Google Business Profiles (GBP) are presented in Google Search and Google Maps for local searches like ‘st asaph street coffee’. They are an organic (free) form of local SEO that helps you gain visibility for local searches for your given product or services.
Unfortunately, we come across a lot of SMB owners who don’t understand the value and importance of setting up their GBPs. Or the fact that over 80% of us search the web to find local information and businesses. So, let’s run through a few GBP basics every SMB should hear the answers to:
- What is a GBP?
- Why should I setup my GBP?
- What can happen if I don’t setup my GBP?
- What should I do with my GBP once I’ve set it up?
What are GBPs?
Even if you’ve never heard of them, you will have no doubt seen GMB listings — they’re the business profiles that you see on Google Maps and in the Local Pack (the local business listings with a map, reviews, locations, phone numbers, opening hours, etc.) in Google search results.
Sometimes, if brand-specific local search is performed, GBP can manifest in the form of a full SCRB (special content results bock) knowledge panel, displaying the searched business’s full GBP. This panel appears on the right hand side of the search results.
Why should I setup my GBP?
A Google Business Profile gives you a presence in local search results and allows you to communicate effective messaging to users wanting to know about your business. This messaging can take the form of opening hours, contact details, address, images, reviews, and special offers you may have running.
Setting up the profile for your address and business will give you full control over your information and messaging you communicate to users searching in your area. You will receive notifications when a user asks a question, reviews your business, or suggests an edit, meaning you can interact with your online audience and be recognised as a responsive business with good customer service and online reputation management.
Key reasons to setup GBP include:
- Be more visible in results for local searches (i.e., ‘Islington fish and chips’).
- Control messaging and images potential customers see, to show credibility as a trustworthy (and real) business.
- Receive notifications for questions, reviews, and suggestions.
- To allow you to add a location extension to your Google Ads.
- Prevent users or other competitors from creating a profile of your business.
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What can happen if I don’t setup my GBP?
If you haven’t created a GBP for your business, that’s not to say one doesn’t exist. Often, business profiles exist in Google and they go unclaimed by the business owner. Despite this, users can still leave reviews and Suggest an edit of important business profile details or Add missing information.
These user suggestions can become live on a GBP, potentially displaying incorrect information about the business, or even claiming it’s closed, non-existent or a duplicate listing!
That’s right — unclaimed profiles are ripe for corruption. Less desirable users (and sometimes competitors) can simply click the Suggest an edit button and suggest changes to the business’s name, location, or hours. Competitors can even claim the profiles themselves, hijacking it to prevent the rightful owner from being able to manage it.
If you’ve successfully claimed and verified your GBP listing and a user suggests an edit of your profile, you have control over whether suggestions are accepted or rejected, meaning you can keep your information as correct and current as possible.
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What should I do with my GBP once I’ve claimed it?
Your GBP is a free platform for you to market your business, so you should take every opportunity to personalise your profile and say as much about your company as possible.
This means:
- Completing every field in your Information section, including a description of your business — treat this like a mini About Us website page. At the very least cover NAPW (Name, Address, Phone number, Website). Viewings of complete listings are 29% more likely to convert into a sale and 38% more likely to result in in-store visits.
- Posting photos of the inside and outside of your building, products (or your handy work and vehicle fleet if you’re a service-area business) and your team to personalise and legitimise your company. Profiles with photos receive 42% more requests for directions than those without.
- Sharing posts highlighting special offers, events, or news about your company. Encourage users to click through to your website or to make contact with concise copy and calls-to-action.
- Utilise the Q&A section to answer your company’s most FAQ, up front. Potential customers can also use this section to ask questions themselves, which you can answer for all users to see.
- Include a call-to-action button to allow users to make a booking or message you directly via your GBP.
Free advertising with unbridled potential
Google Business Profiles offer a free platform designed to help SMB owners improve their local SEO, so you’d be silly not to saddle up, claim/create and optimise your own GBP to increase your visibility in local search results.
We’ve covered the key GBP fundamentals here but be warned things can get complicated if you have issues claiming your profile. If you’d like to know more about Google Business Profiles and our local SEO services, drop us a line.