What is Google My Business? Remember when (waaaaay back when), once a year you’d hear a distinctive, heavy thump on your doorstep? A thump loud enough to make you jump? Upon investigation what would you find? The latest edition of the Yellow Pages. That thick Bible of businesses, their contact details, information and advertisements for their services, for every service you’d ever need.
Google My Business? Well, that’s the modern-day equivalent of the Yellow Pages. Minus the loud jump-inducing thump.
Even better? Google My Business doesn’t update only once a year. It can be updated daily, which means your customers, or potential customers, never need phone the wrong number or visit the wrong location ever again.
Read on for a quick overview of what, exactly Google My Business is; what it can do for you and your business and why you should get on it; and how to make sure your Google My Business profile is optimized and working the best it possibly can for you.
Google My Business: Official Definition
As described by Google, “Google My Business (GMB) is a free and easy-to-use tool for businesses and organizations to manage their online presence across Google, including Search and Maps. If you verify and edit your business information, you can both help customers find your business and tell them your story.”
If you’ve ever searched for a business by name in Google – and we don’t know a single person, including our grandma, who hasn’t – no doubt you will have seen their GMB listing first. This appears in the form of a ‘knowledge card’ – a snapshot view of your business information – in a prime location on the world wide web:
- On your computer desktop, this shows up at the top of the search results page, on the right hand side of your screen.
- On mobile, it more often than not takes the top spot, above organic search results.
(Another bonus of this modern Internet version of the Yellow Pages: your business information will never again get lost after being left outside on your doorstep in the rain. True story.)
What Does a GMB Listing Look Like and What Information Does It Include?
If you complete your Google My Business listing fully and correctly – i.e., if you use it to its full potential – your listing will display everything your customer needs to know about you:
- Business name and type
- Physical address (where applicable)
- Hours of operation
- Phone Number
- Website link
- Images
- Google Maps link for directions to get to you
- Customer reviews and overall star rating
- Related searches
- And more
Like we said, it’s the modern-day Yellow Pages, only amped up to the max and updated to the minute. Essentially, it’s the result you get when you combine things like Yelp (a business directory service and crowd-sourced review forum) and other review forums with photo-sharing apps, maps, and Yellow Pages information into one convenient digital layout. (Trust Google to take things to the next level. Honestly, where would we be without them?)
Should I Claim/Create My Google My Business Account?
Erm, why wouldn’t you?
- It’s completely FREE!
- Did we not just mention it’s the modern day Yellow Pages, only in a place (Google) where EVERYONE can and does see your business information? And by everyone we mean 92.71% of the Internet searching worldwide population – 4+ billion Internet users spanning the globe at last count.
- By claiming or creating your Google My Business Account (click here for an easy-to-understand video on how to add or claim your business on Google), you are able to not only manage the information that Google users find when they search for your business, or the products and services that you offer, you can also interact with customers, and expand your presence on the pervasive, persistent, all-conquering presence that is Google and their worldwide audience.
- It is one of the easiest online revenue-generating things you can do. Many service providers live and die on being shown in the local 2-pack for businesses – i.e., those top two businesses shown immediately beneath the Google Map which pops up at the top of the search results pages when users are searching for something or someone locally.
Want to know exactly how easy it is to take advantage of all the benefits GMB offer? Simply click here for our top 7 tips for beginners to make sure you optimize your Google My Business account for maximum business benefit. It won’t even take you a day! Boom.
Still not convinced that you need Google My Business or fully understand what it can do for you? Simply just don’t have the time to claim or add your Google My Business listing? 1st on the List can help: call 1-888-262-6687 or email contact@1stonthelist.ca.
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