Google has dominated the search engine market for years, and that’s not likely to change anytime soon. It’s safe to say that the majority of customer research on the web starts with Google, and customers looking for a local business are no exception.
Google has made it easy for small business owners to help customers find them online through Google My Business. GMB is a platform that lets owners create a profile and enter information about their business such as contact information, hours of operation, and photos of the business and its products. When a user searches for that business in Google, they’ll see the GMB profile on the results page.
Not only does GMB help customers find valuable information when they’re searching for a specific business. In fact, setting up and maintaining a Google My Business account is one of the most important things you can do to get your business found online. Why? There are two main reasons.
GMB can help you get in the local pack
The local pack is the name given to the map and set of results that show up on the top of the Google results page when users search for businesses in their area. When available, the information in those results comes from GMB, and Google is more likely to include a business in the local pack if they have a thorough and accurate GMB profile. So, you can improve your chances of being found through Google just by creating and filling out a GMB profile.
GMB can boost your organic search rankings
Organic results are the traditional list of search engine results that you see when you use a search engine. The name “organic” simply differentiates them from paid ads and other special search page content. The part-art, part-science practice of improving your website’s chances of ranking high in organic results is called Search Engine Optimization, and it’s a broad topic, but one easy way to potentially improve your rankings is to fill out your Google My Business profile.
By having a thorough, up-to-date presence in GMB, you’re signaling to Google – and to potential customers – that you’re a legitimate business. This is one of the many factors that tells search engine algorithms that your business and its website are worth displaying in search results.
Need help figuring out how to stand out on the web? Reach out to Code & Color today to speak with a digital marketing expert.