When creating your marketing Oklahoma City strategy, there are many tools and techniques to choose from. One helpful tool is a Google My Business account, or “GMB.” But what exactly is a GMB? To understand that and why you need one, it helps to learn about Business Profiles on Google.
Understanding GMBs and Business Profiles
Business Profiles (also called Business Listings and Google My Business Profiles) help brands of all sizes and industries gain more visibility on Google. When you create a profile, you enter your brand into one of the most prominent business directory listings. These profiles list details about your brand and appear in Google Maps and Google’s local search results.
When a Business Profile is made on its own, it can still share information on your brand, but you cannot update your hours, respond to reviews, create new posts, or otherwise use it. To actually get the most out of this useful tool, you or your marketing agency OKC must create a GMB account to manage it.
With a Google My Business account, you can claim ownership of your brand’s profile, gain management rights, and optimize the information to increase your visibility online. As such, it is an important aspect of managing your digital presence. GMB accounts are easy to set up and free to create!
What to Know About GMBs for Marketing Oklahoma City
How Can You Use a GMB Effectively?
Through your GMB account, you can use your Business Profile to effectively market your brand by boosting visibility – especially on a local level. With this powerful marketing Oklahoma City tool, you can quickly and conveniently:
- Engage with your audience. With your GMB, you can answer customer questions and respond to reviews. You can also utilize direct messaging.
- Highlight your brand. Standard Business Profiles share only limited information. A GMB lets you share hours, website links, products, and more.
- Gain important insights. The dashboard can show your local search performance. It also compares your results to others within your industry.
Of course, for any of this to be possible, you need to properly optimize your Business Profile first. Start by linking your website, adding high-quality photos, and ensuring everything in the profile is completely up-to-date.
Does Your GMB Affect SEO for Marketing?
With proper management and content sharing, your Business Profile can become a powerful part of your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plan. Your GMB can be very helpful with SEO for marketing when:
- You target information correctly. Much like on-site content, your GMB-based SEO efforts should include relevant keywords so Google understands what you want to rank for. Make sure to incorporate these naturally and avoid keyword stuffing.
- You keep everything accurate. People visit your Business Profile to find essential information on your brand. Make sure all details on your account are correct, especially your hours, contact information, website links, and business attributes.
- You make sure to build trust. To achieve a high search engine ranking, you must prove your reliability to Google. Show that you are active by regularly uploading photos and publishing posts. You should also respond to reviews – good and bad.
Whether or not you specifically incorporate your GMB into your SEO plan, it can affect your traffic, so you should take care of your profile. A good Business Profile will highlight your brand’s quality, encouraging searchers to visit your website, which increases your traffic (thus boosting your search result ranking).
What Are Google My Business Posts?
“Posts” are just what they sound like – posts! These are included toward the bottom of your Business Profile, under your photos, reviews, description, and other essential details. Similar to the posts you share on social media platforms, these can include photos, videos, and more. Note that they need to stay within 1500 characters.
There are multiple types of posts that you or your marketing agency OKC can create. As a default, your GMB account will be able to make posts sharing updates, events, offers, FAQs, and more. Depending on your industry, specialty post types, like menus for restaurants or products for e-commerce retailers, may be available.
How Do You Create a GMB Account?
Remember: when you make your Business Profile, you do not automatically make a Google My Business account. To create a free GMB account, go to Google’s business site, click the “Manage now” button, and follow the steps from there. You should also note that you do not automatically gain control of your Business Profile by making a GMB account.
To start managing your Business Profile through your GMB, open up Google Maps and search for your brand. Once you go to the profile, you will see a link that allows you to claim your business (the wording varies; you may see something like “Own this business?” or “Claim this business”). After you follow the link, complete the process, and verify your information, Google will connect the profile to your GMB account.
Partner with Our Marketing Agency OKC
A lot goes into creating, running, and maintaining a successful marketing strategy. That is why our team is here to help. Get in touch to schedule a discovery meeting with myheartcreative. We are ready to discuss GMBs, SEO for marketing, and much more!
