Why is having a Google Business Profile important? How can it help to grow my local business?

Opportunities and Traffic

Google remains the world’s most used search engine with an over 90% share of the market. 46% of Google’s two trillion searches per year are local searches with local intent. Even with the growth of social media, consumers with what is known as “buyer intent” still use Google as their go to when they are looking to commit. Most people do not open up Facebook or Instagram with the intent of finding an accountant, a chiropractor, or service contractor, just to name a few examples. They open these platforms and other social media channels to browse videos, communicate socially and casually browse. That’s not to say that some do not use social media with some type of buyer intent, but when consumers are actively seeking a service, service provider, or are looking for a business “right now” (buyer intent), the large majority of those consumers use Google. SEO (Search Engine Optimization), which is utilized in both local and organic search strategies is the largest driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by more than 300%. 

What does this all mean? There is a significant amount of opportunity within the local search market that businesses can capitalize on to grow their business and their digital real estate (their business website and GBP). At BOLD VISION SEO, we use the term “digital real estate” regularly, because in essence, which is exactly what your business website, GBP, and areas on the website that are allocated to your business are. Just like a physical home, your website is your property. It’s imperative that it is built on a proper foundation and regularly maintained.

Buyer Behavior and Intent

• “Open now near me” searches have skyrocketed 400% over prior years.
• Map apps drive 30-40% of local business discovery.
• 97% of people learn more about a local company online than anywhere else.
• 49% of users say they use Google to discover or find a new item or product.
• 62% of consumers will disregard a business if they can’t find them online.
• 90% of consumers who search for a local business will make a purchase within one week of their initial search.

So, what does this tell us? A few things. That the Google Maps app is extremely important for your business’s visibility and promotion and that users are using the Google platform more frequently and regularly than ever before. More and more consumers are opening up Google and searching for businesses that are local to them. Additionally, most consumers do not necessarily have a specific business in mind when they are searching so again, there are significant opportunities that exist to be seized upon.  “Even if a consumer does not make a purchase immediately, 90 percent will make a purchase within one week of their initial search.” 90%! That’s a pretty significant figure and is a great indicator of the importance of increasing your business’ online visibility within local search results. Finally, with 62% of consumers indicating that they disregard a business that cannot be found online, so having and maintaining a comprehensive and optimized presence online is imperative to the success of any local business.