Your Google My Business profile is the most important element for your web site to be listed in searches in your local area. When a potential customer searches for a local business, Google first displays results from Google My Business before the remaining organic business listings. Therefore getting listed correctly in Google My Business is more important than your organic business website ranking. Google is the most used search engine, and Google My Business powers results for both Google and Google Maps.
Without a GMB profile, your business is not going to be able to compete in search.
See below an example of my Google My Business profile when a user searches for ‘web design near me’ in North Naples, Florida:
Your Google My Business profile should include information submitted by yourself, services you offer, contact details, business description, photos, and opening times. Then it is imperative that you request Google Reviews from your customers. Online reviews are an important factor in the consumer psyche, 70% of consumers admit trusting a business if it has strong online reviews, and around 50% refuse to buy from a business with a rating lower than four stars.
Keep your GMB profile up-to-date and as accurate possible, so that it has a higher chance of appearing in the local pack (as shown above) and appealing enough to warrant a visit.
NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) should appear in your GMB profile. A citation is any place online that your business’s NAP appear together, typically in an online directory or business listings website. These three nuggets of information are important details in their own right, but add them together and they can be the reason why a customer walks into your store or calls you – or the lack of this information causing them to visit a competitor.
Check out my colleague’s articles on Local SEO and GMB.