Did you know that every month there are more than 5 billion restaurant searches, 3 billion hotel searches, 1 billion clothing store searches, and millions more sales and commerce-related searches on Google? If you haven’t already created your company’s profile on Google My Business, here are five reasons why you should.
Google My Business is Google’s official tool to unite company and client through its different services: Google search, Maps and Google Plus. It was launched in June 2014 as a tool to help potential customers know any information they need about a particular company that has a business profile on the platform, and to help businesses stand out in search results and showcase their products or services. These are the five reasons why you should create your business profile.
1. It’s free!
Yes, just as you read it. The most important search engine offers you a powerful tool to connect with your customers. Besides being free, it has a practical, functional and very eye-catching interface. It will also allow you to manage and customize your company profile so you can choose how it will appear on Google and Maps. Best of all, it’s very easy to use, very intuitive, and you won’t need any specialized knowledge to manage your account.
If your business does not have a website, this is a wonderful option for your company to get visibility on the Internet and attract more customers at no cost.
2. You will have access to accurate statistics related to consumer interactions
Managing your business profile on Google will provide you with valuable information for the growth of your business. There you’ll find statistics on how customers searched for your business and where they came from. You’ll also be able to see the number of visits to your website and the number of questions about how to get to your business, the number of people who called your company directly from the phone number that appears in local search results and on Maps.
When the time is right, all this valuable information will help you create smart campaigns and track their performance to connect with more customers and increase your sales.
3. You will provide your customers with an effective and immediate communication channel
With Google My Business, your potential customers will be able to contact you through a messaging service and you’ll be able to respond, share information, and communicate quickly for free.
You’ll also be able to read and respond to your customers’ feedback and they’ll be notified about your responses; and you’ll be able to post photos that show what you’re doing. Google itself claims that companies that add photos to their business profiles receive 42% more requests for directions on Google Maps and 35% more clicks on their websites than those that don’t.
4. It is an all-in-one tool
In addition to all the utilities mentioned above, the Google My Business profile will allow you to share photos to promote your products or services, share videos to tell the story of your company and what makes it unique, create a free website and customizable according to the profile of your business, get a personalized email account, add the hours of operation, the location of your physical store through Google Maps, phone number, heading of your company and even create advertising campaigns through Google Ads.
On the other hand, you will have the chance to reinforce your visual identity and incorporate your brand logo, generate a community of followers, build loyalty among consumers who have already interacted with your business and keep them connected with new products and offer welcome offers to new followers, thus attracting more customers. The possibilities are endless!
5. With the Google App My Business you’ll be able to control everything wherever you are
The Google My Business app is compatible with all Android and iOS devices and gives you a mobile option to stay connected with your customers wherever you are. With this App you will be able to do everything we have mentioned:
- Reply to messages from your company profile, see who your followers are and publish content for them.
- Reply opinions, exchange messages with your customers and find out who your followers are in the Customers tab.
- Edit the business profile and watch those changes on Google in real time.
- Upload photos, create attractive offers and share the features that make your business unique.
- Quickly see how and how often your customers interact with the business profile, directly from the Main Page tab of the app.
- Get real-time notifications to find out when a customer connects to your business on Google.
- Manage multiple locations from a single panel, plus invite other users to manage your tab.
If you have a business and you don’t have a website and you haven’t yet created your account on this Google service, it’s possible that your business will disappear. Remember what Bill Gates said: “If your business isn’t on the Internet, your business doesn’t exist. Think that, if you don’t create your business profile on Google My Business, every day that passes you are giving your competition an advantage and you are losing many customers who are looking for the products that your company offers daily.
