What is Google My Business?

Taking a look at the free tool from Google and how you can use it to further your digital presence.

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Are you a local business owner? Do you want more people to find out about your business? Google My Business could be the answer to all your prayers!

So, what is Google My Business?

Google My Business is a free tool that allows you to promote your business profile and website across both Google Search and Google Maps.

When you have a Google My Business page set up and verified, you can connect with your customers, post updates to your business profile, and see how customers are interacting with your business on Google. Sounds good, right?

You can also send those all-important local SEO signals to Google, to help them understand what your business is about so that they can decide when and where to show your page within the search results.

What are the core features of Google My Business?

There are lots of cool features to optimise on Google My Business, including:

Name, address and phone number
Opening hours (& special hours)
Business description
Service areas
Appointment links
Products
Services
Attributes
Accessibility
Reviews

All of these things are really important when it comes to local SEO marketing and will be really valuable updates for improving your local SEO rankings (that means how high up you are on Google in your area)

We will be creating some follow up guides on the specific elements, so keep your eyes peeled for those.

Why Is Google My Business Important?

Google My Business is important for local SEO as it provides a way to help both Google and potential customers find out more about your business. Which is ultimately what leads to sales and custom for you.

Local search results are based on “relevance, distance, and prominence.”

Relevance: How well a listing matches the intent of the searcher.

Distance: Google pairs searchers with verified businesses in close proximity.

Prominence: How well-known your business is.

So, for example, if you run a fish and chip shop in Folkestone, the likelihood is that you want to find hungry locals to market your business to. When they type ‘best takeaways in Folkestone’, you want to be up there, right at the top, so that they click on you and not your competition.

Claiming your Google My Business page and updating the elements above will help you to do this, and ensure that they’re not tempted away by the Chinese takeaway around the corner…

How Do You Set Up Google My Business?

Setting up your Google My Business should be a walk in the park! There are lots of great tutorials out there which should help.

However, if you want us to take it off your to do list for you, we’d love to help! Get in touch with us today to find out more, or take a look at our local SEO packages for more info.