Google Business Profile
We look at the bigger picture
For many businesses, the immediate thought is they need a website to reach clients online – which although true, a website alone is just the start of your company actually being able to be found when searching Google for a specific business.
The internet is an incredibly vast place, and it takes time for a website to rank and invariably, the more competitive the industry your company wants to rank for is – the longer it can take. With respect to ranking in the Google search results, Google offers what is currently referred to as a “Google Business Profile” (previously known as “Google My Business”, “Google Places for Business”, “Google Listings” and even “Google+ Business Pages”).
"Convert people who find you on Google Search and Maps into new customers with a free Business Profile for your storefront or service area. Personalise your profile with photos, offers, posts, and more."
- Google
Our Google Business Profile Recommendations
Having an accurate, useful and informative Google Business Profile that is set up and managed well can not only aid in getting your website ranking higher for key terms and your brand name, but also allow business owners to reach potential clients that are searching for exactly the services and products they provide in the local areas they are searching in, when they are searching for them.
There are several benefits to having a Google Business Profile – even just the basic listing – but it’s more than just another listing of your company on a search engine. It enables you to verify exactly where your company is through the inclusions of your business on Google Maps (which in turn enables users to save directions to their mobile phone), it also enables people searching to find all your company details, including opening hours and phone numbers.
You can also create and publicise posts, showcase products, offers and even events – as well as permit client reviews (which you can respond to using the app), send and receive direct messages and answer frequently asked questions and even handle phone calls – all in one convenient place, either directly in a browser (via Google Search, Google Maps or the Google My Business website or by using the Google Business Profile app.
Google Business Profile Management
Bespoke Campaigns
Each advertising campaign is uniquely built to suit the customers' needs.
Weekly Monitoring
All advertising is monitored weekly, making sure they are working to their optimum.
Monthly Reporting
Clients receive a monthly report, showing the performance enhancements happening across their account.
Harness the Marketing Power of a Google Business Profile
Setting Up a Google Business Profile
Anyone can set up a Google Business Profile, it’s a free service from Google and relatively simple to perform the initial set up but, unless you intend to utilise the service to its fullest potential and continue to maintain, optimise and update it – the benefits will invariably be small. Similar to most things in digital marketing, it’s not a simple “set it and forget it” process.
It’s also worth noting that whilst setting up a Google Business Profile can be done by almost anyone – it can also be incredibly easy to get it wrong – just selecting the correct business category can make a significant difference in the performance of your listing – using an experienced Google Business Profile manager can help you avoid the many pitfalls that exist and get the most out of your business appearance on Google.
A Google Business Profile should be viewed as a versatile tool that gives you the ability to package and showcase the important information about your business – who you are, where you are, what you do, what times your business operates, how to contact you, and enables clients/customers to add reviews and feedback about your business.
Important Google Business Profile Aspects
Business Info
Ensuring that your company information is always up to date, is vital for telling your customers when and how they can contact you.
Post Creation
All social media platforms have the ability to create posts and Google Business Profile follows the sam principle.
Free Website
Google Business Profile allows you to build a free website. It's basic and very limited, but can be great to have whilst you build an actual website.
Turn Google Business Profile into a Money Generating Asset
Whether your business is providing a service, or retailing physical products in store and online – a Google Business Profile is an incredibly powerful asset that will help your business attract more clients and give you the ability to make it easier for customers to spend their money with you.
Here at Black Viper Media, we have staff dedicated to helping you correctly set up and maintain your Google Business Profile, ensuring your business is listed, verified and appears correctly on Google, whilst at the same time providing as much useful information to users as possible about your brand, business, services/products in order to increase your calls/sales/shop visits, whilst at the same time giving you the power to handle customer enquiries and see performance using the Google Business Profile app.
We’ll run through with you what you need to have in order to get your Google Business Profile set up (or “claimed” if you have started on one already), starting with the basics to get the verification process underway, and whilst that takes place we can help you organise the correct size and types of images, videos, contact numbers, opening hours as well as develop an ongoing content plan for your business to keep your clients informed.
Additional Features for Certain Business Types
Some business types will be able to make use of additional features – for example: for retailers it is possible to automatically feed in all your products to a products page in your listing, and from there you can even run Google Ads on specific products.
Of course – each business has different needs and requirements and can qualify for different additional features – we’ll help you assess what’s worth spending time on doing first to get the maximum benefit from your Google Business Profile. To get the maximum benefit from a Google Business profile, it pays to respond promptly to reviews and enquiries as well as post regular updates, announcements and products/services – we at Black Viper Media can help you devise a manageable workflow with you or on your behalf to ensure not only that people can find your business, but also have the latest up to date information available.
Complete and accurate Google My Business listings get 7x more clicks than those missing information and are 70% more likely to attract location visits.
Interesting Google Business Profile Statistics
Searches for products or services “available near me” more than doubled in 2020 – the vast majority of which would have returned and displayed Google Business Profile listings – over and above their actual website (little known fact: adding “near me” to your website pages does not have anywhere near the same effect)
Added credibility for your business: According to one study, 88% of people want to be able to trust businesses they transact with – by claiming and maintaining your Google Business Profile, not only are you creating more opportunity for your business being seen by people searching – the fact that the profile is verified by Google helps users avoid scammers.
62% of consumers will disregard a business they cannot find online: According to a survey conducted last year, almost two thirds of users stated they wouldn’t use a business they could not find information about online. A well managed Google Business Profile will go a long way to ensuring that your business and it’s details are easily found online – in most cases much more quickly and higher in Google search results than just a website alone.
More than 85% of consumers use Google Maps to find a business: Google is more than just a search engine – users use maps to search for businesses from their phones because it’s easy to do – and they can set a route or pin to find your business more easily. A well optimised Google Business Profile will help users find your business much more efficiently than just a website alone.
It’s estimated that more than half of all Google Business Profiles remain unclaimed/unverified: Reports suggest the 56% of Google Business Profiles created remain unclaimed or unverified. If you believe you already have a listing, check and see if you still have access to it and it’s still verified – if not, contact us about managing and optimising your Google Business Profile.
Almost a third of mobile searches are location-related: Search on mobile has been on the rise for years and continues to do so – it’s estimated that 30% of all searches performed on a mobile device contain a location oriented query – i.e. the user is looking for a product or service local to them.
78% of Google users will factor in GBP reviews when choosing a trustworthy business online: When users see a Google Business Profile with a number of reviews from other Google users, it will help aid the decision on whether that user contacts you or not.
100% of Google Business Profiles give you the opportunity to build a free website: When creating a GBP, there is an option to also create a basic, free one-page website within the platform. This website can be used to display information about your business, an appointment link and a link direct to your phone number.
How Can We Help?
