable range of easy-to-use analytical and feedback tools at our fingertips, all for free!" - Andrew Salmond, Gosh! Comics
Gosh! Comics is one of the million local businesses that saw success with Google My Business. Their main
goal was to attract more customers from the surrounding area or target travellers who may be looking
for something specific that they have on offer. Gosh! Comics' extra exposure with GMB earned 787
audience reviews on their site with a 4.7-star rating, as well as a 94% larger and more diverse website
search-based volume of traffic with 93% search-based purchasing coming from Google sources alone.
Google My Business assists both B2B (Business-to-Business) and B2C (Business-to-Customers)
organisations to grow. Read on to learn more about what does GMB listing offers to your business.
Amplified Online Presence
Although Google does not share its search volume data, it is estimated that it processes approximately
70,000 searches per second in a day. According to studies, the 'near me' searches have doubled with time
too. Therefore, it's imperative to build a robust online presence so that your business is easy to access
and has all the necessary information displayed right up there for the visitors. GMB allows your business
to be visible in online searches and stand out from the crowd.
Increased Brand Awareness
Do you know, 90% of the people who are in search of something online, don't have a particular brand in
their minds? Hence, it's a golden chance to represent your business by utilising GMB in the best possible
way. This can help to create brand awareness among the visitors and play an essential role in developing
loyalty towards your brand too.
Improved Search Engine Optimisation
Search Engine Optimisation is the most powerful tool online for making your business more prominent in
the eyes of the customers. It helps structure your business's online presence to bring in more traffic
through organic search engine results. GMB plays a pivotal role in SEO as it allows customers to find your
business online and improve your google rankings.
Improved Local Visibility
Let's suppose you have a fast-food chain. Do you want people to discover your fast-food chain when they
search for the best food places near them? You can do this through GMB by providing accurate and
complete information of your business to get recognised.
GMB considers all businesses worthy of exposure and equal opportunity to flourish. It aims to assist small
and local businesses since big ones are already taking over everyone by storm.
Free Marketing If Done Correctly
Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that helps promote small businesses. You can instantly sign-up
on GMB by scrolling down to the section on 'How To Set Up & Manage GMB?' and follow the relatively
simple steps to claim your business listing. After verifying your business listing on GMB, you can start
showing up in searches from local customers, establish customer relationships and build your brand image
- all-important goals, without dishing out tons of your hard-earned money.
Increased Website Traffic For Business
A GMB profile of your business adds a digital-savvy touch to your brand along with improving visibility in
the SERP's. When local customers search for a service that is similar to what your business offers, there's
a higher chance that they'll click on your website to learn more about your brand. This will not only
increase the website traffic for your business but also play an essential role in your customer's purchasing
decision.
Increased Customer Trust
GMB allows customers to leave their feedback, holds a FAQ section to help customers and takes bookings
as well as direct calls to maintain effective communication with people. All of this helps to develop
customer trust and expand sales.
Accurate & Verified Business Information For Customers
GMB authenticates your business by allowing you to enlighten your customers with accurate and verified
information, such as your contact info, address and other standard details and for bringing customers to
reach out to your business. It helps makes your brand even more visible through customer reviews. This
genuine feedback helps to increase transparency and attract more and more customers to your website.
Simple Location Based Search Engine Marketing
GMB integrates well with the voice search feature for finding local and nearby areas. It allows you to
appear in maps and Local Pack listing to give customers a clear idea of the physical location/service area
of your business, the time required to reach there and other important information that they might be
looking for. With the customer's local GPS, anyone can easily track your location and find you. So what
are you waiting for? Start getting directions to your business with just a touch of a button.
With its utility in mind, it is integral for local businesses to sign up for a Google My Business listing, for
each of its locations as 46% of all Google searches are local as per a survey by Go Gulf.
GMB: One Of The Highest Performing & Power Tool In Local SEO
GMB is a core element for Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM) in your
local area. It lays down who you are, what you offer, and how to get in touch with you, anytime people
nearby search for local services. Instead of having to enter webpages to get search queries answered, with
GMB its more accessible than ever to find whatever the consumer is looking for right on the first page of
search engine. Compiled below are some statistics and trends of local mobile searches by Go Gulf.
Google My Business listing is crucial to rank well in local organic search and maps results. It allows
businesses to show up in geo-targeted SERP's with their NAP (name, address, and phone number)
information, website link, Google reviews and much more. By setting up, verifying, and optimising your
GMB listing, your business can be featured in Google's local 3-pack search result. This accreditation will
significantly influence local visibility and traffic while making first-page listing even more competitive as
more and more searchers are finding businesses with fast, local queries using keywords like "near me"
and near [location]. On the report of HubSpot, 75% of searchers never scroll past the first page of search
engines. Concurrently Moz claimed that the first page of Google secures 71.33% of search traffic clicks
which has reported to be as high as 92% in recent years. In comparison, the first five results alone account
for 67.60% of all these clicks
Here's Google's 3-pack result for my search of "automotive near Portsmouth, UK". Notice that United Car
Centre scores the top spot in the 3-pack of local search results for this query.