Why using Google My Business? What are the benefits?

The American giant, Google, offers companies different types of tools and services to help them to manage their online presence. All these tools enable them to analyse their datas and performance on the search engine and find the best strategy to get results and be even more visible on the web. 

In this article, we will show you how important it is for a company to have a Google My Business account and how to use it in an efficient way. 

 

Google My Business : what is it ? 

Google My Business is a local referencing tool that allows all companies and organisations to manage their online visibility on the Google search engine but also on Google Maps. Indeed, this is a real digital database that references lots of companies from different sectors and activities. 

In real fact, this is the page of your company that appears on Google according to the request of a user. Your company can appear according to geographical location of the user but also according to your sector for example. It all depends first on the location and the request made on the search engine. 

For example, imagine someone on a business trip in Madrid and is looking for a restaurant for lunch on his smartphone. Google will show him a list of all the restaurants located around him in Madrid. 

Your business page on Google My Business is responsive which means that everybody can see it on different devices (computer, laptop, mobile phone, tablet).

 

In order for your company to be in the first results of a Google search, you must update all your information on your Google My Business account and publish on it. We will then explain how to set it up. 

 

What kind of information do you need to put on your business page ?

First of all, there is the postal address of your company, a short description, your products or services offer, your opening hours, your contact information, the link to your website and so on. You can also find customer reviews, photos that you have added, a traffic graph, the most frequently asked questions and related searches.

From your business page, when users conduct research, they can then directly go to your website, get directions based on their location, contact you, consult customer reviews etc.

Below is an example of the Subforce business page:

How to use Google My Business ? 

Google My Business is a completely free tool, very easy to use and efficient. It is accessible to all businesses whatever the size or sector of activity.
The first step to sign in and create an account on Google My Business is to have a Google account i.e to have a gmail email address. If you don’t have one you can create one.
Next, you need to fill in a valid postal address which will then be verified by Google. 

Once your account has been validated, you must fill in all the necessary information on your business page as said before. You decide what information you provide about your business in order to make your business page stand out in Google search results and therefore be as visible as possible. It is very important to regularly update this information so that your natural referencing and local SEO are optimised.

For that, you have the possibility to add attractive pictures to your Google My Business page (your establishment, your team, your products for example) to make users want to come to your establishment rather than to a competitor. For example, if you are a restaurant, it is in your interest to publish photos of your restaurant, your food, drinks, etc.

 

You can also communicate about the latest news of your company using the Google Posts. This is a very good way to inform your customers about your promotional offers, special opening hours, events, products launches… These Google Posts should encourage users to take action such as visiting your website. The purpose of these posts is, of course, to generate traffic on your website and thus a conversion. This can be, for example, a subscription to your newsletter or an online purchase.

If you have several establishments in different locations, it is essential to create a Google My Business page for each of them in order to optimise local positioning.

A Google My Business mobile application is also available to manage your establishments more easily.

What are the benefits of using Google My Business ? What are the results ?

 

• Very good visibility on the Google search engine at the local level and increases natural referencing. 

Having a Google My Business account gives you the opportunity to be much more visible on the search engine for free as it will highlight your business company especially at the local level.

It is also a way to increase your natural referencing, i.e. the position your company will have on Google. The better it is referenced, the more it will appear in the first results of the search engine. If your page is well positioned, well referenced, it will generate additional clicks and you will have more traffic (both on your website and directly in your establishment).

Also, if your page is well positioned, your local SEO is also improved and you gain visibility on the web.

 

• Target local users and reach new potential customers

By definition, if your establishment page is up to date, that you publish regularly and that you are well referenced, you will be all the more visible on the search engine at a local level. You have the possibility to create posts on your news which may attract the attention of local users but also new potential customers who may not necessarily be aware of your company. This will boost your visibility and is therefore a great opportunity not to be overlooked.

As mentioned, you can keep your customers informed through Google Posts. You have the possibility to communicate on your promotional offers, special opening hours, events etc. which allows you to be closer to the users and their requests and therefore once again generate more traffic.

 

• Build your e-reputation and your brand image online 

Thanks to your Google My Business page your customers can go directly to your website or at your place, contact you or consult the customer reviews left by other users.

These customer reviews are very important and should not be ignored whether positive or negative. Many users consult an establishment's customer reviews to get an idea of what they think. It is a reflection of your brand image.

You can get and manage customer reviews, post attractive photos of your business, communicate with your customers and thus participate in building your e-reputation.

It also allows you to stand out from your competitors. By taking care of your Google My Business page, make sure you attract users to your company rather than to your competitors. 

 

Thanks to this tool, you also have access to the statistics of your page, which is interesting because it also allows you to have visibility on the behaviour of Internet users.

 

As you can see, having a Google My Business account and being well referenced on the search engine has many advantages. Your updated and fully completed business page can help you gain online visibility and boost your presence on the web and with your potential customers. Find all of our advice about it here. 

We can help you to make yourself known and achieve your objectives in terms of visibility. Our team of digital natives follows you in every step of the way to achieve your projects, including managing your Google My Business account. We are here to help you create and improve your business page to increase your local referencing.