Google My Business is a free listing made available to all businesses by the #1 search engine in the world, Google. Business Listings refers to a multitude of other online business directories that aggregate and display the information about your business.

You can greatly improve your business’s online visibility by claiming and optimizing both of these listing opportunities.

Google My Business and Business Listings—Did you know?

Let’s take a look at some stats surrounding Google My Business (GMB) and Business Listings:

• Around 49% of businesses listed on GMB receive more than 1,00 views on search per month. And many businesses receive ten times that or more.
• 56% of local businesses have not yet claimed their GMB.
• A recent report found that 60% of smartphone users contacted businesses directly through the GMB interface using the “click to call” option.
• 86% of businesses have either missing or incorrect company information listed across Business Listings.
• Only 7% of businesses have their website information correct across Business Listings.
• Businesses that show up on Google’s local 3 -pack get an impressive 700% boost in clicks over those that don’t.
• 90% of people read reviews before making a purchasing decision. With GMB customers will be able to review your business and leave feedback for others to see. 

Understanding your Google My Business Listing

A Google My Business listing allows you to display your business information—everything from name, address, and phone number to hours of operation, products, services, photos, and videos. By optimizing your listings with up-to-date information you help your business pop up in search results.

Try it right now—do a Google search for your business and check the right-hand side of your search results. Does your business show up with the information you want? If the answer is no, you have not claimed your GMB listing and run the risk of losing out on valuable search traffic.

The good news is claiming your listing is free and unlocks other features of Google My Business like responding to reviews and creating posts.

Reviews on Google My Business

As mentioned above, reviews on Google My Business now outweigh all other review platforms. Therefore asking for reviews from your clients and customers to review you on Google is extremely important and valuable. Take note—you must be doing this on a regular basis. Google is looking for a steady cadence of reviews, not a flurry for a week or two and then nothing for months on end.

Google is also looking for your business to reply to all reviews in a timely manner whether the review is positive 👍 or negative 👎.

Posting on Google My Business

Google My Business has a posting feature like social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Instagram, and Facebook.  GMB allows for 4 different types of posts—Offer, What’s New, Event, and Product. These posts feed search engine results with information about your business so it’s important to keep a regular and steady posting cadence to capitalize on search traffic. 

Understanding your Business Listings

Business Listings refers to various websites that provide information about your business such as company name, address, phone number, website address, and hours of operation. These sites range from online directories (eg. Next Door, Yellow Pages City) to review sites (eg. TripAdvisor, Yelp), to online maps (eg. Apple Maps, Waze). 

Keeping the details about your business accurate and up to date across a wide network of business listings contributes to your local search ranking. It also ensures when prospects and customers search for your business they find the correct information and can confidently reach out to you.

If you’re unsure whether your business is being accurately represented in Business Listing we have a free online presence report. Request yours by clicking here.

Local search starts with Google My Business and Business Listings

This powerful one-two punch is undeniably a marketing strategy all businesses need to harness. The search value of an optimized and active Google My Business listing will pay dividends and accurate Business Listings will support and validate your business online visibility.

Ready to be a Google My Business and Business Listings pro? Contact us today and one of our online experts will be happy to help you dominate in local search.