In the world of search, your website has been taken down a notch. It used to be that your website was the end-all and be-all of your marketing efforts. These days, your Google My Business page is way more essential to your business.
As an example, I just performed a desktop search for “boston volvo”. On the left-hand side of the page are 3 paid ads, 2 of which are other Volvo dealers paying to be at or near the top of the list when someone searches for our Boston store. The other ad is one we actually have to pay for ourselves, so that when someone explicitly searches for our store our ad is near the top. Regular ole organic search results show up below the ads, and those all point to sites and pages related to Boston Volvo.
But on the right-hand side of our page shines our Google My Business listing, which is basically the new yellow pages (if you even remember what those are!). This area of the page shows images of our store, address and maps and directions, phone, hours, reviews and ratings, events, Q&A, and links out for relevant info. It is an important and effective resource, and it captures eyeballs way better than paid ads or organic search results.
For mobile search, the GMB info doesn’t make it to the top of the page – after all, GMB is free and paid ads take precedence in Google’s world – but the info is displayed effectively and does help direct people to our info.
As Google tweaks and refines and updates, GMB pages will continue to be essential, and for many businesses way more important than a website. It will be the way that customers find you and figure out how to do business with you.