Every web user and business owner or marketer knows the strong influence Google has on the website. A vibrant business stays ahead of its competition with the compliance to the stringent search requirements of top search engines’ search algorithms like Google to attract the desired web traffic to its website.
One powerful marketing tool which online businesses manipulate is a dynamic Google My Business profile. This is a free and effective online marketing tool for business owners and marketers to showcase their brand or business in local search results on specific queries regarding products or services.
Local SEO
The role of local SEO is very important for a business to be established in the market before venturing further across borders. If a business does not get approved in its local market, it is difficult for it to venture abroad. Without proper SEO components in the local settings, it is a daunting task for a new brand to appear on local map listings which Google uses to display online search results on local queries.
Business owners and marketers need to be proactive and knowledgeable in choosing categories for a clear display that would attract their targeted niche market. The right choice of keywords to reflect the brand or products to be promoted boosts the business opportunities for the company.
Generic terms should be avoided while specific keywords or keyword phrases would help speed up online searches with greater accuracy. Local searches are critical in testing the market for the survival or success of the brand or company. Local search results are highly instrumental to draw in the best of potential business leads searching for products and services that are readily available within the consumers’ locality.
Better services could also be rendered when the customers are within delivery range of the company or brand. More efficient follow-up activities could be activated to establish stronger customer relations. Local SEO searches today offer the clear display of the business stores using local maps that encourage more walk-in customers.
Dynamic Websites
Good local SEO features could include mobile-friendly or mobile responsive websites that cater to the growing number of web users who are also keen mobile users. These are constantly using their sophisticated mobile devices to get on the Internet and perform various web tasks such as online searches or purchases. Google works to display matching requests to nearby firms or e-stores that would satisfy the need or requirement.
Businesses that practice good local SEO features would incorporate NAP (name, address and phone) with citations made available at various local listing sites. The more favorable local listing sites include yellowpages, yelp, foursquare, and hotfrog. Such NAP information should be available on the business website for drawing the preferred audiences to the brand.
An up-to-date website offers accurate and complete NAP information that would boost business operations and bottom lines. There should be important related business information such as menu, photos, product description and operation hours which is available at GMB. Business owners or marketers should also put in accurate and complete information concerning their business to boost click through rate.
Improving Local Ranking
Another online marketing strategy with Google My Business is to boost the local rankings of the website. This is where business owners or webmaster should build citations for their local business site which could be found on reputed local business listings, directories and website such as yelp, foursquare and yellowpages.
This process of building, data cleansing and maintaining local citations proves to be a critical component of local SEO. Businesses are better equipped to showcase their products and services to top search engines like Google and Yahoo with a stronger impact in the market that would enable customers to find the brand or company.
Online Reviews
Online good reviews prove to be yet another great and effective ranking factor to boost local SEO. Business owners and marketers need to encourage customers to leave the best of reviews on their GMB listing. This would serve to attract more web traffic to their site.
The display of the business star rating on Google map is effective in online searches that would enhance the click through rate of the website via SERP listings. Such action by Google is meant to boost the offline popularity of the brand or company on the web. Hence, it is crucial to secure positive reviews from every satisfied customer or web visitor.
This would require business owners or marketers to connect and communicate with every web visitor or customer personally and professionally at all times. Their good manners on the web would motivate these to give positive reviews that would boost sales and profits.
Online reviews could be a dynamic marketing tool but could go either way for the business. Using Google My Business, reviews could be procured from all sources that include field experts, market authorities and regular customers. Satisfied business customers are the best category of good reviews as theirs would be highly convincing and effective to other web visitors to the site.
Reviews offer further information about the product or service which may not be found in the manual or product info page. These comments are purportedly true feedback from real consumers who have tried or tested the product or service to make an unofficial statement based on their feelings and opinions which could carry some weight on the decision power of other potential business customers.
There are two categories of reviews: good and bad. Good reviews could boost the web traffic to the site with more sales and profits while bad or negative reviews could be taken positively by the business owner or marketer as points for improvement on the branding or marketing for the company.
Conclusion
Starting an online business today is not difficult, but its sustenance in the market could prove challenging with the intensive competition despite progressive technologies providing sophisticated tools and solutions. Businesses should deploy Google My Business tool to stand out in the crowd for greater online visibility to gain more web traffic and sales