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4 min read
Opinion

How to use Google My Business to get more customers in 2023.

The Google Business Profile a.k.a Google My Business is such a fundamental part of a modern company’s online presence that it can be easy to overlook as a viable marketing tool. 

According to figures from LocaliQ, 97% of consumers search for local businesses online before anywhere else, and 56% of all Google My Business interactions are website visits. [Interesting, right?] This means that if you're not utilising Google My Business, you could be missing out on huge volumes of potential customers.

Here are 4 ways to make sure you’re utilising your Google Business Profile to the fullest.

Build a complete profile

There are many fields and details you can fill in on your Google My Business account, but [disappointingly] many businesses fail to follow through and build a complete profile. 

The completeness of your profile will have a big impact on how well you rank in local search results while giving users an abundance of options for how to interact with your profile.

At the very least, your profile should contain accurate info on the following fields:

  • Business name
  • Address
  • Website
  • Phone number
  • Opening hours

When managing a Google My Business profile, you should also plan to provide these secondary details:

  • Category and attributes
  • “From the business” description
  • Products and services
  • Owner-generated questions and answers

These fields set you apart from competitors, it’s your time to shine!

Pick your [best] attributes

USP's

One of the most powerful tools within Google Business Manager is attributes - a list of simple traits you can attach to your Google Business Profile that make it quicker and easier for users to see whether your business is what they’re looking for.

Compared to other online directories, Google’s attributes can get very granular, for example, “OK to just order coffee”, “good for working on a laptop”, and “Veteran-led/owned by veterans”.

There’s a huge selection of different attributes you can add to your profile, and that can feel a little overwhelming. However, business attributes offer huge potential to give your customers a detailed idea of what you’re offering and position your business for more interaction and traffic.

Add great photos

add great photos

Adding a lot of sanctioned, high-quality photos to your profile through your Google My Business dashboard is a no-brainer that anyone managing a profile should be doing.

Anyone with a Google profile can add images to your public profile, so adding your own hand-picked images will help to maintain a certain degree of quality! Associating quality images with your profile can also help you tap into traffic from Google image results, an increasingly important consideration for modern organic search marketing.

Using quality imagery on your profile is also a big predictor for engagement and helping move users through your marketing funnel. In fact, one study by Brightlocal found that business profiles with more than 100 photos get a staggering 520% more calls, and more than 1,000% more site visits [it’s time to get snap happy]!

Answer common questions

The Q&A feature on your Google Business Profile, like any kind of user-generated content, has the potential to be both an asset and a headache.

Follow these habits to make it work for you:

  • Set up and check alerts: Keep on top of any new questions that appear on your profile, making sure the answers are accurate
  • Optimise answers for keywords: Like your titles, meta descriptions, and any other content that’s crawled by Google, the words used in your Q&A section can help to improve visibility and maintain a steady flow of high-intent organic traffic
  • Build your own Q&A section: As the registered business owner, you’re free to list your own FAQs and provide your own answers, ensuring your customers are getting answers from the most reliable source possible.

Though it may seem like a small part of your online presence, your Google Business Profile can be a powerful asset as you work to optimise your online presence. Want some help adding some pizzazz to your online presence? Call us on 0115 671 3868.