The important is local SEO for businesses around the world is about to scale up massively in 2020. Google is now getting ready to monetize one of the essential tools for SEO we have: Google My Business (GMB).
In this article, we will cover the importance of Google My Business SEO, and how it can help you scale out your local SEO and gain significant revenue on the back of that, by focusing on local markets.
Also, the relevancy of Google My Business when it comes to beat the competition. If you want to become the #1 option in your local market, then you must get Google My Business Premium as soon as it gets available.
Google My Business Going Premium?
It has been announced that Google will release Google My Business Premium soon, and there was a survey about it, you can check it here, It is not active at the time of writing, but they might bring back again.
Google My Business Premium will include:
- Google Customer Support – Access to a dedicated team of Google employees. Who can help you when it comes to any queries, technical support, and general questions.
- Display video on your GMB profile – You will have the chance to add a video directly on your business profile.
- Featured review placement – Featured excellent positive reviews in a slot on your GMB profile.
- Instant quotes – Providing an immediate response to your visitors quoting’s requests. Now the companies will get the chance to fix this based on various details given about the service.
- No ads on your business profile – no Google ads from other firms will appear on your Google My Business profile.
- Book button -Inside your GMBAccount where visitors can get an immediate availability and book an appointment with your business. This feature can be useful when your business is trying to attract clients directly from Google My Business Listings. Similar to other booking tools, it will sync with an existing calendar.
- Map Pin Promoted – Featured in Google Maps when a visitor comes searching for a business like yours in your area.
- Verified Bookings – Google records several bookings coming from your profile and displays them to potential clients to build more trust in your products.
- Message response in Auto – Preload possible answers to the frequently asked questions and Google will auto-send them to the customers using the messaging platform.
- Promote your “Book” button – Bringing the opportunity of displaying the Book Button in your Google search results and your main GMB profile.
- Background checks – A background check on your business will occur and get displayed in your profile results to show potential customers you’re a legit business.
- Showcase verified licenses – For brokers firms and related, Google confirms the licenses and shows customers your certifications and if they are up-to-date.
- Access leads from competitors’ profiles – When visitors are the competitor page offering similar products to yours, Google will also show your business to the visitor. They will get the chance to message you too.
- Request a Quote – Your clients might request a direct quote from Google, and you will get the message with the information as if they were getting converted on your website.
- Google guarantee – Your business will have a “trust” badge from google to display on your Google My Business profile. When a customer gets no satisfied with the product or service they got from you; now, Google will return them their money.
- Offers – You will have the opportunity to promote new offers.
- Customer Reviews Verified – Google will now verify all customer reviews to make sure they’ve used your product or service. They aim to build trustworthiness using your prospects and confirm that positive reviews came from real, satisfied customers.
- Call reports and recordings – After a client calls to your business using your Google My Business profile, now Google will record a call and give you access to the reports on your calls.
- Automated responses for reviews – Pre-record Answers to clients when they leave a review on your GMB Account showing them you’re there for them.
- Google search results place – Near to the top of the list in Google search results, there is where your business will get displayed (not clear whether it will appear as standard Google Ads or in the Google My Business right-hand ).
How Can This Affect Our Local SEO?
Will Google My Business Premium represents a “pay to win” opportunity? If it does, what should it offer ?
The premium for Google My Business users is an opportunity to rank any business locally and faster. It can also be a good incentive for customers to sign up and stay because Google now is adding a lot of new features aiming to increase leads conversions and CTR. And you might know by now; these are ranking factors as well as KPIs for any business. A lot of these potential features could prove highly valuable to businesses and SEO. And you like it or not, for your competitors too.
Local businesses could feel the heat when larger competitors decide they want leads from their competitor profiles. They could start doing the same on their website too. The takeaway here is to do it as soon as it gets available.
Some features suggested are available elsewhere, like call tracking and reporting mechanisms. If you are in digital marketing, you might be aware of that. To benefit from those features, you have to know that Google would require additional work to make sure it works for everyone.
Google My Business is free, today and after the launch of these features described above. Additionally, people with businesses will get the chance to upgrade their Google My Business Profiles and take advantage of these features. When they do roll out, the paid features are not if they are for sure the will. They could significantly impact Local SEO by adding additional “pay-to-play” features to give users a leg up on their competition.
Check this Video to get Important insights about this new Google My Business Premium Feature:
Key Takeaway
GMB Premium represents a brilliant opportunity Google is about to put on the hands of business owners. If you want your business to generate more revenue and more business in the long run, you need to get Premium on your Good My Business Profile.
GMB Premium will also represent a lot of revenue for Google, but this is legit, and it keeps the internet business rolling. So keep your eyes open. I hope I have convinced you how important it is to take advantage of these new features. I would love to hear your thoughts on it in the comment section below.
Sources:
- SEOTwist
- SearchEngineJournal
- SearchEngineLand
- Support Google
