Unlocking the Benefits of Google My Business: Is it Really Free?

Google Business Profile is a free business listing from Google that allows you to provide details and photos of your company, including your location, services and products. It is the platform on which Google My Business listings appear, and anyone can add a site to Google Maps at no cost. However, to gain control of that list, you must claim your business through a Google My Business account, which is also free. A Google My Business account is the only way to claim ownership of your business profile, gain administration rights, and unlock additional free features to increase your visibility on Google. You can add posts to your business profile to promote special offers, events and updates to keep customers informed. You can also have a profile if you are a hybrid company that serves customers at your company's address and visits or delivers directly to customers. Optimizing your Google My Business page takes time and effort, and keeping it up to date takes even longer. SEO is important for any business, but especially for small businesses that can use local segmentation to compete with big competitors in SERPs. Let's look at the four main ways you can use Google My Business to make your Google list profile a better local marketing tool. If you're already signed in to a Google Account, you'll be automatically signed in to Google Business Profile Manager. Creating a Google Business profile (formerly known as Google My Business) is an important way to attract new customers to your company through Google Search and Maps. Your profile information may appear in Google Search, Google Maps, and Google Shopping. This includes businesses with a physical location (such as a restaurant or store) and companies that provide services by meeting customers elsewhere (such as consultants or plumbers). Google specifically says that “companies with complete and accurate information are easier to find with the right searches. A complete business profile provides a complete snapshot of your business, including its best features, directly in the SERP. In an effort to gain more visibility on Google, many companies create a Google business listing (officially known as a company profile). Just as you (or your agency) would use a content management system like WordPress to optimize your website for search engines, Google My Business is used to optimize your profile and expand your reach. Updating images on your profile may affect search rankings since image search is an important part of Google search. It's safe to say that you should add images whenever you can. This post explains why you should update your Google business listing, when to make these updates, and the steps to make common changes and changes such as hours, phone number, categories, and attributes.