Google Business Profile, previously known as Google My Business is a free directory listing in Google for small and medium businesses and enterprises.
If you’re looking for better exposure and search results this is a great tool and best of all it takes less than ten minutes to set up, and did I mention it was free?
If you have ever searched on Google for a restaurant in your local town, for example, you will have seen Google show a map with business names on it (see below) these businesses have a Google Business Profile. If they have one, you can open their website, view their opening hours, and leave and read reviews.
98% of internet visitors read local business reviews and according to Google, businesses who have a mixture of good and bad reviews are considered more trustworthy.
For the business owner, it is easy to update their information, announce if they are closed on a public holiday, and share promotions and other news. And if you don’t have a physical business building, maybe you work from home, you don’t have to enter an address, you can share that you service a certain area instead.
Your business would likely benefit from a Google Business Profile but be warned this is a public forum, that means anyone can leave a review about your business, even if they have never used it. You can’t delete reviews, although a witty response to a fake review will always go down well.
Setting up is so easy anyone could do it, ok probably not my Mum but that’s another story! All you have to do is type into Google Search “Google Business Profile” and you will find a walk through, and if you are still unsure and need help call Dark Arts we would love to get you set up and boosting your business.