Is Google My Business Worth the Effort for Local SEO?

January 3, 2023

Is Google My Business Worth the Effort for Local SEO? | AIA Book in a free 30 minute strategy session

Just as with anything SEO, optimising, managing, and updating your Google My Business page can take a lot of time and resources. So, is it really worth the effort? Can it impact your position in local search and put your small business in front of more potential customers?

The short answer is yes. If you want to give your local business a competitive edge and boost its ranking in the local search results, then you should make Google My Business a priority. Because almost half of all Google searches are location-based, the search engine giant is using GMB listings to retrieve information about the most relevant businesses to a particular query.

So, let’s take a look at how you can use Google My Business to improve your local SEO.

You might also be interested in WHAT IS LOCAL SEO?

Google My Business in a Nutshell

Even if you think that Google My Business is not worth your efforts, it’s important to know that anyone can create a business profile, not just the actual business owner. Yes, any random person with a Google account can create a GMB listing and start posting on your behalf (but not also to your benefit.)

That’s just one of the reasons you may want to claim your listing. Moreover, if you set your profile correctly and optimise it properly, you may start showing up in local searches for your products or services. So, make sure that all the information is correct and up to date, such as address, phone number, email address, business hours, and so on.

But, how does GMB influences your ranking exactly? Well, Google uses it primarily to check your business information and then provide it to users for relevant local searches. It also looks at the online reviews your business is getting to decide whether previous customers have been happy with your services and if it should recommend you in the search results.

Here’s another thing to consider: you may ignore Google My Business, but your competitors aren’t. By optimising their GMB listing, updating content, uploading photos, and gathering online reviews, they take up more space in your local service area.

Other Benefits of Google My Business

You Get a Chance of Appearing in the Local-3 Pack

Whenever you perform a local search, you get a list of local businesses that may fit your search query. This listing is located at the top of the search results and it’s called the “local SEO 3-pack.”

Owning your Google My Business listing isn’t a guarantee that you will appear in this pack, but it definitely improves your chances.

You Will Appear on Google Maps

SEO Sydney

A lot of businesses have reported that Google My Business has played a prominent role in helping them rank well on Google Maps and local listings.

Proximity is one of the essential factors Google takes into account when deciding which local businesses to feature for a local search. If your GMB listing is properly optimised, then Google will know that users are getting useful information and will consider pushing you at the top of the search engine results.

How to Stay on Top of Google My Business?

Your GMB listing may drive free traffic to your business, but you do need to invest a bit of time and effort into making your profile stand out. And, one of the best ways of doing it is by creating content with Google Posts.

Google Posts only last for seven days, so you want to make sure that you update your GMB listing regularly. Don’t forget to include a call to action to encourage prospects to visit your website.

You should also consider including images in your listing as they may play a crucial role in convincing your audience to reach out to you.

Can We Help?

Google My Business takes time and with all you have already lined up, you may feel like it’s not worth the efforts. But, as we’ve shown you, it can actually help boost the ranking.

If you want help with your local SEO strategy, we here at Australian Internet Advertising can help.

Contact us now to learn more about our services.

Billy P.

About The Author

William Polson founded Australian Internet Advertising in 2013 and has over 12 years of experience immersed in Digital Marketing.

With an in-depth level of digital marketing knowledge, William has been sort after by and worked for, many large national brands including Subaru, Blooms The Chemist, and Nova 96.9.

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