One result of the changing behaviour influenced by the COVID-19 pandemic is that Google My Business has become one of the more important local marketing tools for small to medium businesses.
The tool has been a core focus for many in the SEO industry and during the coronavirus outbreak, it has also become a focus of communication between consumers and businesses about store closures, opening hours, services available and other essential information.
As people shift their buying habits online as a result of government imposed lockdowns, data has shown that consumer engagement with this Google service has changed significantly. This is inevitable as businesses move focus from physical locations to online presence.
One example provided is the search query “takeout near me” versus “restaurant reservations”. As you can imagine, searches for takeaways have spiked and searches for restaurants have plummeted since lockdown came into play.
What will happen post-pandemic?
As the pandemic has started a wider shift towards Google My Business, it is expected that post-pandemic, it will continue to be a vital tool for local businesses. As these companies start to reopen their doors, marketers will once more turn to this service to communicate about opening hours, products and services, and availability.
Google My Business will likely emerge from the pandemic as a more important tool than it was before. Features such as Posts, which allow businesses to easily communicate updates with customers, may well gain more adoption and face a new prominence. Furthermore, Google may acknowledge the newfound increase in importance for the platform and could accelerate the introduction of any new features and tools it may have in the pipeline.
A survey from BrightLocal shows that 68% of marketers believe Google My Business has now become more important than it was a year ago. Around 87% of respondents in the survey believe that growing reviews on the platform would be the most important way to improve marketing success.
Many in the industry believe that Google My Business will continue to evolve over the next 12 months as it moves away from just being a way of getting content onto Google and into a more dynamic medium of communication between business and consumer.
If you need help with your Google My Business page, or any other aspect of your online presence, get in touch with the team at Engage Web.
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