Since 2014, Google has established the Google My Business platform, which allows businesses to manage their online presence and search results more effectively while ensuring that information is accurate and up-to-date (e.g., is your business closed on Canada Day?).
but, what is Google My Business?
The primary function of Google My Business is to provide more precise information to the user. For example, if someone searches for “treize” on Google, they can find most of the information they’re looking for without even accessing our website, thanks to our Google My Business listing. This listing is what you see in the highlighted area below.
It displays contact information, user reviews left for TREIZE, a link to access the website, and one to get directions to our offices – essentially, what most people are looking for in the majority of cases.
why use Google My Business?
it helps your consumers
Google My Business allows people conducting searches to quickly see the basic information about your business (e.g., address, phone number, opening hours, etc.).
it improves your ranking in search results
If you look at the image at the top, you can see that even TREIZE doesn’t spend a dime on advertising; we enjoy great visibility thanks to our Google My Business listing. Isn’t that what every business wants?
However, please note that having a Google My Business page doesn’t mean you’ll achieve this overnight. It all depends on the competition, especially at the local level. It may be a bit more challenging to position yourself as the sole search result.
You can see that several Google My Business listings share the results. Additionally, Google uses a variety of factors to determine the position of each business: proximity to the user conducting the search, the company’s reputation in Google’s eyes, user reviews, and more
it improves your local seo
Google My Business helps in several ways, but particularly in terms of local SEO. If someone visiting Montreal searches to find a bar near their location, well, you’d better have a Google My Business listing, as it significantly increases the chances that Google will present your business to them. Here’s what happens when I search for a bar from my office: it prioritizes bars that are all easily accessible within a few minutes from my location.
Furthermore, during mobile searches, which are steadily increasing, Google strongly emphasizes local results, making it even more important.
it’s free
Google My Business is free. It only requires a little time to set up. So you have no reason, especially after reading the previous benefits, not to use it.
it provides you with plenty of interesting statistics
Google My Business provides a tool called ‘Insights,’ and it’s extremely useful. You can find various statistics there, such as how often your Google My Business listing was found on Google and Google Maps, the number of actions taken on your listing (number of calls, number of directions requests, number of visits to your website, etc.), and you can even see from where people are requesting directions.
how can i optimize my google my business listing?
claim your profile
Without even realizing it, Google may have already created a basic Google My Business listing for your business. However, it’s important that you claim this listing. To do this, go to your business’s listing and start the process to confirm that you are indeed the owner of the business. Google will either offer to call the phone number of your business for confirmation, or they will send you a verification code by mail.
ensure that your card is constantly up to date
Now that you are the owner of your listing, you need to ensure that it is up to date. Are all the details correct? Additionally, you can even mention special holidays, for example, if you’re closed or if you have earlier closing hours for Saint-Jean. So, if a user searches on that day, Google will notify them that your business has special opening hours for that day.
encourage your customers to leave reviews
We don’t like to do this, but it’s super important to encourage your customers and those around you to leave positive reviews on your listing. It’s good for your company’s reputation and also for your ranking because Google takes this into account. It will never promote a business with a 1-star average and dozens of negative reviews.
Don’t forget Google’s ultimate goal: to provide the user conducting a search with the best possible results. So, you need to ensure that the best result is your business!
