According to an Ahrefs report, around 76% of smartphone users use a search engine to look for a nearby business they may visit in one or two days. Therefore, optimizing your business's search engine ranking for local keywords will attract more potential buyers. Moreover, local search optimization will provide better brand exposure for your business.

Google My Business and Local SEO

Google My Business (GMB) is a crucial part of a local SEO campaign. Every business must have a GMB profile to improve local exposure. Many experts often analyze Google My Business Insights and come up with fascinating facts. According to a study on 45,000 GMB listings across 36 countries, around 5% of the Google My Business views convert into website visits, phone calls, emails, etc.

A business with a well-optimized Google My Business profile can rapidly increase the number of views on its GMB profile. You will get more potential buyers for your business with increased visibility. Enterprises need professional and reliable local SEO services to optimize their Google My Business listings.

How Can People View Your Google My Business Listing?

People can view your business's GMB listing in three ways. Firstly, they can find your business if they search for anything related to it on Google. However, Google shows only the top three Google My Business listing ranks when searching for something on Google. Therefore, your GMB listing should be well-optimized and contain information that appears in the first three positions.

In most cases, it is difficult for a newly launched business to appear in the first three ranks of the GMB listing. Google prioritizes the listed businesses that have a good number of positive customer reviews. However, there is nothing to worry about if your business does not appear in the first three ranks of the GMB listing. Many users click on "More Places" to explore more companies listed in GMB.

Besides these two methods, people can also find your business through your Google My Business listing using Google Maps. Whenever a person searches for your business on the map, Google Maps pops up your GMB listing data on the user's screen.

The Impact of Google My Business on Local SEO

• 1. A Better Business Exposure for Local SEO Keywords

Running an SEO campaign is about building strategies to achieve first-page rankings in Google for certain keywords. The keywords for local SEO campaigns typically come with location, such as city, region, country, etc.

Local keyword competition is low, though most businesses have started investing time and money in local keyword research and local SEO campaign management. As a result, competition is rising, and obtaining the first page for a local SEO keyword has become difficult.

Businesses that cannot find a place on the first page of search results can become visible to Google users through Google My Business. More users prefer checking Google My Business listings nowadays rather than exploring the search page results to find a local business near them.

• 2. Easy to Locate Your Business

The Google My Business listing helps users locate your business accurately. A person needs a particular medicine immediately. What will the person do in such a case? He will visit the nearest store instead of a well-known faraway store.

Google My Business helps users find the nearest business to fulfill their needs. The leads a business obtains through Google My Business convert into buyers easily. Obtaining website traffic from search engine rankings does not fetch such high-quality leads.

• 3. Businesses Do Not Need a Website

In the past, running an SEO campaign without a business website was unthinkable. But, the scenario has changed drastically after the introduction of Google My Business. Nowadays, businesses can run and manage their local SEO campaigns without having a website.

Businesses can update the GMB listing with all the necessary information. Users can check the information and contact the business through phone calls or emails. Running a local SEO campaign becomes easy, hassle-free, and affordable for small enterprises with a Google My Business listing.

• 4. Direct Interaction with the Business

Google My Business provides a platform for direct interaction between a business and its customers. People who have purchased products or services from a particular business can leave feedback on the GMB. Businesses should focus on obtaining positive customer reviews to improve their local SEO visibility.

The companies with a high GMB rating come in the top three rankings of Google My Business for Google searches with local keywords related to those companies. Businesses can interact with customers who have left their reviews.

• 5. Stay Ahead in Competition

Many businesses that invest in local SEO campaigns still do not take Google My Business seriously. In such cases, you can stay one step ahead of your competitors by exploring the opportunity of increasing business exposure through GMB.

However, Google My Business has become integral to a local SEO campaign. But, optimizing the GMB listing for a local SEO campaign is not everyone's cup of tea. An informative and well-organized Google My Business listing will help your business march ahead of its rivals.

How Can You Optimize Your Google My Business Listing?

For optimizing the Google My Business listing, a business should keep three crucial things in mind. In the following section, you can find those three things in detail.

• Optimize for Distance: You need to optimize your business's GMB listing according to your business location. Adding business locations correctly will help you in this regard.
• Optimize for Relevance: When Will Your Business Appear in the GMB Listing? You need to optimize relevance by using crucial keywords related to your business.
• Optimize for Prominence: Businesses need to encourage buyers to leave GMB feedback. Getting more reviews improves your Google My Business exposure.

Google My Business should be an integral part of a local SEO campaign. The success of your local SEO campaign largely depends on the quality of the GMB listing. Businesses must find SEO experts to create, update, and manage their Google My Business listing. Visit Telcopl for professional local SEO campaign management and Google My Business listing optimization services.