Google Business Profile listings can help deliver robust lead generation for local and small businesses. It does take a little time and effort. But once updated and validated, your Google Business Profile can bulk up your portfolio of lead generation strategies.
Continue reading to know how you can use your local business’s Google Business Profile listing to boost lead generation.
Why Local Businesses should focus on Google Business Profile Listings for Lead Generation?
Online lead generation for small businesses is always a challenging task. You haveto constantly focus on ranking high in search engine rankings pages (SERPs), and you have to ensure that your marketing strategies are being optimally utilized on targeting quality leads if you want to hit all your sales numbers.
It’s a daunting and ongoing process. And because organic search drives a substantial chunk of the web traffic, small businesses such as yourselves have to focus on maximizing and growing your online brand.
A robust Google Business Profile can not only help you expand your digital presence, but with a fully-optimized business listing, you will be able to scale up your business to effectively connect with potential clients which will lead to quality lead generation.
What is a Google Business Profile?
Did you know that anytime a user types a query into Google Search, GoogleShopping, or Google Maps, Google displays the top Business Profile listings in the search results?
Any business would want to be listed among the top search results. And you want your business information displayed and presented in a manner that encourages users to click on your business listing.
Your Google Business Profile allows you to manage how your company appears inGoogle search results. It helps business owners create a robust online presence and connect with target customers.
Using your Google Business Profile, you can list the name and location of your local business on Google Maps and Search. Your listings can also be used to display other relevant information including your phone number, your hours of operation, and your website’s domain name.
Top Google Business Profile Listing Features that can Drive Lead Generation for Local Businesses
There are several features in Google Business Profile that can help local businesses expand their online presence and attract new customers. Let us look at the top four features you should focus on for effective lead generation for your small business.
1. Simplified Profile Management
One of the best things that Google did was to allow businesses to verify, manage, and edit their business profile directly in Google Search and Google Maps. So now all you have to do is simply search for your business’s name and you will be shown an option for claiming and verifying your Business Profile.
The new simplified profile management option makes it so much easier for local businesses to gain visibility in local search results. Once verified, you can go ahead and edit your business details simply by clicking on Edit your business information. You can also upload business photos and easily respond to customer reviews.
Because editing and managing changes are faster with this new feature, businesses that are proactive about making any changes to their business information give Google an important signal – it indicates that the business listing is more relevant.
This can help you build on your search engine optimization (SEO) and also enhance your chances of appearing in Google local 3-pack.
2. Customer Engagement Options
Customer engagement is key to building an online brand presence. You can do exactly that with your Google Business Profile listings.
Using Google My Business listings, business owners already had the option of messaging customers and responding to reviews.
Taking customer engagement to a new level, Google introduced a call history feature specifically for US and Canada-based businesses. This new feature allows you to see a list of calls you’ve either answered or initiated or even look at calls you might have missed directly from your Google account.
In addition, you can easily send and receive messages directly from Search.
The idea is to allow businesses to engage in a more meaningful way with their customers to drive booth customer service and build brand engagement – two of the most powerful tools to boost lead engagement for local businesses.
3. Take Advantage of the Performance Planner Tool
Google has introduced the new Performance Planner tool that allows you to not only plan advertising campaigns, but the tool also displays the impact of your advertising campaigns on your performance and key metrics. To use the performance planner tool, all you need to do is to connect your Business Profile account with Google Ads.
The Performance Planner tool can go through and evaluate billions of queries in a single day. It can create simulations of relevant ad auctions to collect data and provide forecasts.
The performance planner tool allows you to manage your budget, evaluate your campaign forecasts, understand possible outcomes, and easily identify new campaign and promotional opportunities that are the most relevant to your target audience.
4. Expanded Attributes
The best way to ensure potential customers understand your business is to complete all the applicable profile attributes. These profile attributes provide a detailed and personalized description of what your company has to offer.
The profile attributes that appear on your Google Business categories are subject to the type of business you run. However, there are a few attributes such as accessibility, payments, and service Options that are common to all businesses. A new Health & Safety attribute was recently introduced for businesses to inform customers about Covid safety measures including actions such as temperature checks and mask guidelines followed by the business.
There are a host of other profile attributes that you can use to personalize your business listing and make it more appealing to potential customers. However, as mentioned above, you should make sure that you fill out all your profile applicable attributes. In addition to optimizing your profile and helping boost your local SEO, applicable attributes make it easier for potential customers to connect with the most relevant search results.
To Warp Up
Setting up your Google Business listing is rather easy. But you need to take care to follow through with all of the specified guidelines laid down by Google – a misstep could easily lead to your account being suspended.
You can use the features mentioned in this article to optimize your Google Business listing in a manner that will boost lead generation. If used correctly, your Google Business listing can effectively enhance your online presence and help you attract new customers. If however, you find the process of creating and managing your Google Business listing challenging, you might want to consider enlisting the help of an industry expert. Knowing your profile is being properly managed gives you the peace of mind to focus on running other aspects of your business.
