Google My Business Insights & How To Use Them For SEO 2024

In today’s digital age, local SEO is crucial for businesses that want to attract customers searching online. Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that helps businesses manage their online presence across Google Search and Maps. One of the most valuable features of GMB is Google My Business Insights, a suite of analytics that provides businesses with valuable data about how customers are finding and interacting with their business profile.

This comprehensive guide will delve into Google My Business Insights, explaining what it is, the data it provides, and how businesses can leverage these insights to improve their local SEO and attract more customers.

What are Google My Business Insights?

Google My Business Insights is a collection of analytics tools within GMB that allows businesses to track how customers are finding and interacting with their GMB listing. This data can be incredibly valuable for businesses of all sizes, as it can help them understand what’s working well with their SEO strategy and identify areas for improvement.

Here’s a breakdown of the key metrics tracked by Google My Business Insights:

• Performance: This section provides an overview of how many people saw your business listing on Google Search and Maps, as well as the actions they took, such as requesting directions, making a phone call, or visiting your website.
• Discovery: This section breaks down where customers find your business listing. Did they find you through Google Search or Maps? Did they see your listing on a different website? Understanding how customers discover your business can help you refine your SEO strategy.
• Engagement: This section tracks how customers interact with your GMB listing, such as clicking on your photos or website, or reading and responding to reviews.
• Reach: This section shows how many people saw your GMB listing, including views on Google Search, Maps, and other Google properties.
• Direct actions: This section tracks the number of calls, bookings, or messages received through your GMB listing.
• Photos: This section shows how many people have viewed your business photos.
• Reviews: This section shows how many reviews your business has received, as well as the average star rating.

How to Access Google My Business Insights

Accessing Google My Business Insights is simple. Here’s how to do it:

1. Sign in to your Google My Business account.
2. Select the location you want to view insights for.
3. Click on the “Insights” tab.

Once you’re on the Insights dashboard, you’ll see a variety of metrics and charts that provide insights into how customers are finding and interacting with your business listing.

Using Google My Business Insights to Improve Local SEO

Now that you understand what Google My Business Insights are and how to access them, let’s explore how businesses can use these insights to improve their local SEO:

• Identify Keyword Trends: The “Discovery” section of Insights can help you identify the keywords that people are using to find your business. This information can be used to optimize your GMB listing and website content for these keywords.
• Track Customer Actions: The “Performance” section of Insights shows you what actions customers are taking after viewing your GMB listing. This data can help you understand what information is most important to potential customers and make sure your listing is providing that information.
• Encourage Reviews: Reviews are a major factor in local SEO ranking. The “Reviews” section of Insights allows you to track your review count and star rating. You can use this information to encourage customers to leave reviews by responding to existing reviews and following up with satisfied customers.
• Optimize Your GMB Listing: Based on the insights you gather, you can optimize your GMB listing to improve its visibility in search results. This includes keeping your business information up-to-date, adding high-quality photos and videos, and responding to reviews.
• Create Engaging Posts: GMB allows businesses to create posts that appear directly in search results. You can use the “Reach” metric in Insights to track how many people see your posts. By creating engaging posts that are relevant to your target audience, you can increase the reach of your GMB listing and attract more customers.
• Track Website Traffic: The “Performance” section of Insights can show you how many clicks your GMB listing generates to your website. You can use this data to track the effectiveness of your GMB listing in driving traffic to your website.
• Analyze Customer Behavior: By analyzing the data provided by Insights, you can gain valuable insights into customer behavior. For example, you can see which days and times customers are most likely to search for your business, or what type of devices they are using. This information can be used to tailor your marketing efforts to reach your target audience more effectively.

Here are some additional tips for using Google My Business Insights to improve your local SEO:

• Set Goals: Before diving into the data, it’s important to set clear goals for what you want to achieve with your local SEO efforts. This will help you focus your analysis and track your progress over time.
• Benchmark Your Performance: Track your key metrics over time to see how your local SEO is performing. You can also benchmark your performance against your competitors to see how you stack up.
• Take Action: Don’t just look at the data – use it to take action! Based on your insights, make changes to your GMB listing, website, or marketing strategy to improve your local SEO.

Beyond the Basics: Advanced Insights for Power Users

While the basic metrics provided by Google My Business Insights are valuable, there are also some advanced features that power users can leverage to gain even deeper insights into their local SEO performance.

• Compare Performance Over Time: You can compare your key metrics over different time periods to see how your local SEO is trending. This can help you identify areas where you’re making progress and areas where you need to improve.
• Filter by Location: If you have multiple business locations, you can filter your insights by location to see how each location is performing. This can be helpful for identifying locations that need additional attention.
• Customer Actions by Source: The “Performance” section allows you to see how many calls, messages, and website clicks were generated from Google Search and Google Maps. This can help you understand which platform is driving more customer engagement.
• Track Photo Performance: You can track how many times each of your business photos has been viewed. This can help you identify which photos are most engaging and replace any photos that are not performing well.

FAQs

1. How often should I check my Google My Business Insights?

There is no set frequency for checking your Insights. However, it’s a good idea to check them regularly, such as once a week or once a month, to track your progress and identify any trends.

2. Why are my views not translating to clicks or calls?

There are a few reasons why this might be happening. Your listing may not be optimized for the keywords that potential customers are searching for. Your listing may not be providing enough information to convince customers to take action. Or, your target audience may be looking for a different type of business.

3. How can I get more reviews for my business?

There are a few things you can do to encourage customers to leave reviews. You can respond to existing reviews, follow up with satisfied customers, and include a link to your GMB listing in your email signature and marketing materials.

4. What if my competitors have more reviews than me?

Don’t get discouraged! While reviews are important, they are just one factor in local SEO ranking. Focus on optimizing your GMB listing and website, providing excellent customer service, and encouraging positive reviews.

5. How can I track the ROI of my local SEO efforts?

There are a few ways to track the return on investment (ROI) of your local SEO efforts. You can use Google Analytics to track website traffic and conversions generated from your GMB listing. You can also track the number of calls and messages received through your GMB listing.

Conclusion

Google My Business Insights is a powerful tool that can help businesses of all sizes improve their local SEO and attract more customers. By understanding how customers are finding and interacting with your GMB listing, you can make data-driven decisions to optimize your listing, website, and marketing strategy. By taking advantage of the insights provided by Google My Business, you can ensure your business is visible to the right people at the right time, ultimately leading to more customers and increased revenue.