Now I know you've read the title and are thinking, is this clickbait? However I can assure you that it is not.
This article however, is written specifically with smaller brick and mortar businesses in mind. So if this doesn't apply to you, feel free to click away. Or stick around to learn something new. Read to the end to get something special from us.
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Still here? Great, let's begin.
Now, one of the first things a brick and mortar business owner is going to do when starting a new business is to set up their Google Business Listing. And that's absolutely essential as its the only way to get found on Google Maps, and also begin showing up on Google's Search Engine Result Page (SERP).
An optimised Google Business Listing plays a huge role in conveying crucial information to your potential customers - like your opening hours, what's on your menu, where you're located, whether you have a website etc.
Why Is Google My Business So Important?
If you haven't already set up a Google Business profile for your business, it is highly recommended to do so since it plays a huge role in helping you get found locally, and also to rank on Google's SERP.
1. It lets you get found in the first place.
Without a proper Google Business Profile, your business likely won't show up on Google. And with the world doing 3.5 billion Google searches per day, (that's half of the world population by the way) you're going to miss out on being found on the world's biggest Search Engine.
2. It lets you receive and reply to reviews.
Often when we search for a place to go to, we always always always read the reviews before we go. Not only does a Google Business Profile allow you to receive reviews, it allows you to respond to them.
A Harvard Study has shown that responding to reviews, both good and bad, helps improve the overall rating of your business over time. Responding to reviews builds up trust and shows your customers that you care. Research by Think With Google finds that 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
3. Boost your Google ranking
On top of proximity and relevance, Google's algorithm also takes into account the activity and quality of information on your Google My Business profile when ranking you. By having an optimised Google Business profile, it's sending signals to Google to rank you higher in local results.
4. Boost consumer confidence
By having a Google My Business profile, you are giving credibility to your business, and research has shown that customers are 70% more likely to visit businesses with a Google My Business listing.
Another study found that businesses with complete listings on Google are twice as likely to earn trust from customers.
And trust plays an essential role in making purchase decisions. The more confident a customer feels, the likelier they are to make a purchase. The credibility gained from Google is sufficient enough to convince people to be 38% more likely to visit your store, and 29% more likely to buy something.
Google My Business > Instagram
Now that we understand the importance of Google My Business, it's finally time to dive into what you came here to read.
Why you should be focusing your resources to optimise your Google Business Profile over Instagram/Facebook content.
1. You will most definitely receive more searches and views on Google than Instagram.
Assuming your Instagram profile has a respectable 3000 followers, every time you post you're likely only to reach your existing 3000 followers, with a small possibility that you appear in someone's Explore page. That brings your total reach to ~3500 if you're lucky, with no guarantee that you'll be converting off your posts.
Whereas on Google, there are potentially tens of thousands of searches for restaurants or cafes in Petaling Jaya per month alone. And this number is going to go up once CMCO is over, when life begins returning to normal and people are itching to go out to discover new places to eat again.
So you definitely want to be optimising the channel that is going to be helping you reach the most number of people.
2. People who search and discover you on Google are more likely to convert on the same day
Since searching on Google is very intent-driven, this means that users who specifically search for "salons near me" as an example, has the will and intention to do an action, like have a haircut.
And in some cases, they want to do it NOW.
Here are some statistics on how important this is:
46% of all Google Searches are looking for local information.
72% of consumers that did a local search visited a store within 8km.
88% of searches for local businesses on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours.
"Near me" or "Close by" type searches grew by more than 900% over two years.
3. When people are comparing a couple of similar alternative businesses, you're going to need to stand out.
Go ahead, pull up your phone right now, open up Google Maps, and search "cafes near me", and start scrolling. Which cafes are the ones standing out?
You might see some cafes with lots of reviews, and of course it goes without saying that highly reviewed places will be the first thing you'll look out for. But what's the next most important factor?
If you said photos, you're absolutely correct. This is what I see when I search for cafes near me and begun scrolling.
At a glance, one cafe immediately stands out to me. If you too were immediately drawn to Provisions, you are not alone.
Do you see how powerful photos can be? Now if you're a business owner, wouldn't you want to have the same effect on every potential customer?
This same concept applies to every type of business owner out there, it's not limited to the food industry at all.
Here's another example for "dentists near me", these 3 dentists all have similar ratings and number of reviews. So let's take a look at their photos, which dentist are you more likely to visit?
The listing that has a picture of their doorway? The listing that has a picture of teeth? Or the listing that has photos of their bright interior?
Dentist 1
Dentist 2
Dentist 3
4. You only need to invest in a couple of great photos for your Google Business Profile compared to Instagram
With just a one-off investment in a professional photographer, you can immediately put your profile ahead of your competitors. The best part? You won't need to invest in them again for a long long time.
You are future-proofing your listing, you are making a long-term investment that will pay itself off and more.
Instagram however, requires new content constantly. And if you aren't able to churn out high quality content consistently, it'll be a poorer use of your resources than just focusing on optimising your Google Business Profile.
But guess what? If you've hired that professional photographer to get your optimised Google Business photos, these same photos can then be posted on your Instagram, Facebook or even run as ads!
There's no better time to begin optimising your Google Business Profile than now.
If you've made it all the way down here, congratulations!
We at ALLCAPS Creative are more than happy to provide you with a FREE audit of your Google Business Profile and tell you exactly where and how you can optimise it. You deserve it.
Just drop us your email/phone number, and exactly what we should search on Google to find your business.
Here at ALLCAPS Creative, we are marketers first and foremost, so we understand how customers think and know how to tap into that.
We are creatives next, so we are fully capable of creating the very assets you'll need for any marketing purposes.
Tan Wey Kit
Head of Business Development/Marketing
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