Anticipating Local Clients’ Needs With Google My Business

This is not a post on how to optimize your local business for Google search with Google My Business.

It’s about making sense of scary jargon and buzz terms you hear and understanding crucial marketing trends and statistics.

It’s also about adapting to changing customers lifestyle and helping them choose to walk into your local shop.

Anticipating local clients when you are ready is a nice state to be in. And you get ready with something called “Google My Business.

Google Going Local and Mobile

Here are some interesting results I get from entering “local search” into the Google search bar. It tells me:

1. One in three searches have local intent

2. 63 percent use multiple devices to find a local business ; 79% of these are mobile users

3. 78 percent Of Local-Mobile Searches Result In Offline Purchases

That tells me that many people search for results within a geographical location.

Many people are using mobile devices when doing these search. That could be because they are on the go and are probably in a rush while doing these searches. That normally also translates into users having short attention span and expecting instant, clear results as they need the information “right now”.

What does this mean for local and small businesses? To adapt to customers’ changing lifestyle:

• You need a local online presence even if you are an offline, local small business because there’s where people are looking for you.

• You need a website that would load in less than 3 seconds (people are impatient and data plans are expensive) and show important information clearly on the first page.This is generally referred to as a “mobile friendly” website or a “responsive” site. It has links that can be tapped easily with your thumb or fingers. Preferably you don’t have to squint to see the information on your site and actions can be performed by tapping instead of typing.And if you’ll need to have a mobile friendly online page, like a “Google My Business” Page (more details below)

• Not showing up on local searches will hurt your business badly

Business Owners: Two Questions To Ask

Here are a couple of questions you need to ask yourself if you own a location based business (those with a physical store front , like child enrichment centers, training centers, educational institutes, restaurants, auto service establishments, and art centers, salons would fall into this category etc).

Q1: Is your local business showing up on Google searches, or on the Google map?

Q2: What are you doing to get ready for this trend?

Here’s what happens when I do a search on restaurant in Eagle Town Colorado and this is what comes up.

Note that I was not searching for any particular brand but I did want to look for a nearby restaurant.

I was searching for a category of services in a local area. And this is what comes up after the paid search results.

I was then introduced to some new restaurants. These “search results” are laid out above the normal search results and they provide a lot of visual information about each businesses. They draw your attention. You see:

1. Business Website Link


2. Business name, address and phone number


3. Reviews and rating, plus something called a Google+ page (more on this later)


4. And if you hover over the entry, you see more drilled down information about the business: it’s location, a photograph of the business which shows the genre and ambiance, as well as details reviews

Google My Business

This Google My Business Page is free to set up and something that local businesses should use so they can tap into visitors who are on the go and probably using mobile devices.

78% of local searches on mobile devices turned into purchases” (Source: Search Engine Land)

http://ift.tt/15q0fLE Original Video at YouTube here

An Additional Online Identity

For small businesses, showing up with an additional online identity is a plus. You show up just in time, with the relevant and important information to people looking for the service you provide.

You facilitated their decision making process and made it easy for them to walk into your shop – if you provide enough relevant information. That increases the chance of driving foot traffic to your shop.

Google My Business For Local Businesses With Physical Storefront

The Google+ link you see on the image above is sometimes refereed to as a “Google My Business ” page. It is a page that is part of Google Plus , which is part of the Google ecosystem.

When you set up (or claim) your Google My Business page they show up on

1. Google searches (any search you do using Google.com)


2. Google Map searches (any searches done on Google Maps search)


3. Google Plus searches (searches done on Google Plus)

Not bad for one set up.

Now you are showing to customers who are not even consciously looking for you. It helps create brand awareness, provides contextual search results, and may bring in additional traffic

Google Provides An Online Friendly Presence For Small Businesses

In the video above, you can see photos and star reviews of the local businesses. First impression counts. They help businesses stand out from the normal searches.

Understandably, businesses with 5-star reviews and those with more reviews will get clicked more often. And if you have a Google+ Page (as seen 0:20 minutes into the video and specifically at 0:27), you are further extending your invitation to prospects and visitors to check out your store.

Local Events and Happenings

Another thing for local businesses to note is that local businesses can easily capitalize on local events as these will mean more visitors.

For example, if you have an international exhibition, an important international games or a world ski championship happening (as is the case shows in the video), you’ll want to get your business page ready to show up to a definite increase in search traffic.

The example used in this video is of local businesses who see the importance of showing up on the Google Map. They are ready for visitors coming to the World Ski Championship happening at Vail/Beaker Creek 2015. But it is takes more than just claiming a page to show up on searches, of course.

Here’s Actionable Steps for Small Local Businesses

1. Localize your business – Claim or set it up


2. Optimize it – Add in relevant and important information or it won’t be helpful


3. Socialize it – Use it to connect with prospects and customers

It is crucial that you claim and optimize your local business and then use that to engage with prospects, visitors and clients. You’ll also need to respond to reviews, connect with your customers and share what’s happening at your store.

Imagine letting business pass by because visitors were not aware of your store because it did not show up on their search?

Set aside some time to set this up or get someone to help you set it up and not be left behind. Your visitors and customers are embracing new habits and new lifestyles, businesses would need to adapt to survive.

Anticipating Local Clients’ Needs With Google My Business