We all know that Search is a powerful business tool. People who conduct a search have shown their intent and acknowledged they are interested in seeing ads. (Yes, organic listings are ads) To make your listing show higher in the search engine results page requires time and optimizations. But one of the most successful ads for driving sales is Google My Business(GMB). In fact, since the start of the pandemic, GMB is driving more phone calls than ever. Google My Business works for marketers.

Why Google My Business

Google My Business is a free listing from Google. It provides detailed information on what your business does, where it is located, how to contact you, even reviews. Think of it as a phone book (you remember those) on steroids. Over 60% of local searches are done on a cell phone. People want information fast. Are you open, do you have parking, what is your phone number? All of this can be found on GMB, much faster than on your website. This platform allows a business owner to control and index pertinent information; manage online review reputation; curate customer photos and other customer content. GMB can even help your SEO rankings.

Listings

The first step to a great GMB page is to fill out all the information completely. This may take a little time, but is worth the effort. As with all online directories it is important that your information be consistent across all listings. Small changes can have an impact, such as putting “North” on one listing but not on another. i.e. “55 North Main St.” v “55 Main St.” While you may get your mail either way, it hurts online consistency and ranking.

Choose a business category and a secondary category, if you have one. Most searches are discovery searches, meaning someone is looking for a type of business not a specific business. A diner might search for “Gastro Pubs”. If you are the owner of “Sally’s Pub” your listing is more likely to show if that is the category you selected. And if you had an area of your establishment that made pizza you would be wise to include that as a secondary category.

Reviews

Anther valuable part of GMB are the reviews. Consumers love reviews and consume them voraciously. Many platforms discourage businesses from seeking reviews. Some will penalize you. But not GMB. One of the unique features about this site is that it encourages you to get ratings. In a few easy steps you can send a link to customers and ask them for a review.  Good reviews can drive sales, bad reviews can stall buyers. But, bad reviews offer a business an opportunity. If you respond to the review with concern, show a willingness to accept responsibility and ask how you can improve to get a better review in the future, readers will notice.

Call Tracking

Prior to COVID-19, GMB listings were driving between 500,000 and 800,000 calls a day to US businesses. By late March that number was up to 1.75 million. It has since dropped to about twice pre-Covid rates, which is still significant. Understanding how callers got to your site and capturing their information can provide significant information to marketers. The most complete way to gain this valuable first party information is to use a call tracking service with your GMB listing. With call tracking you capture the phone number, name, address, device of the caller. Keywords that drove the call are also recorded. All of this information can be used to optimize your advertising.

Google My Business Works

There are many ways customers can find your business, but there is no denying that Google Search is an incredibly powerful gateway to your website. Google My Business is a multi-faceted platform that contains a lot of valuable information for readers and allows them to quickly make decisions. Millions of people utilize GMB every day. Fill out your business profile completely, with as much pertinent information as possible. Update the information when necessary and respond to all reviews. If you do that you will find that Google My Business works for you too.