Successful Tips to using Google Business Profile to Build your Business!

 What is a Google Business Profile?

        A Google business profile is a free tool sponsored by Google that allows businesses to manage their online presence across Google platforms like Google Maps, Google Search, and Google platforms. Businesses are able to setup an essential profile that will be attached to the business when being searched for online. When searching for a business Google will allow businesses to create a profile that appears when the business is searched for. This profile could contain specific information like business location, address for location, phone numbers to contact the business, and even a brief description of the business to inform first time viewers. Along with the business information, a business can have their reviews as a main point of focus on their business profile. Reviews gives an upfront reaction from actual customers of the business itself. 

An example of what a Google Business Profile looks like. Picture from Infront Webworks

Keys to building a great business profile as a Business User: 

1. Create a Strong, Engaging Business Description

• When a new customer is researching your business, they want an engaging description that really sticks with them and leaves an impression on their memory. Being a customer myself, whenever I come upon a business I have never seen before, I look too read a little description that gives a good in depth idea of what the business entails. Creating an engaging business description is the first step in keeping a new customer engaged and coming to your business. Make sure that when building the description you include what may separate you from other businesses in your field while including what makes your business unique. While creating the unique description you may look to add your most popular items your business has to offer, these products could lead to a customer engagement by keeping them intrigued. 

2.  Include Strategic Keywords

• When creating a business profile, you should look to use common keywords within your profile. These keywords are known as SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Keywords, or else words that are commonly used when searching for specific businesses. An example of this could be when you look up "shoes" that Nike's website could come up. This is obtained by Nike filling their website with many keywords related to shoes. This idea can be transitioned into a business profile by maximizing your businesses profile by including keywords that may support your businesses products. The keywords allow for you business profile to appear when someone is searching for topics relative to your business. If you are searching for "fast food" around your area, you would want the first few searches to pop up as fast food restaurants, not sit down restaurants. Maximize your keywords by adding words that might associate with your business to ensure you get the most out of your business profile. 

3.  Set up Direct Messaging

• Setting up direct messaging on your business profile allows you to direct answer questions and concerns revolving your business. This allows customers to speak directly to your business when they have questions or concerns while allowing your business to directly respond to the customer. This allows business to control the responses to specific questions, answering how they intend to answer them. This also creates a relationship between customer and business. When a customer sees that they are able to take their questions and comments straight to the business itself, it opens up a relationship flow allowing the users to speak directly to the business. With a personal relationship between customer and business, it makes for the customers to want to come back and partake in more spending for the business because of the strong relationship they have built. This builds brand loyalty for the customers. 

(An example of what direct messaging may look like on a business profile) Photo from: Sprout Social

 

My Experience: 

• I did not know that businesses create their business profiles themselves. I thought it was a product of Google that they setup the profiles based on geographic location. After learning that businesses build their own profiles, it changed my perspective. I have looked at these business profiles may times, especially when it comes to restaurants. As a customer, when I am looking for new places to eat I will search up a specific style of food and these business profiles will come up for me to research. I will say the business description does play a key role in if I want to eat at the place. If the description does not sound too appealing or unique it usually does not draw me to want to eat there. 

Article Used for the Blog: Semrush