In this week’s episode, we talk about how your Google My Business listing is your new home page – it’s the first impression you make with potential customers. Watch and learn more about how to optimize your listing so you stand out and win more local customers.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
Welcome back to another episode of Local Search Tuesdays. This week, we’re talking about Google My Business and how search behavior has drastically changed…
The way people use Google has changed – and most of the businesses out there haven’t even realized… Google has added more and more features to the search results page, and you’re able to see more information than ever before without clicking through to a website.
You might have heard of the concept of “zero click search” – it’s where a user does a search, but gets the answer he or she is looking for right on the search results page, so they don’t need to click through to a site.
Your Google My Business profile is a huge contributor to zero click search. User behavior around local searches has changed so much that your Google My Business profile is basically your new home page.
For years, you would hear that your home page is the first impression you make with new customers. It was the first time people were exposed to your business, and often, people would click through to multiple sites to compare businesses.
That really doesn’t happen any more. Google has added so much rich information to the Google My Business panel that in many cases, there’s simply no need to click through to the website at all.
Think about it – all the important details you used to have to get from a website are now front and center in Google My Business.
Need a business’s phone number? It’s right at the top of the GMB panel.
Wanna know when they open or close? Yep, that’s there too…
Wanna see what people think about the business? Reviews are right there.
How about pictures of the business? Boom, right at the top.
Got a specific question? Chances are it’s already been asked in the Q&A section.
Anyone can see that information about your business without ever going to your website.
I’m not trying to scare you here – it’s been this way for quite a while, but most people haven’t noticed. You’ll still get phone calls, and you’ll still get foot traffic, it’s just that those customers don’t need to go to your website first.
The important point of today’s video is to pay attention to your Google My Business listing. Far too many business owners pay zero attention to their GMB profiles… and if you want to win in today’s digital market, you have to have an awesome listing so you’ll stand out from competitors.
- Make your business name is correct – adding keywords can get you penalized.
- Make sure your address is correct, and the map pin is placed in the right spot.
- Make sure you’ve got the right phone number listed (it’s ok if it’s a tracking number, we’ll talk more about that in and upcoming episode)
- Make sure your correct hours are listed.
- Make sure you’ve got a ton of awesome photos uploaded, and make sure you’re changing them out often.
- Make sure you’ve got an awesome review score, and that you’re responding to every review
- Make sure you’ve got more reviews than your competitors have
- Make sure you’re using Google Posts to share specials and promos – this will make your GMB listing more eye-catching.
- Make sure that you’re monitoring Q&A – answer new questions quickly, and make sure your answers are upvoted so they’re shown as the definitive answer to each question.
- Ask your own questions and answer them so that common questions are there for anyone to see.
More than anything, make your GMB profile a huge priority in your marketing mix, so you know you’re rocking your first impression with potential customers.
That’s it for today’s video, so now it’s that time… Put your hand on the screen right here – we totally just high fived cause you learned something awesome. Thanks for watching, and we’ll see you again next week for another episode of Local Search Tuesdays.
