Your small business should be using Google My Business

February 13, 2020

Small businesses rely on a lot of local business to keep them going, they aren’t like Microsoft who have customers all around the world. So they shouldn’t target the same kind of audience when it comes to search results, they should be targeting local users in order to get the most out of their money.

Benefits of a business account

Setting up a Google business account is the first step in making yourself visible to locals via search and Google maps! Whenever I’m looking for a local business the first place I check is Google Maps, it gives me all of the local businesses that are relevant to what I’m looking for and lets me know how far they are. From there I can check their Google reviews and find the best option for me.

By starting a free account you can set up a profile that gives searchers a snapshot of your business. If you’ve ever googled a business because you quickly needed a phone number or address you’ve probably seen one of the business cards they have. This is because that business signed up for a Google My Business account, and now their customers have easy access to a lot of important information.

Keep it up to date

There is nothing more frustrating that finding an address for a business off Google and taking the time to drive there only to find that they’ve moved. I’ve been there, and it is incredibly frustrating and can leave them unwilling to contact you for the right address.

Making sure you update this information as soon as it changes is crucial to keeping yourself available to local consumers. Making sure you chat google, apple, and any other apps or site that may hold your information to confirm it’s all correct should be something you check twice a year.

Reasons to use relevant keywords

Google My Business has a new section to help improve your ranking as long as you’re using relevant key words in your business description. Using relevant key words is a known way to get your business to appear in organic searches where people are looking for a business or service.

Google shows searchers relevant things to what they are looking for. If they are searching for an IT specialist in Fort Lauderdale FL and your business description just says IT specialist FL that my not be specific enough. You might be missing out on a lot of local businesses by not considering that the algorithm likes detailed descriptions.

Besides setting up a business account with Google, another way to get organic traffic and have your website pop up in searches is to create fresh content regularly. This will help you not only appear more often but will encourage existing customers to check out your website regularly and boost your value. And we all know how much google likes websites that provide value for their consumers.