So you’ve opened up a new brick-and-mortar shop and you’re looking for ways on how to increase foot traffic to your store. Chances are, you’ve heard of Google My Business. Google My Business is a free tool that lets you manage your store’s presence across Google’s suite of websites like Google Maps, Mobile Search, Local Search, and Google Search. Here, you can create a business listing that contains your business name, contact number, and address to help users find your store.
Have you ever searched for a local business before and Google showed you its location? That’s how convenient Google My Business can be. It’s no surprise that most businesses utilize this free tool in order to generate as much foot traffic as possible. This article will detail the importance of Google My Business and how it can benefit your newly opened shop.
How important is Google My Business?
Google is unquestionably the leading search engine used by people today. It’s the place where the majority of users spend their time looking for products and services that they need. Because Google generates massive amounts of traffic, it makes sense for both startups and established businesses to take advantage of this opportunity and turn it into potential profit.
Google My Business makes it easier for customers to access the information they need. They don’t have to go to your website and search for your contact number because the business listing will display it for them. This is a huge boon for startups who are interested in putting their business on the map and garnering interest from their target audience.
The listing also displays your store’s opening hours, your website, and even share directions for customers to locate your shop. It sandwiches important details about your business into a single listing that users can easily access. Basically, it eliminates the guesswork and leads users directly to your store.
How does Google My Business benefit local shops?
There are plenty of advantages to using Google My Business. Aside from making your store easier to find, you also get to experience other benefits such as:
- Improve your website ranking
Google My Business plays an important role in search engine optimization (SEO) as it allows your business listing to appear in Google searches that are related to your products/services. Even broad search terms can display your listing in the search engine results page and make it easier for customers to locate your shop.
Not only does Google My Business direct foot traffic to your store, but it also generates web traffic which is something that small business owners can definitely capitalize on.
- Provide more information about your business
There’s more to Google My Business than just addresses and contact details. It also comes with other tools to help generate interest from local customers. For example, you can provide a product list to let your customers know what you’re offering, display your accepted payment methods, and even show menus and prices for your customers to browse on. You can also add coupons, special offerings, and other promos that may peak the interest of the locals.
- Respond to and display customer reviews
Google My Business has a feature called User Reviews in which customers rate a business depending on their overall experience. These reviews reflect the quality of your products/services. The more positive reviews you get, the more reputable your business appears. You can even reply to customers who left their feedback and establish a healthy customer relationship, which can eventually lead to repeat sales.
- Learn more about your customers
The Google My Business tool provides in-depth analytics that enables business owners to learn more about their customers. You can track information on where customers requested for driving directions to your shop, thus letting you know where they came from. This can prove useful for targeting new customers within your area or if you’re planning to expand your business to a new suburb.
- It’s totally free
Yes, Google My Business is absolutely free. Google has developed this tool to help businesses create more brand exposure. Of course, your business listing has to be optimized in order for it to land on top of the search engine results page, but you don’t have to pay for anything to reap the rewards of what Google My Business has to offer.
Google My Business makes it easier for both business owners and consumers to establish a customer relationship. Whether you’ve just opened up a new shop or you’ve been running one for a long time, you should definitely create a business listing in Google My Business. It’s free, it has plenty of advantages, and it puts your business on the map for everyone to see. Set up your business listing now and see how much traffic it can generate to your shop.
