Google Business Profile: The Other Social Media?
/Many businesses have claimed their Google Business Profile (GBP), but few are actually making good use of it. Read on to find out why it should be an integral part of your digital marketing strategy …
Back in the olden days (ahem), every household had a copy of the ‘Yellow Pages’ - remember them?! It was a huge paper directory of the businesses in your city, with information about the services they offered and how you could contact them.
Today? The digital equivalent is Google Business Profile.
What is a Google Business Profile?
Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business, or Google Places) is a free business listing that you can claim on Google. It allows you to provide your customers with all the details they need to know about your business, such as, location, services, products, and even photos.
Got one? Are you using it?
A recent survey conducted here in Australia showed that 72% of small businesses had claimed their Google Business Profile.
This is a marked increase on the last real data from 2017, when that figure was only 44%.
However only 1 in 3 businesses are actively managing their profile.
And only 13% of those are posting at the optimum regularity of once per week!
The Advantages of Google Business Profile
When it comes to social media, you may think that the main channels are Facebook, Instagram, or TikTok - but did you know you can also post similar updates on your Google Business Profile?
The beauty of GBP is that it generates targeted leads for free, and you don’t get much for free these days …
Your GBP will not only help you come up in Google search results, but it will also show your business to people who are searching on Google maps. Yes, even if you don’t list your address publicly, such as in the case of a home-based business! It will simply show up as a listing in your general location.
The biggest advantage of GBP over the old ‘Yellow Pages’, is that your customers can leave reviews for your business on your listing. This helps build trust with your audience – and Google will also favour your listing in search results!
You can easily update your address details, opening hours (eg public holiday trading) and services provided, and can very quickly get important details to customers about anything that may affect their experience with you, including events and news.
When you make the most of your Google Business Profile, it means that your business will be shown to people actively searching for your products and services. This is your best chance to show exactly how you can help, to those people who are just waiting to be convinced!