Google My Business is more important now than ever. Over the past few years, Google My Business has become a powerhouse for businesses looking to gain more exposure in the search engine results.
These 2022 statistics outlining just how powerful Google My Business can be for businesses is the only reason you need to start incorporating a Google My Business strategy into your digital marketing efforts.
With such clear data showing the impact Google My Business can have on the digital marketing campaigns for businesses worldwide, there is no reason why you shouldn’t claim your Google My Business listing today and get started on optimising your Google profile.
For those who are interested, you can explore our local SEO statistics for further reading on Google My Business and everything local SEO.
1. 93% of consumers search Google Maps to find a business.
Google users are searching Maps every single day to find local businesses.
With a businesses Google business profile being the only way they can appear within Maps, it is integral to ensure you have claimed your profile to appear within the Maps local search feature.
Local customers prefer working with businesses who are within their local community and area. It makes much more sense for a customer to engage the services of someone locally, and with 93% of consumers using Maps to find a local business – the message is clear.
Consumers want to work with businesses who are in their geographical location.
2. 91% of people read Google My Business reviews prior to contacting a local business.
Business reviews are integral to build trust with customers. With online reviews being such an important trust signal for Google users, it is paramount for companies to ensure they are getting business reviews on their Google profile.
While negative reviews can have a trust impact within the Google algorithm, negative reviews are natural and to be expected. It is highly recommended that you respond to negative reviews as well as positive reviews.
Google reviews show local customers that your business is trusted and active within the local community, and with 91% of users reading Google reviews, it is important your business receives them.
3. 51% of Google My Business profiles receive more than 1,000 views per month.
When it comes to small businesses, our metrics show that 51% of Google My Business accounts receive more than 1,000 views per month.
A Google Business profile breaks down its insights into two parts. There are search listings and maps listings. Search listings refers to when your business appears in the local pack, while Maps listing refers to when your business appears in the Maps section.
Google My Business will often have more reach than a businesses website within search engines, since Google is always looking to display geographically relevant companies.
A small businesses website will often deliver around 15-25% of the total traffic a Google My Business listing will, so this goes to show just how integral a Google My Business page can be for a small business struggling to obtain market share in their industry.
4. 60% of interactions on Google My Business are a website click.
When a Google My Business profile is viewed, 60% of the interactions completed are a website click.
With the average views of a Google business profile being 1,000 monthly views, this goes to show just how much more website traffic a website can receive off the back of a well optimised Google business profile.
When checking your Google Analytics metrics, you may see a portion of your overall website traffic coming from ‘Direct’ sources. When reviewing hundreds of different client profiles, we have found a strong correlation between a Google business profile listing being the main driver for ‘Direct’ website traffic.
There are additional ways to track the traffic coming through from your Google My Business profile, such as specific set-ups within the Google Analytics and Google Search Console to connect the data sets.
5. 45% of businesses receive appointment requests through Google My Business.
When establishing a Google Business Profile, you may be prompted (depending on the nature of your business and the nature of your business listing) to add an Appointments section.
When we complete Google Business Profile configuration for a client’s Google My Business profile we will either divert this to a calendar link or to the website’s contact form.
With 45% of businesses receiving appointment requests, generally for an initial consultation or a quote, it is integral for businesses to ensure they have completed the appointment section within their Google business listing properly.
Some Google consumers and users prefer to contact a number of businesses online before making a decision to jump on a phone call, so by having the appointment request functionality, you can be sure that your business is a contender for these ‘shyer’ local searchers.
6. 91% of a local businesses weekday calls can be attributed to their Google My Business page.
This is one of the most important statistics within our Google My Business statistics. A whopping 91% of weekday calls to a business can be attributed to their Google My Business page.
While some of these calls can be traced down to a simple Google search of customers trying to find contact details for a business they already know, a large number of these calls are from customers to small businesses that they are discovering for the first time.
Ensuring that the information in your Google My Business profile is up to date is now more important than ever.
By having up to date information in your Google My Business listing, businesses can expect a significant upward swing in phone calls through their Google business profile.
7. Negative Google reviews impact 45% of local consumers contacting a business.
A word of warning about negative feedback. It is crucial that small businesses ensure that their customers have a positive experience, otherwise this can drastically impact not only their rankings within the local pack, but can also impact customers getting in touch with them.
A report 45% of local customers will be affected by reviews that don’t paint a business in a positive light. It is integral to ensure businesses are receiving good feedback and improving customer satisfaction processes along the way.
Satisfied customers should be the goal for any business and this further goes to show why customer happiness is integral for every business owner.
8. 66% of Google users contacted a business based on its Google business profile.
A Google business profile will be one of the major marketing components for a small business. Through your Google business listing, businesses have the capacity to market themselves to 66% of Google users who specifically contact businesses based on their Google business profile.
With the Google search engine clearly favouring companies with a Google My Business presence, it is integral for direct searches to maintain your Google listing.
Google searches are clearly swaying towards finding a local company online and Google business accounts now contribute to 66% of the Google market share getting in touch with businesses.
With the ability to view all of the key data of a business in one place, such as reviews, contact information, photos and the address, it is really no surprise that a Google My Business profile is the preferred method for most Google users.
9. Accomodation and hotels are the highest viewed Google My Business profiles.
The travel industry has long been a titan when it comes to search engine market share. People search for accomodation and hotels everyday, typically in areas that aren’t within their own physical location.
Over the past 2 years, accomodation and hotels have been the highest viewed Google My Business accounts. This is across both discovery searches and the Google Maps app itself.
