Of course it has an acronym - GBP
What is it?
It's your online business card.
Provided by Google but other search engines have their own version. Google, being the #1 search engine, is the one you should work on first.
And why should you spend time creating one?
Because,
1. It's the best way to get found, especially on mobile. This is known as local SEO.
2. It's highly likely your competitors have one. You're missing out if you don't.
3. It's free, except for the time it takes to create and maintain.
Google wants people to find you. They provide a free service to make this happen, called Google Business Profile.
It's the information that is displayed on the right side of the page. That's if you have created your own GBP.
If you haven't, google may try and create it for you, or nothing appears.
Nobody wants that to happen.
If you're not taking advantage of this free tool, it's a missed opportunity to promote yourself. And there aren't many free opportunities like this.
Without optimizing your GBP, you could be losing out on the opportunity to teach people about you, leave a good brand impression or if you have a location, visiting you.
The original idea behind Google My Business (former name of Google Business Profile) was for location based businesses to be physically found. Think of restaurants, bars, shops etc.
Then services like trade companies - plumbers, electricians etc - got in on the act.
Now most business, whether they are a product, location, service, can and should create a GBP.
A GBP is a collection of fields that need to be filled in with text. Photos are important too, but text is what gets searched.
Most fields you're able to write your own words. If you're a location, there is the necessary information to help people connect with you - business name, location, hours of operation, accessibility.
But it's the fields that need you to be more creative that are your opportunity to promote your brand. These include your description, products, events, promotions, offers, questions and answers. And to some degree, you can control your reviews. By acknowledging and responding to reviews, you can take more control of the conversation with your customers.
I've done extensive research on the best written GBP's in the alcohol industry.
I can share these learning with you and together we can create the best GBP for your business.
It's not something to be scared of either. I love working on the GBP because it's full of quick wins.
You make a change to it and it shows up almost instantaneously. There aren't too many other things on the internet where the results are so immediate.
Want to learn more and see some examples of fully optimized Google Business Profiles?
