Did you know that, besides being a directory listing on the web for your business, your Google Business Profile (GBP) can help your business make more money? With all the features that GBP provides, your profile goes beyond just being a Yellow Pages-style listing. It can help you pinpoint your target customer base and figure out how to best reach and serve them. Let’s check out a few ways how!

Cost: Free!

Kicking things off, one of the best things about Google Business Profile is that it’s absolutely free to use–no catch! That means that your business can show up in Google search results and Google Maps where millions of users are searching for businesses for their needs without you spending a dime on ads. This leaves more money in your budget to use if you want to run ads in the future. Even better, it’s super easy to use and optimize!

Fully Optimize your Profile

GBP offers many great features to help your business, but it only works if you do your part in setting up your profile. Fortunately, this is easy to do! Google guides you through the simple steps but it’s important that you take the time to fill everything out completely. This will ensure that your profile brings in the customer traffic that you’re looking for.

Reviews and Social Proof

One of the most important features of Google Business Profile is the ability for customers to leave reviews, along with photos and video. The more reviews you get, the more credibility your business will have and the higher the likelihood it will show up in search and Google Map results for potential customers to find. So it’s a good idea to ask customers (especially happy ones!) to leave a review after they’ve made a purchase or used your service.

Data and Analytics

Probably the coolest feature of GBP–and what really sets it apart from old phone book-style records–is the amount of data about your customers that’s at your fingertips. The information this provides is almost unlimited, from how customers find your business, to what days of the week they search, to how they contact you, and much more! This information will prove incredibly valuable for advertising and positioning your business online, so you can bring in more of the type of customers you’re looking for.

Brings in Traffic, both In-person and Online

Perhaps most importantly, all of these features help bring traffic to your business, which is really your goal at the end of the day! Using your free, no-hassle, fully-optimized profile, you will become more informed about your ideal customer and their behaviors, and the best ways to reach them so that you are using your time and money wisely.

Need more proof? Here are some fun stats:

• According to Google itself, potential customers are nearly 3 times more likely to view your business as trustworthy (and therefore worthy of their money) if your profile is completely filled out.
• Further, if your profile is complete, that means customers will be 70% more likely to check out your business in person, and 50% more likely to consider making a purchase. So, in other words: don’t skip this!
• Regarding reviews: don’t just encourage them, respond to them too! According to Google, customers are almost twice as likely to trust a business that responds to reviews from their customers (both positive and negative).