Why 9/10 companies should focus on business listings instead of website building

People are today expecting to find and get information quicker than ever before. Business listings serve this exact need. Business listings, such as the Google Business Profiles, are a valuable source of information for searchers online looking for specific products or services.

A business listing shows critical business information, such as opening hours, address, phone number, and even offers and posts from the business. Without navigating a website, people can get a clear overview of a business by just looking at the business listing.

Business listings are essential for businesses that want to compete in their local market. In certain industries, business listings even get more views than websites. These businesses typically depend on local customers, such as restaurants, gas stations, and service providers, such as hairdressers or plumbers.

What is a business listing?

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Business listings are a summary of your business's essential information and serve as an important and powerful tool to help customers find your business online and in real life. Your business listing is the online storefront for your business. The more online directories that consistently and correctly list your business information, the more likely people will find your business.

Google holds around 90% of the whole search engine market share.

Google Business has been around for a long time. It has changed names a few times along the road, from Google Places to Google+, Google Local, and now, Google Business. Google has been putting a lot of focus and effort into Google Business Profiles during the past years, increasing the emphasis on them for every year that passes. The signal is clear. Google doesn't want to send people to websites if they don't have to. Instead, the zero-click search is gaining more and more space, intending to keep the searcher for as long as possible on the search engine.

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Zero-click searches and your business listings

Zero-click searches account for around 65 % of all search queries. ‍

Google wants to provide users with as much value as possible within the search engine without sending the searcher to a third-party website. This means that Google will prioritize showing information on the search engine or ads over third-party links.

This is where your business listings play a crucial role. The content of your business listings allows Google to ensure that your business shows up in the relevant searches. To be successful on Google, you can't just verify your profile and leave it there. You must frequently and systematically manage your listings to see the results and rank high on Google.

Get found by your customers

Your Google Business Profile is no longer optional and should be an essential part of your marketing strategy. Your Google Business Profile is the first thing customers see when looking for you online.

For example, as a restaurant owner, claiming your Google Business Profile is the most critical step to improving your local SEO ranking and showing up in the search results in your local area. Hungry customers want quick results when looking for a restaurant in their area. You can quickly grab the searcher's attention by building a compelling Google Business Profile.

Manage your online reputation

88% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.

The most important place to manage your online reputation is on reviews sites like Google Business or Yelp. You can engage with your customers and reply to positive and negative reviews through your business listings. Focusing on your business listings allows you to manage your online reputation on a new level. Taking your online reputation can elevate your brand's credibility and visibility online. Learn more about reviews on Google here.

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Free advertising space on Google

Your Google Business Profile is essentially free advertising on Google. A Google Business Profile is a form of fast and free advertising on Google. Optimizing your Google Business profile exposes you to the world's most used search engine without paying a dime. An optimized Google Business Profile is one of the main tools to boost your local SEO and rank online. The other alternative for getting to the top on Google is to run an ad. We're not saying that you shouldn't run ads. Google Ads are powerful when it comes to attracting new customers. However, you should ensure that your Google Profiles are optimized when running your Ads. These two go hand in hand.

To sum it up

Around 60% of smartphone users contact businesses through the Google Business Profile. Most shoppers have used it as a primary source of business information. You'll likely lose both trust and reputation if your business information is incorrect.

Setting up your business listings, and especially your Google Business Profile, is easy. As Google is putting more and more effort into keeping searches on the search engine, with answer boxes and related questions, the benefits of a Google Business Profile are only growing. Start managing your business listings today.

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