The Importance of GMB

GMB is undoubtedly important. But it’s also extremely convenient to use. This service for local business listing could be used by companies of all sizes. Moreover, local ranking is calculated in the way that a nearby retail store could achieve as much prominence as local IKEA. And that’s why local SEO became a big deal for all types of businesses. To paraphrase the old saying in terms of retail fighting for customers’ attention we could say that: “God created retail equal. Local SEO made them equal”. And of course, this applies not only to retail.

Moreover, GMB is free to use, and updating information wouldn’t cost any money. So, don’t forget to update at least some basic information, such as your address, service area, working hours (take into consideration special hours due to Covid), a telephone number, a website, and a few more sections that you could find in GMB Info. With this nailed down, consumers would be easily able to reach you. But don't forget that Google is renaming Google My Business to Google Business Profile and get set for the upcoming changes.

You’ve updated your GMB profile, but that’s not it. You also need to claim it. If your profile wouldn’t be claimed then third parties (e.g. your competitors) could get access to it and turn your GMB into a nightmare. So, any business would like to avoid it and keep it under control.

Then, after providing all accurate business information don’t forget to work with reviews and respond to them. Not to brag, but we have a detailed article about its importance and how to do that and you can check it right here. Don’t forget to add photos and make your GMB profile more engaging. Important to note, quality of the photos will affect your ranking factor. If you want to dig deeper into this feature Search Engine Land did a pretty good study on it. Then Google will rank your GMB based on such factors as Relevance, Distance, and Prominence and showcase your Business Profile in search. You can check what Google itself says about it here.

Then you would need to provide the same data across all of your locations. You can try to do it by using GMB features or we at Geojet could help you with that. Having the same data quality is important, as data inconsistency could lead to a potential 15-25% revenue loss according to a study by MIT Sloan.  However, that’s only basic data and if you really want to get attention with your GMB you would need to use such features as GMB Services, Products, Posts and get ideas on how your GMB performs in Insights. So, let’s get to it.