What the heck is GMB you ask… it’s Google My Business … whoops, I mean ‘Google Business Profile’
This is a great time to remind you that CHANGE is the ONLY constant in digital and Google Business Profile is no exception. GMB was changed to GBP in late 2021 so, for the rest of this article, I will refer to it as ‘GBP’
Google is a multi-layered platform mostly known for its searchability. However, it offers many different solutions to help businesses get found and perform better on search (remember Google Plus?). And when you follow their game plan, you just might find your business becomes more popular.
WHAT CAN GBP DO FOR MY BUSINESS?
Consumers of all ages use Google as their primary search engine. Google receives about 86% of global search traffic as of December 2021.
If you’re business has a location, you can list your business on GBP for free and the Google Business Profile is how you do that (scroll down to see where you can start). Using GBP will help you obtain better rankings and improve your local SEO.
WHAT TO DO AFTER YOUR PROFILE IS OPTIMIZED?
Most businesses think that after they’ve verified, and optimized their profile they’re all done – WRONG. When we talk about social media and posting, most think about platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Linkedin but GBP should be a part of your social mix.
Like all of your social media, your content should be relevant and professional which actually builds your authority and shows Google that your biz is legit. The more you do this, the higher your ranking will eventually become.
WHAT SHOULD MY GBP STRATEGY BE?
I’m so glad you asked! Your Google Business Profile should be used slightly differently than Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram. We recommend you only post 2-4 times per week and you want to post business-related posts only (no “Happy Friday” posts here).
Clicks from GBP CTA’s to your website will help build your page rankings.
6 POST STRATEGIES THAT WILL GET GOOGLE’S STAMP OF APPROVAL
1– What’s new with your business?
This is all about your business, what’s going on, what’s coming up and any new products or services you might be offering. Don’t forget to add images and an action button where you can.
2– Events
If you’re having an event, this is a perfect place to add the details. Don’t forget an eye-catching image/video, all the details and an action button to a relevant page.
3– Promotions
Don’t use GBP strictly as a sales stream. If you’re having a special on a product or offering a coupon, by all means, this is a great place to include that – just not over and over and over and don’t forget to include the dates your offer is valid.
4– Products & Services
Listing your products and services on a regular basis increases your brand awareness and can be incredibly effective. PS- don’t forget to list your categories.
5– Client Testimonials or Product reviews
Google has reviews and that’s definitely something you want to nurture but you can also create some testimonials into your posting strategy. A well-designed image can go a long way.
6– Ask people to engage
Do you offer a way for people to assess a certain pain point? GBP is a great way to get that engagement.
Best practice & Pro tips
- Using GBP to its full potential will make you a trusted source but you need to be careful about how many ‘sales-related’ posts you’re publishing. Your content strategy should be a mix of all the things we talked about above.
- GBP thrives on local content. Local events, local promotions, anything local that you can talk about, do that!
- Avoid prohibited content and reflect your business accurately and authentically.
- Click here to learn more about Google’s basic guidelines for GBP.
Clean visuals are vital to online success.
80% of people remember what they see, compared to 10% of what they hear because 90% of the information processed by the brain is visual. 92% of all human communication is non-verbal.
Don’t mistake putting more text into an image as a way to communicate your message more thoroughly. That will not work as it is still text. A clean, relevant image with as little text as possible should be your mantra. Publishers with clean visual content grow traffic 12 times faster than those who do not.
You may already have things set up, or you may have things half set up or you may not have things set up at all but what’s key here is that you take the time to follow Google’s steps. Most of the businesses we run into aren’t utilizing their GBP as they could.
how to start
The easiest place to find out where you’re at with your Business Profile is with Google itself. Click here to see if your business is verified.
On that same page, you’ll also be able to learn how to claim your profile if you haven’t already.
If you’re a total newbie, click here to start at the beginning.
Looking for GBP support?
We can help you maintain a healthy Google Business Profile.