In today’s world, the success of any business, big or small, depends highly on its presence in the digital market and how well you have utilised the digital market ecosystem for the promotion of your business.  It is crucial for every business to increase the positioning of its brand in the market so that it can be recognizable to your targeted consumers. And speaking of the digital market ecosystem, many businesses, more often than not, rely on Google to reach out to their audience as Google is the most visited website in the world which holds more than 90% of search engine market share. The main objective here is to make your business be ‘top of the mind’ whenever your target consumers search for any related product or service, and this is where a Google Business Profile can come in handy. You can easily keep your business front and centre by creating a Google Business Profile.

Now, let’s learn what actually is Google Business Profile?

Google Business Profile, formerly known as Google my Business, is a free business listing on Google and contains all the necessary information of your business that a customer needs to know such as photos of your business, location, services and products. These information that are added to your business profile appear in the local results of Google Search and Google Maps whenever the customers search for the product and services related to your business.

Let us explain with a simple example: imagine that you are Googling for ‘Petrol station near me’. The first thing you’ll probably notice on your screen is a list of three to four business names that offer the service you are searching for. When you see these related businesses, you are more likely to click one of those names. Once clicked, its related pin on Google Map changes its colour displaying the information that is added to the Business Profile. This information that you see is called ‘Google Business Profile’ which is added to Google, most likely by the business owners themselves. Also, you will notice some profiles are more comprehensive compared to others. This is because regularly optimised Google Business Profiles appear more complete and are more likely to get proper visibility on Google search.

Google Business Profile is more than just a simple business profile; rather, it is a tool that strengthens your business profile and boosts your business’s visibility and efficacy. Google Business Profile can be created by those businesses who have contacts with customers; for example, businesses that have physical locations like stores, shops, restaurants, outlets etc., and business service providers like consultants, electricians, plumbers, masons etc. who offer their services to clients in different locations.

Why do you need a Google Business Profile for your business?

The answer has never been simpler! We need Google Business Profile for our business so that we can have better search visibility on Google and Google Maps. Whether you want traffic on your website to increase or foot traffic gushing to your physical location of business, Google plays a crucial role as it is the most popular search engine that refers your business to your potential customers and creates some credibility of your business. A Google Business Profile makes sure that your business is visible to searchers when they are searching for products and services like yours in their local area. Moreover, a Google Business Profile improves your local SEO that helps your business have more chances of appearing in the search for the nearby local business using Google Map.

It is certain that people will use Google search engine to look for and learn about the business (new and existing) in their local area. That is why it is very important to create your Google Business Profile because local business with Google Business Profile gets noticed, and if you regularly optimise it, chances of your business being missed out by your potential customers while searching on Google is nearly impossible. This will eventually help in converting the potential customers or the searchers into real customers who will actually buy your service or products.

It’s high time you started getting along with Google Business Profile!

Now that we have come to understand that creating and regularly updating a Google Business Profile for our small businesses is a must, we need to invest our time and effort to make sure our business is properly presented on Google search. Doing so, our Business Profile can have better visibility and will eventually attract more traffic to our business.