In an effort to gain more visibility on Google, many businesses create a Google business listing (known officially as a Business Profile).

If you’re one such business owner, something you might not realise is that creating a Business Profile does not give you management over it, and you need those management and editing capabilities if you want your Business Profile to work for you as an effective SEO and lead generation tool.

So how do you gain management over your Google Business Profile? The answer is that, in addition to creating a free Business Profile, you must also separately create a free Google My Business account for that profile.

A Google My Business account is the only means by which you can claim ownership of your Business Profile, attain management rights to it, and unlock additional free features to increase your visibility on Google.

What is Google My Business?

As mentioned, Google My Business is a tool that enables you to manage and optimize your Business Profile on Google—which is one of many important business directory listings. So, to explain what Google Business Profile is and how it works, let’s first make sure we’re clear on what a Business Profile is.

Your Business Profile is Google’s term for your Google business listing. Business Profiles appear in Google Maps and in the local results of Google Search.

Creating a Business Profile is the same thing as adding a place to Google Maps which is something that anyone (including a random stranger or an automated listing generator) can do. All that Google requires is the business name, location, and category.

Once Google confirms it is not a duplicate, they will create the Business Profile for that location.

The Business Profile is then open to consumers to leave reviews, add photos, ask questions, and even answer questions.

The Business Profile may also get populated with information that Google pulls in from across the web.

How to use Google My Business for local marketing

We’ve established that Google My Business is not your Business Profile, but rather a tool by which you enhance your Business Profile to boost its visibility and effectiveness. Let’s cover the four core ways you can use this Google My Business to make your profile on Google listing a better local marketing tool.

1. Engage with Consumers

There are a lot of ways consumers can interact with your Business Profile, and you use your Google My Business account to engage back with them.

You can respond to reviews, answer questions, enable direct messaging, and set up associated alerts.

You can even use Google My Business to publish posts to your Business Profile, much like you would with Facebook and other social media platforms.

2. Highlight your Business

A Business Profile alone contains limited information about your business but through your Google My Business account dashboard, you can provide hours, a link to your website, products and pricing, attributes, and other details that make your business unique.

You will also use your Google My Business to make edits and updates as needed.

3. Gain Insights

You can use the Google My Business dashboard to gain key insights on your audience and local search performance. In the analytics tab of the platform, you can see the queries customers are using to find your Business Profile, whether they found you on Google Maps or Google Search, a breakdown of actions taken on your listing, and how your photos are performing compared to other profiles in your category.

4. Perform Local SEO

Just as Google has algorithms for ranking its ads and websites, it also has one for ranking Business Profiles.

Through your Google My Business dashboard, you can incorporate keywords into your Business Profile and perform other optimizations to help it rank in local results, which we’re going to cover next.

How to use Google My Business for SEO

Google Business Profiles are dynamic.

Not only do they change form based on platform, but Google will also prioritize sections of your profile according to the term that was searched as well as the type of information most important to consumers in your category. Even better, Google will embolden keywords in the content of your profile that it thinks are relevant.

But there needs to be information to prioritize and keywords to embolden in your profile in the first place. Just as you (or your agency) would use a content management system like WordPress to optimize your website for search engines, Google My Business is used to optimize your profile and expand your reach. How do you use Google My Business for local SEO?

Well, since optimising for Google is essentially optimizing for searchers, it all comes down to the same three things: targeting, quality of information, and trust.

Target your Information

To use Google My Business for SEO, make sure to incorporate relevant keywords into your Business Profile so you can tell Google what you’re trying to rank for.

Use them in your “from the business” description, your responses to reviews, your answers to questions, and in the posts you publish. Make sure to incorporate them naturally just as you would with any other SEO strategy.

Maintain Quality of Information

The completeness and accuracy of your Business Profile impacts its rank, so make sure to provide the requested information in every section of your Google My Business dashboard.

Especially important here is your contact information, special hours, and attributes.

Build Trust

The final approach to using Google My Business for SEO appeals to the trust component of Google’s algorithm.

Keep your information updated and accurate as your business evolves.

Keep a steady stream of reviews coming in and respond to them.

Also, signal to Google that you are active by regularly uploading photos and publishing posts to your Business Profile through Google My Business.

SEO is important for any business, but particularly for small businesses that can use local targeting to compete against large competitors on the SERP.

Google is making local SEO even easier with its robust Business Profiles, so a Google My Business account is essential for any business trying to maximize visibility in their local market.

How to sign up for Google My Business

A free tool that turns my Business Profile into a power marketer for my business? Where do I sign up?

To get a Google My Business account, go to google.com/business and click “Manage now,” which will take you through the steps of creating an account.

Remember, a Google My Business Account does not automatically create a Business Profile it gives you access to it and the ability to add more to it.

You will want to make sure you have an existing Business Profile to access.