As a business owner looking to boost awareness and drive sales, you need to get in the mind of your consumers.

It’s actually really easy, because you’re a consumer yourself (for other products and services). And usually, the first thing you do when seeking information about anything is… YOU GOOGLE IT!

A recently released SEO industry report by Moz on The Impact of Local Business Reviews on Consumer Behaviour, found that you’re amongst 97% of the population who also learn about a local business online.

Your businesses active presence on Google, particularly the quantity and quality of reviews, can determine whether your first impression is a clickable success or a blip in the doom scroll.

• 96% of your customers read reviews
• For gauging trust, 86% of consumers say reviews are either “the most” important or “somewhat” important factor
• 3 in 5 consumers require 4+ stars to consider doing business
• 70% of customers read 5-20 positive reviews before deciding a business is worth a try
• 79% of consumers spend the most time reading Google-based reviews compared to 49% on Facebook and 46% on Yelp

And to really send home the message that Google Reviews are an essential element to your marketing strategy, when a business succeeds in increasing its overall rating by one whole star (such as moving up from 3.0 to 4.0 stars), it can expect a 44% increase in Google Business Profile conversions. This is bind blowing stuff.

So, how can you optimise your Google My Business listing?

There are no hard and fast ranking factors to get the Google Local Business algorithm on your side, but here are three things you can do today to ensure your listing is in top-notch condition.

1. Complete your listing with current and accurate information, so customers can get fast answers to common questions like your location, contact info, opening hours, services and products.

2. Now make sure that information is consistent across all the search engines your business is present on, such as Google Maps, Facebook and Bing. Inconsistencies in this area can significantly affect your rankings in Local Search.

3. Post more photos to your listing and utilise Google’s new videos feature. Start by refreshing your photo gallery, then posting a 30 second video answering your company’s FAQs.

Want to know more about how you can become your consumers first choice? Boost your online businesses presence and hat to our expert SEM team about your next steps today.