What is Google my business listing? How it will benefit your hotel?
Hotels are moving their business online and what’s better than Google My Business listing.
People use Google to search for a variety of information. Undoubtedly, it is one of the largest search engines.
And Google My Business listing is one of its features that helps your hotel to boost its sales and acts as a complementary channel of communication.
Google My Business is easy to use and free of cost tool that makes a huge difference in your hotel business.
It not only increases opportunities for SEO but also increases recognition of your hotel among people.
Let’s understand about Google My Business listing and its various feature which will benefit your business.
Google My Business Listing
Google My Business is easy to use and free tool that helps in your businesses promotion on both Google search and maps.
When you create a profile in Google My Business, it gives you presence in Google.
So, when people search for your business, they can easily find it on Google My Business.
Thus, enabling you to ease in connecting with customers, respond to reviews and update your business details.
If you have a business website, then google business profile will complement it by providing more exposure to your current business page.
But, if you don’t have a business website, then don’t worry as when you sign-up for Google My Business account.
The website creator will take the information from the Business Profile and create a professional website.
Benefits of listing your business in Google My Business
Google My Business is economical.
Listing your business on Google My Business is free of cost.
So you don’t have to calculate your budget or spend a single penny on it.
Hence, you can easily promote your business among potential customers on one of the big search engines.
The customers with ease operate it, get details about opening and closing time, website, directions, etc.
Eventually, it builds your brand and relationship with customers.
Then, why to look somewhere else, when you can have such a valuable resource at free.
Use of “Near me” searches
Last few years have seen vast growth in “near me” searches.
By enabling GPS in mobile devices, Google can easily detect the current location and provide relevant search result.
Hence, to appear on near me searches, you must list your hotel on Google My Business and fill in the authentic details to optimize it.
The guest is most likely to have a fast, simple booking attitude when a ‘near me’ hotel search is carried out.
So, when your profile is ready on Google My Business, you increase your chances of getting more business.
Reviews boost your bookings
Online ratings and reviews can reach millions of people, enabling to improve hotel credibility, it’s ranking and conversion rates.
When you list your hotel on Google My Business, your dedication to provide fulfilling services to your customers will show off.
A large number of people depends on these reviews before booking a room.
So, ratings and feedbacks play a significant role when interested guests are looking for a stay by bringing more exposure to prospective visitors.
Don’t worry about negative reviews, respond well to them, and people will find your hotel to be authentic and responsive to guests needs.
Google posts
Your hotel can also use a tool like Google posts.
Posts are a way to promote the latest updates like news, offers, announcements, etc.
Providing additional ways for hoteliers to keep in touch with prospective customers, these updates will show up in Google Search and Maps.
Further, it allows businesses to share content directly on the results pages of the search engine.
Thus, give your hotel an additional push.
Google posts don’t work well with Google Analytics, so it’s better for you to apply UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) codes to your posts.
Use images of high resolution and keep on updating posts as their lifespan is of seven days.
Gives insights that help your hotel business
Google My Business not just promote your hotel business but also allows you to understand the market.
By using it, you can easily access your statistics like the number of views of hotel profile, images and posts.
Also, it shows the number of visits on your website link. It also has a section that shows the people who are following you.
You can check their age groups, gender, the countries they belong from, etc.
Hence, you can understand the effectiveness of your business strategies and whether they are working on your favour or not.
Thus, enabling you to build a campaign, create strategies and make decisions accordingly.
Other benefits
Messaging feature
You can enable the messaging feature from Google My Business dashboard.
And it allows you to directly chat with those who find your profile on Google.
Hence, you can easily assist them and boost your conversions.
Note-Google urges users to avoid exchanging sensitive details through the messaging feature, such as credit cards, social security details or login credentials.
You may simply keep this functionality switched off if messaging does not fit with your business.
Videos
You can showcase your hotel services through videos of a maximum length of 30 seconds on it. The videos are shot in your hotel environment.
Guidelines for Google Business Video include video max length of 30 seconds, the max file size of 100 megabytes and the minimum resolution of the video is 720p.
Google posts, offers, products and events support videos.
Insights from Google My Business heat map
The heat map displays the most common places where individuals inquire for directions to your address from Google Maps.
This knowledge gives owners the opportunity to discover untapped geographical areas where the business can probably grow.
Conclusion
From above you can understand the benefits which you can derive from Google My Business listing.
It is free of cost, easy to use, boost your bookings, improve your ranking in SEO and much more.
So, what are you waiting for? Create your profile and enjoy the benefits.
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If you want to learn about the functionality of QloApps then you can visit this link: QLO Reservation System – Free Open-Source Hotel Booking & Reservation System
In case of any query, issue or requirement please feel free to raise it on QloApps Forum