Car dealerships receive a large number as well, interestingly, and come in second across our agencies data when comparing them to the average business.
10. 59% of customers view Google My Business images before making a purchase.
While a website click may be the largest interaction on Google Business profiles, 59% of customers will view a Google My Business page’s photos before making a purchase.
Many businesses simply focus on ensuring their Google My Business profile has accurate up to date information, and while accurate information is definitely important, so are images.
Mobile searches contribute 80% of the total image views across all Google My Business profiles and go to show just how important uploading images to Google Business profiles is for your appearance within the local search results.
11. 51% of Google My Business profiles remain unclaimed.
This is quite a scary statistics within the Google My Business sphere, and further shows just how many businesses aren’t optimised for local search.
With 51% of Google My Business profiles remaining unclaimed, the average local business is missing out on a lot of potential customers. These unclaimed Google My Business profiles often don’t include the correct business location, operating hours, or even business name.
With Google My Business being completely free for all businesses, there is no reason why a local company should be missing out on this opportunity to increase their online visibility.
It is a simple and straightforward process to optimise a Google My Business page for local intent and just as easy to input a business description, accurate information and a correct business name to appear within local searches.
By inputting your business address, you can be rest assured knowing that Google has accurate business information within your Google My Business account.
12. 87% of users perform a daily Google search for local businesses.
More than ever, potential customers are combing Google to find local businesses. Google is the most trusted search engine in the market and users know that they can safely trust the recommendations that Google makes to them.
As we have covered above, local searches contribute a substantial amount of organic traffic to a local business. With 87% of Google users performing a search for a business, small businesses are exposed to a highly concentrated amount of potential customers.
The business listings section of Google is integral, and search results favour business listings to deliver the most relevant results for direct search.
It doesn’t matter if the search is coming from mobile devices or desktop computers, a whopping 87% of users are now looking for a local business in their area everyday.
13. 72% of Google users will prefer a business that is closer to their location on Google Maps.
A business’s location has a big impact on whether or not a potential customer will get in touch. Convenience and location are two integral factors in today’s world.
Most consumers prefer businesses that are closer to them for local services. This is why it is so important to include a physical address and accurate business information (including up to date business hours), since it can increase the amount of customers that get in touch with you.
As we’ve hammered home throughout all of these Google My Business statistics, accurate business information is critical. It takes no more than 5 minutes for a business to ensure their information is accurate and up to date across their Google My Business profile.
14. 65% of Google users will leave a Google My Business review if they have a positive experience.
As we have already outlined, customer satisfaction is crucial for business success. Some business owners think receiving positive reviews is difficult, but it doesn’t have to be.
Our Google My Business statistics show that 65% of Google users will leave a review if they have had a positive experience. These reviews don’t always come naturally, and we always recommend business owners have their processes in place to obtain these reviews.
While obtaining positive reviews isn’t necessarily under the banner of web fundamental best practices, it certainly is good for business, organic rankings and should never be skipped by business owners.
Business owners can view their Google My Business reviews from inside the Dashboard itself. Simply select the drop down menu on the left hand side of your Google My Business profile from the Dashboard and you can check all of your reviews. You are also able to flag, respond to and manage all of your Google reviews from this one place.
15. “Near Me” Google Maps searches have increased 900% in the past 24 months.
Not only have “Near Me” searches grown exponentially within the past 24 months in the search results, they have become one of the biggest overall contributors to website visits.
By having a properly optimised Google My Business profile, businesses can appear in the “Near Me” searches for local searches occurring near their businesses address. This captive market within close proximity to your business address can astronomically increase your overall conversions.
We have also observed success for businesses appearing in the “Near Me” searches by using Google Posts within their Google My Business profile that include location intent. There are also various other methods businesses can target location intent through Google My Business.
In 2022 and beyond, consumers are moving toward a much more “shop local” mentality, and they want businesses who are located near them. For a business looking to capitalise on this trend, appearing within the “Near Me” searches is highly beneficial.
16. Google My Business views and metrics contribute to 75% of a local businesses monthly exposure online.
With the overall cost of Google Ads becoming more and more expensive, and social media marketing becoming oversaturated, Google My Business is now responsible for 75% of a businesses monthly exposure.
Since a Google My Business profile ties directly in with search marketing efforts and overall search engine optimisation, it can be expected that a Google My Business listing has this effect on a business.
Increasingly popular due to the high demand, low barrier to entry and completely free set-up – a Google My Business is a must for any business and these statistics just go to show how powerful a Google My Business listing is.
Google My Business Is Critical For Business
Hopefully we’ve been helpful in providing you insight into just how important Google My Business has become in the online marketing space.
These statistics have been interesting for us to analyse ourselves and go to show just how important a Google My Business profile is for marketing not only a business, but any website that wants local traffic.
As we move through 2022, it is clear that Google My Business is now more important than ever for businesses of all shapes and sizes.
From being one of the leading website traffic contributors to businesses to being the most highly engaged business marketing site, Google My Business should not be skipped by any business owner.
Working With The GMB Specialists
Since we work with businesses everyday, we understand the impact Google My Business can have on the overall digital marketing campaign for our clients.
Our local SEO services focus on ensuring a company’s Google My Business profile ties in seamlessly to their overall digital marketing and SEO campaign, to deliver the most relevant traffic.
It is not uncommon for our clients to receive tens of thousands of monthly views through their Google My Business listing. At Australian Web Experts, we love working with small businesses to ensure their Google My Business listing delivers them the results they need to push their business forward.
