Do You Need A Website For Google Business Profile

In the modern world of small business ownership, having an online presence is no longer costly, nor is it any less important. We hear a lot from business owners asking if they can get away with just a Google Business Profile listing, or if they need a website as well.

The answer to this question depends on your goals for your business and what you want to accomplish with your site.

If you are looking to drive more traffic to your store, then yes, you need a website. But if you’re looking to simply have a place where people can find out about your business, a Google Business Profile listing will do that just fine.

The first thing you should know about Google Business Profile is that it is not a standalone service. It is part of Google Search. So if you don’t already use Google Search, you won’t be able to access Google Business Profile unless you also sign up for Google Search. This means that you must have a Google account in order to set up your Google My Business listing.

Hence, you do not need a website for Google Business Profile. However, there’s a catch. 

Having a business website is much more crucial these days due to increased competition on Google local listings as well as search results pages. If you’re not ranking high enough on Google Maps, Google may remove your listing altogether.

So, if you don’t have a website yet, now would be a good time to start building one.

Benefits of Having A Website For Google Business Profile:

Simply having a Google Business Profile won’t be beneficial for your business. We listed 6 benefits that you can get with a website in sync with Google Business Profile.

 

Better SEO

Website assists you to get to implementing an in-depth SEO strategy for your business. SEO and Google Business Profile go hand in hand. Once you add your website to your business profile you get traffic via a local search that improves your overall local SEO. You can implement various SEO strategies on your website by creating new pages to target different user queries.

You can also create a blog to cover informational topics and make a stronger SEO contender. Blogs can bring you tons of traffic and sharing posts on GMB will make the cherry on the cake!

Get More Traffic

A website has its own URL which makes it easier to share links and increase traffic. Also, when someone clicks on a link, they land directly on your website. A website gives you a chance to increase your visibility on the web. Your website can help you generate leads and sales. As soon as your website gets indexed by Google, it will appear in the SERPs. More visitors mean more opportunities to sell your products and services.

When you add your website to your Google Business Profile you get more traffic if your profile is ranking in the local map pack. So Google my business aids you in getting more local traffic and hence improving your local SEO. 

More Opportunities To Sell Products And Services

Once you have a website, you’ll have many opportunities to sell your products or services online. With a website, you can easily display your product catalog and provide information regarding your services. You can even offer special deals and discounts through your website.

As mentioned earlier, once your website gets indexed by google, it appears in the local maps. Hence, you can get more customers from nearby areas.

Improved Brand Awareness

When you create a website for your business, you make sure that all your content is consistent across different platforms. This helps improve your branding and consistency. With your website on Google My Business, users come to know that you really focus on your brand and its services. You should think about adding high-quality images and videos, testimonials, employee profiles, and the history of your business to your website so your customers get a sense of genuineness from your brand.

Keep your Google My Business activity updated, as this signals you are an active brand that is consistently updating its industry services or information.

Increased Conversions

Your website can help you improve conversions. When users visit your website, they can easily learn about your product and services. They can also check out what other people say about your company. All these factors help them decide whether to buy your products or services.

Google My Business allows you to create landing pages for each service/product offered by your business. Landing pages are optimized for mobile devices and allow you to collect contact details from potential customers. It’s important to note that Google doesn’t give any preference to websites over apps. However, the latter is better than nothing.

Gives You a Competitive Advantage

It has been found that over half of small businesses have a website. If your company does not have a website but your competitor does, a prospective customer can visit your competitor’s site and find out almost everything they need to know about your company. 

There’s a good chance that they’ll be able to do all of this and more on the site of your competitor. It is true that you won’t be able to serve and delight your customers if you only have a Google My Business listing. But that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t have it. Besides that, it is also possible to gather their contact information in order to keep in touch and encourage them to return in the future.  

There is a trend nowadays for users to pay more attention to listings that are linked to a website. If that is not the case, it is quite likely that they will turn to other competitors to check out the services or products they need.

Google Business Profile & Website: Best of Both Worlds!

Listing your business on Google My Business is an integral part of your overall website’s digital marketing strategy. Certainly, websites are an extremely significant part of a successful marketing campaign. However, they are also the glue that ties it all together, so I believe that they have equal importance. A website represents your brand and allows you to communicate directly with your customers. A newsletter allows you to inform, delight, engage and stay in touch with old and new customers alike. 

The best thing about having both a website and a Google My Business account is that you can use the two to complement one another. The website is where you want your visitors to land when they search for your business name. Your Google My Business page is where you want them to stay after they find you. 

You can even set up automatic email campaigns to notify your customers whenever there is a change in your business.

How To Get Started?

If you haven’t already done so, sign up for Google My Business. Once you’ve signed up, you’ll receive a verification code via text message or e-mail. Enter that into the “Verify” section at the top right corner of your Google My Business dashboard.

Once verified, you’re ready to start building your profile. Start by entering your address and phone number. Then add photos of your business.

But there’s more than just creating a GMB profile. Our Google My Business Optimization services are focused on improving your Google Business Profile listing with a focus on local citations and signals to get more local pack rankings. Grab Our One-Time Google Business Profile Optimization