Have you heard of Google Business Profile (previously Google My Business)? Are you utilizing it to its full potential? If you can answer yes, then you are probably too busy to read this article because you are taking care of the line of customers Google Business Profile has generated for you! Therefore, we will assume your answer is, “No, please help me learn more, I want to increase my business.”
A long time ago when you needed to find a business you picked up a very thick book called The Yellow Pages. Today we have Google. If you remember, the Yellow Pages had teeny, tiny maps that we pored over as we tried to find the location we were seeking. Today, Google has replaced that with Google Maps, which is just a click away from your Google Business listing.
What is Google Business Profile?
Google is the T-Rex of search engines. As of October 2021, Google dominated the field of search engines with 91.67% of the market share worldwide. (Statcounter) No one, try as they might, can compare. Why? Because Google is always expanding, adding new tools, and because they offer Google Business Profile for no charge!!! Get up and do a happy dance, the absolute best advertising that will reach the greatest target market for your business is free!!
What do these business listings look like? It’s that informative box that pops up on the right hand of the screen of search results. It looks like this:
It has all sorts of useful information, your hours, address, phone number, reviews, links to your website, and more.
How do you get started?
Four simple steps will have you on the road to success, and they won’t even take you long.
- Make sure your business qualifies. Because Google is constantly changing and growing, so are their rules. Click here to check the latest guidelines for representing your business on Google.
- You can’t use Google without an account, so sign up for one. Here’s a link.
- Claim your business. While that sounds obvious, to Google it’s not. Your business may already be on Google and you didn’t do it! If someone used their Google Maps app to get directions to your business and you didn’t already have a Google business listing, one was automatically created for you. Wow! You may already have a listing with reviews that aren’t being responded to and business information that isn’t correct! This is huge! You need to fix this today!! Click here to claim your business.
- Whew! You are now in control of your Google Business Profile listing. Now you can start filling out the Google forms.
There you have it. Your takeaway? Google Business Profile can make your company a success. You may already have a listing on Google and don’t even know it. Today’s top priority is to claim (or create) your Google Business Profile listing. Tomorrow you can read our other articles on making Google Business Profile work for you.
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