You might have a Google Maps listing but do you also have a Google My Business Profile?
What is the difference between Google Maps and Google My Business?
Google Maps shows your business’ location and provides directions on how to get there. Google My Business provides all the information people need in order to do business with you.
Are you taking advantage of all Google My Business has to offer? Including the perk most small business owners don’t know about?
It’s the ability to post on your Google My Business or GMB page. GMB isn’t a social media profile, but it acts like one, with extra benefits that make it worthwhile.
So what’s the big deal? Why post on Google My Business?
Posting on GMB helps you reach more potential customers and can generate calls and leads.
It’s true. We have a couple of case studies below that show what’s possible.
Our customers are happy with their results, so we’ve decided to offer a Google My Business Management Service to you as well.
Before we dive into those results, let’s go over a few basics…
What are Google My Business posts?
Posts on Google My Business are short 100- to 300-word announcements that can include text, a photo and/or video. They’re like social media posts and are meant to highlight promotions, sales or events for your business.
Google even lets you add a call-to-action button to get visitors to take action. Options for the button are: Call Now, Order Online, Learn More, Sign Up, Book, Buy, and Get Offer.
Posts are also temporary and get archived after 7 days (except for events). This is Google’s way of forcing you to keep posting fresh content.
If you post at least once a week, you’ll always have a fresh update in Google, which is a small price to pay considering the benefits.
Why should you post on Google My Business?
Here are the benefits most small business owners don’t know about.
1. Get more attention online.
Posts grab more attention from people searching on Google. More attention = more calls, clicks and, potentially, more sales.
2. Boost your rankings on Google.
Your posts signify more fresh content to Google. In return for your activity and fresher content, the big G will reward you with better rankings in searches as well.
Don’t forget, this is also the page where customers leave reviews for your business. Remember those? This means posts bring more attention to your reviews and star rating as well.
Overall, GMB posts are like free ads that grab attention, set you apart from competitors and boost your rankings. That’s a win in anyone’s view.
What results can a small business expect?
The benefits above have been proven by numerous marketers and companies online.
But what can you expect as a small business? Time to turn to our case studies.
We’ve set up a system to post and track results for two clients:
- A local custom home builder and remodeler serving Austin and surrounding areas
- A local flooring manufacturer in Texas
We made sure there was fresh content each week with posts highlighting their services and sales offers. We also used photos, videos and action buttons to grab more attention.
Results for our small business clients
Here are the early results after only 4 months, from Nov. 2019 to Feb. 2020:
Local custom home builder and remodeler in Austin, TX
GMB page views went from 186 to 451 a month (+142%)
Activity went up overall (+329%), but includes a decrease in one area…
- Website visits (from the GMB profile link) went down from 16 to 13 (-18.75%)
- Photo views (of photos in the GMB profile) went from 308 to 1,370 (+345%)
- Phone calls (from GMB) went from 0 to 15 in February!
While activity includes fewer website visits, the best metric (phone calls) increased by a large margin.
Also, photos are obviously important to these customers, as photo views increased dramatically. This will guide us in the future as we’ll make sure to continue posting photos.
Local flooring manufacturer in Texas
GMB page views went from 1,120 to 1,360 a month (+21%)—a more modest increase
Activity went up overall (+197%), with gains across the board…
- Website visits (from the GMB profile link) went from 7 to 14 (+100%)
- Photo views (of photos in the GMB profile) went from 338 to 1,020 a month (+198%)
- Phone calls (from GMB) went from 2 to 5 (+150%)
Keep in mind, for this type of business, it’s possible a consumer would visit the GMB profile, see their product photos and decide to either call directly or check the map for directions to visit in person.
And while the numbers may be modest, our client is happy with results and we expect to see more gains as we continue to post.
These two examples show a definite increase in activity from posting on Google My Business. This doesn’t even include other social media activity or ads. As for ranking, we’re still tracking results and will add an update when we have those as well.
Ramp up your own results on Google My Business
We hope this shows the reality of what’s possible for a small business – not crazy or unrealistically high numbers, but consistent increases that could lead to larger gains, and more business, over time.
Let us get you started with our Google My Business Management Service, priced for small business.
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