People searching for a local business online are generally in a hurry, and are looking to take a decisive action quickly. That action could be calling you, visiting your website, or getting Google Maps directions sent to their phone.
Just recently I was trying to register my car at DMV, but I needed to get a vehicle inspection done first. I'd already taken the afternoon off to get this done, so I needed a place that would do an inspection now.
First thing I did was go to Google on my mobile device and searched "vehicle inspections". Google asked permission to see my location, and of course I accepted.
Instead of the usual ads, or search engine results - Google showed me a map with a listing of auto repair shops that were near me.
These map listings all happen because of a business's Google My Business profile. Chances are, your business has a GMB profile already, even if you haven't claimed ownership of it.
It is a critical tool for local businesses wanting to rank in local searches.
If you haven't claimed a Google My Business profile, optimized the business profile, or don't have key features enabled, you're missing out. Here's how to setup a profile.
Bright Local released a research report in 2019 that shared some amazing insights into Google My Business listings. They looked at 45,000 GMB profiles across 36 industries. Here's a few highlights of what they found:
That's 59 actions (website visits, direction requests, and calls — per month) on average every month for a typical Google My Business listing.
It's obvious based on those results to see that a Google My Business listing can have a positive impact on your business. How much of an impact for your business will depend on how well you've optimized your listing.
We've studied the research, and the results and have identified The 5 Secrets of Successful Google My Business Profiles.
Internet culture is particularly visual. We curate images carefully of ourselves both personally and professionally. You need to take that same mindset to your GMB profile.
Google reports that, “Businesses with photos receive 42% more requests for driving directions to their location from users on Google, and 35% more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t have photos.”
Bright Local discovered that:
People want to see what your business looks like before they step in. Google recommends having a cover photo that best represents your business, and other photos that highlight your staff and features of your business that customers will be interested in. Photos will help customers make purchase decisions.
Another tip from Google is to add an image of the exterior of your building so customers can find it easily.
Curate, and spring clean your photos on a regular basis and encourage customers to take photos and upload them to Google.
Bottom Line: More photos correlates positively to more views. More views correlates positively to more conversions
If you had to book an appointment over the phone and were forced to wait on hold before you were able to do it, would you hang up and go somewhere else? According to recent GetApp research, your customers would.
Why is this a problem? Because 50 percent of respondents are still booking their doctor, dentist, and beauty appointments by phone.
Google My Business will allow customers viewing your Google listing to make an appointment directly through GMB. Simply link you existing scheduling service to GMB, and receive bookings directly.
Booking appointments online will reduce no-shows, and help patients remember their appointments.
Many online booking systems for healthcare act more like digital booking "requests". Once a request for appointment is received it must be validated and confirmed before it is actually scheduled.
For dentists, orthodontists, and other healthcare providers the real competitive advantage is having a system that will schedule your appointment automatically. Self-scheduling is a differentiator.
How to Link Your Scheduler to Google My Business
Google reviews are an important component to your GMB profile. Google values trustworthy businesses, and frequent and positive reviews are one way to assess who will show up at the top of Google local listings. Local SEO relies heavily on Google reviews.
When a customer leaves a review, it will be prominently displayed next to your Google My Business listing in Maps and Search.
Google is the website that patients are most likely to turn to for healthcare related reviews.
According to Bright Local, The average consumer expects a business to have 40 reviews before trusting its star rating.
The average number of reviews across all industries is 39.
Dentists average 32 reviews in their GMB profile.
The medical industry averages 15 reviews.
The more Google reviews a business has, the higher the possibilities are for them to rank at the top of Google. Reviews aren't a factor you can single out and test, because companies that are on top of their local SEO will have many reviews and be on top of their SEO game at the same time.
Bottom Line: Politely requesting satisfied patients to write reviews can seriously enhance your Google My Business profile.
Google processes about 3.5 billion searches per day globally. Many of those searches include "near me" to find local listings. Google Posts are an extension of your GMB profile and they give marketers a little more control over what readers see when they view your GMB listing.
Google Posts are a quick way to get actionable content in front of readers before they even visit or click through to your website. Awesome, right?
Google Posts actually extend your Knowledge Panel. The Knowledge Panel is the box that appears to the right of the search results after someone searches for information about your business. Here's an example from The Diamond Group:
Posts only last for seven days, so you'll need to keep updating them. We have seen good results by posting once a week. Google tends to look favorably on businesses that use Google products frequently, so posting more than once a week could work well. Many businesses post once per day. Use the once a week guideline as a minimum.
There is no better way to connect with your target audience than video. Video is powerful, and is now considered a "must-do" for marketers.
The marketing videos you create, you will be able to share on Google My Business.
When you upload your video as a post (instead of uploading it as a photo) you can knock off two tasks at once. First, you've made a Google Post (like I outlined in tip #4) and secondly, you've added video.
Google says videos are limited to 30 seconds in length, but we've seen longer videos load successfully. The limit seems to be on file size. Anything less than 100MB seems to work.
Uploaded video to a post goes straight to your knowledge card, and doesn't get buried in photos. Instantly you've got a video ready to go when a buyer searches for your business.
Google My Business is the most powerful local SEO tool for small businesses. GMB can position your business in front of new customers and keep you one step ahead of the competition.
Looking for some custom help? Staying on top of GMB, not to mention the entire marketing strategy requires more than just a little effort. We'd love to help you to be successful. Contact us anytime. Let's grow better, together.