As a local business, it’s important for customers to be able to find information about your company when they search online. When searching for a local business on Google, a user will most often be introduced to your business via your Google Business Profile (GBP).

So What Exactly Is It?

A Google Business Profile displays information about a particular business. This profile is usually seen when conducting a search for a business by it’s name, such as “New Adventure Web Design & Digital Marketing“.

Google has made it possible for local businesses to set up and/or claim a Google Business Profile for FREE. For local businesses, it’s very important to take advantage of this free tool offered by Google. Claiming or establishing a Google Business Profile allows you to fill out important details about your business that will then be publicly displayed when a user sees your listing.

Here is a list of information & details that a local business can have on their Google Business Profile:

1. Business Name: Your name should reflect your business’ real-world name, as used consistently on your storefront, website, stationery, and as known to customers. Accurately representing your business name helps customers find your business online.
2. Business Address: Google requires a precise, accurate address to describe your business location. PO Boxes or mailboxes located at remote locations are not acceptable. Your address can also be hidden from view if your business is home-based or does not have a brick-and-mortar storefront that accepts visits from customers. If your business considers itself to be a “Service Area” business, you are permitted to hide your address from view and designate communities/locations that your business serves.
3. Business Website: It is recommended to link to your website’s homepage.
4. Hours of Operation: Provide your regular customer-facing hours of operation. If applicable, you may use your current seasonal hours as your regular hours. You may also specify special hours for particular days, like holidays or special events.
5. Phone Number: Google requires a phone number that connects to your individual business location as directly as possible. The phone number must also be under the direct control of the business.
6. Business Categories: Categories detail the services you provide and help your customers find accurate, specific results for services they’re interested in.
7. Services: This a relatively new feature that is available to service businesses. You are permitted to create a list of each specific service you provide along with categories, a full description, and the cost. Currently this feature is only visible via a “Menu” tab when viewing a Google Business Profile on a mobile device web browser or Google Maps app.
8. Business Description: A summary that talks about your business and describes the products or services that you offer.
9. Business Photos: Google allows businesses to add images of your logo, storefront/location, products, services, and/or employees at work. Adding photos to your Google Business Profile will help users get a better idea of your business. Businesses with photos typically get 35% more clicks than businesses without photos. Pictures will be displayed alongside the map after your business is clicked on in the search engine results page.
10. Google Posts: Google Posts is a “micro-blog” section on a Google Business Profile that allows business owners to post updates, sales, images, events, etc. It can also be used to link to blog articles or specific pages on your business website. If used frequently, Google Posts can be a powerful method to help market your products or services to potential customers.
11. Questions & Answers: The Questions & Answers section is a crowd-sourced feature and any user can ask questions and provide answers; with the idea being to provide searchers with even more details about a business and help influence their decision to make a purchase or book an appointment. If you are not monitoring this and responding as a business, it can result in misinformation about your business, irrelevant/off-topic questions, or create reputation issues.
12. Reviews: Last but not least, gaining business reviews on your Google Business Profile can have a huge impact on whether or not a potential customer chooses to do business with you. Reviews are incredibly important for an effective Digital Marketing campaign. If you have a lot of negative reviews, it’s likely that potential customers won’t contact you for products or services. It’s imperative to your business that you work hard on earning positive reviews. It’s also very helpful if you reply to ALL reviews you receive, both good and bad. Responding to good reviews helps encourage customers to leave more reviews. And responding to bad reviews helps you share your side of the story or make amends. Just be sure to be professional! Reviews play a critical part in a business’ ability to differentiate from the competition.

Why your Google Business Profile is Important!

As can be seen from the above list, a Google Business Profile really is a comprehensive profile of details about your business. Because these listings are so highly visible in Google searches, particularly on mobile devices, they often lead to customers interacting directly with the business on the listing itself. It’s becoming much more commonplace for lead conversions to take place at the Google Business Profile, rather than on a website. Your Google Business Profile can pave the way for potential customers to find your business and contact you, OR it can turn customers away should information be missing, inaccurate or contain many negative reviews.

So often we see local businesses fail to take full advantage of the powerful marketing tool that is a Google Business Profile. We have years of experience in helping local businesses maximize their exposure in the Google search engine by setting up, enhancing, and optimizing their presence on Google Maps. Google Business Profile optimization and management is included with our Digital Marketing Services.

So, to answer the question, a Google Business Profile is a centralized point for all of your business information on Google. It is VERY important for your company to have a listing, because without one, you would be missing out on literally thousands of potential local customers in and near your city, searching for services just like yours.

We hope this article has provided you with a some useful insight into the importance of having a Google Business Profile and the role it plays in helping you grow your business online.