Staying visible online is important for your business, no matter your products or services. When it comes to online visibility and growth, there are many strategies, approaches, and options–most of them taking a toll on your time and budget. While those options are certainly valuable, taking advantage of a free and easy route to boost your business growth is a no-brainer. Having a Google Profile for your Business, formerly known as Google My Business, is a great way for your customers to find you, and it can help your business grow.
What is a Google Profile?
When your customers search your business, your Google Profile is what they will find–which is one of the reasons it’s important to have an account. Google Profiles are a free tool designed to help your business connect with customers, and to help customers find and interact with your business. It does this by consolidating information about your business in one place for easy viewing and searching. Setting up a profile is easy, free, and incredibly customizable. You can also manage multiple listings from one account, allowing you to easily keep more than one business or several locations in sync. But the perks don’t end there. Here are some of the ways that having a Google Profile can benefit your business:
A Google Profile helps you find customers.
Your Google Profile helps you find customers in two specific ways: by showing up in search results and allowing you to target specific areas and demographics. In today’s world, customers are Googling businesses more than ever, especially before visiting them. If you don’t have a Google Profile that will show up when customers search your business, you’ll lose business to your competitors who do. Potential customers can find yourBusiness profile by searching for keywords related to your business, or searching for the business itself, causing Google to display your profile in their search results.
Another benefit of having a Google profile is the information you can gather about profile interactions, including geographical areas and audience demographics. This information can help you hone your marketing strategy to more effectively communicate with your specific audience–or it can help you expand your area of business.
For example, if you want to expand your area of services, you can check your Google business profile information and see the neighborhoods where people aren’t interacting with your business. You can use that information to create a local ad that targets those specific neighborhoods; and, after you run the ad, you can check your Google business profile information again to see how effective it was. The information about your business and customers available to you with a free Google My Business profile can significantly boost your marketing strategy and help you grow your business.
Connect with customers.
When customers find your Google profile, they then have access to all the information they may need to interact with your business, from a link to your website, to your business hours, to your business contact information. In other words, your Google Profile helps your customers feel informed–they always know how to find out what you do, where to find you and who to contact. To keep your customers informed, however, you need to keep your profile up to date with the correct and current information. Google makes this extremely easy; you can edit your business information at any time, including adding temporary information about current sales or events.
Another way your Google business profile allows you to connect with customers is through reviews. Your customers are leaving, reading and trusting reviews more than ever. As the leading site for reviews, Google makes leaving reviews easy for your customers and responding to reviews easy for you. These reviews are valuable for your business, both because they allow you to hear direct feedback from your customers and because customers are more likely to trust a business that has reviews and has responded to reviews. Your Google Profile allows your customers to connect with you and feel informed about your business any time they Google your business.
Build trust with customers.
One of the most important features of a Google Profile is the ability to add photos and videos to your business profile. This feature helps potential customers feel familiar with your business, making them more likely to choose your products or services over a business they feel unfamiliar with. Adding photos of your business can also help customers find your location.
Depending on your industry, photos or videos may be essential to legitimizing your business to potential customers. If your business includes any type of visual elements, such as interior ambiance for a spa or examples of completed projects for a construction company, adding photos to your Google business profile can build the trust potential customers are looking for before choosing your business.
Adding photos or videos to your business profile can also help reinforce your brand and showcase your company’s personality. Show off customers enjoying themselves at events or even your employees’ skills to help your potential customers know what your business is all about. Photos and videos on your Google Profile will help build trust and familiarity with your customers.
A Google Profile for your business is a great way to connect with customers and build your business. It can help you find new customers and increase sales, as well as provide an easy way for customers to find information about your business or location before they come in. Take advantage of a Google Profile to boost your company’s growth today; and if you would like help expanding your online reach or making the most of your marketing efforts, contact Hyport Digital today for some expert help.
