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Building an excellent business website is essential to succeeding in today’s business environment. It’s as important to have a great website as it is to have a high-quality store in your community.
Once you have your website, however, it’s important to promote it. You can’t just expect people to find your business if you don’t promote it. Fortunately, you have an excellent tool available to you — Google My Business.
Google My Business (GMB), also known as your Google Business Profile, allows you to create a profile for your business and increase your online presence and reputation. If you want to promote your website, you need to use GMB. Here’s how to do it.
If you’re trying to find a reputable company and you find an online profile that’s only partially complete, what are you going to think? You’ll probably assume that they aren’t fully operational, or that they are a lazy company that doesn’t finish what they start.
Those judgements are harsh, but that’s what consumers do. They make immediate decisions about your trustworthiness depending on how you appear online. As a result, having a complete profile is essential.
Your Google Business Profile has sections for your:
As you can see, there’s a lot you can share about your company on your profile. Don’t skimp — and especially make sure your website is linked!
The purpose of your website is to build the consumer’s sense of trust in your expertise and great service. But how do you get people to trust what’s on your website?
The answer is simple: by having a lot of excellent reviews on your Google Business profile.
Consumers trust reviews as much as they do personal recommendations from friends and family, so if you want to promote your business website using Google My Business, having strong reviews is essential.
Make it a part of your sales and follow-up process to ask for reviews. Many customers are happy to leave a review if they are asked and the process is easy. For example, you can send an email or text message that includes a link to your Google Business profile so they can easily put in a review.
Don’t be afraid of poor reviews. In fact, a business that has only five-star reviews can seem suspicious, because you can never satisfy 100% of your customers. If you do get a bad review, reply to it and apologize for the experience, and then offer to resolve the issue privately.
When you do that you show your professionalism and customer service, while also diffusing the situation. That will reflect well on your business when other consumers see the negative review.
Why is your physical address important when you’re trying to promote your website? Three words: Google’s Local Pack.
Local search engine optimization (SEO) is an important online marketing strategy that helps your business website rank more highly on Google for searches in your local area. For example, if someone in your plumbing company’s service area searches for “plumbers near me”, your company is far more likely to appear.
Not only that, but you’re very likely to appear in the Local Pack, which is a small map that is often located above the top result on the search page. This map showcases nearby businesses that fit the search criteria and gives a link to their website.
However, these strategies only work if Google knows where you are physically located. Putting your physical address and your geographic service area in your Google Business profile is the best way to improve your local search results.
One important way to get more clicks on your website is to make your Google Business profile as attractive as possible. As they say, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” so don’t be shy about sharing pictures and videos about your company on your profile.
You can use these images to share behind-the-scenes information, showcase your store displays, demonstrate a common fix to a common issue, and more. The best part is that all of this helpful information is centrally located on your profile, which features a link to your website.
When your audience sees these tidbits of information, they’ll want to know more. To get more information, see the whole blog post, or get more videos, they can click through to your website. Your Google Business profile will be eye-catching and drive traffic to your website. It’s a win-win.
Your Google Business profile is an important map that points your ideal audience to your website. To make full use of it, be sure to follow the steps above. You’ll have a complete profile full of useful information, your physical address, reviews, and even pictures and video.
These efforts will help your business profile stand out from your competitors, encouraging customers to visit your website instead of someone else’s.
If you need help with digital marketing, local SEO, and optimizing your website, we’re here for you. We have helped thousands of small businesses succeed online, and we’d love to put our skills to work for you. Contact us today for a free consultation!
