Google Business Profile (GBP), earlier was known as Google My Business. Before renaming the service Google my Business was often referred to as GMB by SEO specialists. Therefore any information you find on the internet related to GMB optimization might also apply to current GBP services. Since 2022 Google has renamed its service for local businesses. Google added some features, like editing the profile from the search results page. The world of e-commerce is becoming increasingly dynamic and competitive. Therefore companies must use every advantage to get the maximum exposure for their brand on platforms that users use the most.
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The most popular one is the Google search engine. Nowadays, people search for products and services more than ever. That means that your company must do everything it can to stay competitive.
Luckily, Google offers all the means for your business to make itself visible and let it grow. With the help of a Google Business Profile (GBP), any owner will have the ability to optimize their business profile. It will increase the visibility of their company online.
In this article, we will:
- Define what a Google Business Profile is
- Provide tips on how to use your GBP as an effective marketing tool
- Explain how your GBP is related to your overall SEO
What is the definition of Google Business Profile?
Simply put, GBP is a toolkit that allows you to create and manage the profile for your business on the Google Search Engine.
With its help, you can create, edit and optimize the listing for your business. This profile will be visible when users do a simple search on Google for a term related to your business or use Google Maps and will also affect Local Search (when users will search for services or products near your business location).
GBP as an effective marketing tool. How to use it to your advantage?
As we’ve already mentioned, GBP can be a great tool to create and optimize your business listing to become relevant and visible to users searching for your services.
Below are the main advantages offered by this tool marketing-wise.
Encouraging better customer engagement
As people get in touch with your business listing, your Google Business Profile can become a great asset that helps you better interact with your customers.
Whether it’s responding to reviews or answering questions regarding your business, being active in your interactions will certainly help improve the relevancy and importance of your brand.
For essential company updates, you’ll even be able to publish posts for users to see, similar to Facebook posts or Tweets.
Creating a detailed listing of your business
A primary business listing many businesses create on Google usually contains pretty scarce information.
However, using the full extent of your GBP capabilities, you can include additional information to help you establish yourself as a more relevant entity and increase the chances of clicks.
This may include your business hours, photos of your business’s location, prices for your most popular products, etc. All of this can help you stand out from others.
If anything changes, you can edit your profile with the help of the tool.
Gaining more analytical insights about your business
Another advantage given to you by the GBP tool is the ability to see additional metrics related to how well your business listing is performing.
This section includes the most popular queries people use to find your profile. Also, how many impressions you get on the search engine itself and Google Maps, your business photo performance compared to your competition, and so on.
Naturally, you can use this data to readjust and improve your profile even more.
The impact of a Google Business Profile on your SEO
It’s important to note that your business profile is a dynamic entity. It will require a careful and well-thought-out setup to maximize the benefits it can give to your business.
The information that users will see from it will depend on factors such as:
- The search terms that they use
- The device they are searching on
- What Google determines as the most relevant info from your profile
Suppose you’re somewhat familiar with SEO. In that case, you probably know the importance of optimizing your website pages for the most relevant keywords to reach top positions on search engines.
You should similarly look at your GBP and create properly optimized pieces of content, just as you would for a page on your website.
After doing your job, you can leave everything else to Google. It will automatically find the most relevant terms and information from your profile and display it prominently when a user searches.
All in all
Today we’ve discussed the essential things every business owner should know about Google Business Profile.
With proper setup and optimization, this tool can become invaluable for your company in promoting the brand and allowing new customers to find you.
