The hidden power of Google Business Profile

Adding force-multipliers to your bottom line.
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Google Business Profile can transform how you acquire customers online.

For many local businesses, I will go as far as saying that it's more important than their own website.

If you are in charge of growing your company's bottom line, this article will arm you with the know-how to turn your listing into a revenue pumping machine.

I will be using real world data from my own campaigns and third-party sources to illustrate just how powerful Google Business Profile has become in 2023.

Let's get started.

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Google is getting greedy with its traffic.

They don't want to send people to your website if they don't have to.

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About 11 years ago - Google gave us ten blue links, along with some ads, when we searched for something.

Things have changed in a big way since then.

Google has been deprioritizing organic search results in favor of ads and what are known as "No Click Searches".

No Click Searches: Instances where people are searching on Google, only to get the information they need without visiting any websites.

Google understands that it can only get so aggressive in terms of prioritizing ads over organic search results.

What they've gotten very good at is getting people to stay on search results pages until they actually click an ad.

They are doing this in many ways that you've already seen - and it's happening more frequently.

Here are some examples:

Showing the weather in search results seemed pretty harmless.

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Then websites like Wikipedia and IMDB realized they were getting less traffic when Google started featuring their content in search results.

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And then Google started rolling out widgets like this in highly commercial markets (where a lot of money is changing hands).

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This may not seem like a huge deal at first, but the growth of No Click Searches is no joke.

And it's affecting local businesses.

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No Click Searches now account for 47% of all search queries.

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Google wants to offer users as much value as possible directly within search results. If they keep users on Google-owned properties, the chances they click an ad increases.

(Ad revenue is Google's primary form of monetization. It raked in $238 billion in 2023.)

Rand Fishkin, one of the original thought leaders in SEO, held a presentation about this:

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47% of search traffic that used to go to sites like yours? It's gone.

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Business owners who rely on traffic from search engines previously just had to worry about the growing prominence of ads - as Google pushed organic results lower on the page.

From the data above, it's clear we are now fighting against these ads, and the rapidly growing instances of No Click Searches.

No Click Searches on mobile: The real kicker is how No Click Searches work in combination with mobile devices. Due to the small screens, No Click Searches account for over 60% of searches in some cases.

Ads eat up most of the screen's real estate on mobile.

When ads are followed by Google's efforts to keep users from clicking on organic results (answer boxes, etc.) it turns into even more No Click Searches.

Here is an example of what we see when we search "mortgage rates Calgary". Normal organic results aren't even shown until the bottom of the third scroll.

This illustrates the lengths Google is taking to offer people information directly in search results.

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See that little blue link in the bottom right corner? That's where the organic search results start. People don't even see them until they've scrolled down 3 times on mobile.

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That bright shiny site you paid a ton for - and are paying someone truckloads of cash to optimize for search engines?

Even if it ranks first, it is now buried on the second half of the page.

This is why so many sites are seeing decreases in their search engine traffic - even when their rankings haven't decreased.

Here is what a well respected agency owner had to say on LinkedIn:

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More instances of clients seeing decreases in traffic - even without losses in search rankings.

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What does this mean for your site? Should you still be paying someone to optimize it?

Listen, I'd rather not give you my opinion. We have never met and I don't know the mechanics of your business.

Let's look at the math instead.

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The effort (cost) needed to rank first hasn't changed between then and now.

But the ROI has.

Let's assume your website converts visitors to customers at a rate of 5%.

And each customer is worth $100 in revenue.

Let's say you are paying an agency $1,500 a month to manage your campaign.

Here's how things looked before the spike in No Click Searches:

Ranking = #1

Total monthly searches = 3,000

Percentage of visitors that click on the #1 ranking = 27%

Website visitors = 810

Customers (5% x 810) = 41

Revenue (41 x $100) = $4,100

Revenue - Expenses ($4,100 - $1,500) = $2,600

Previous ROI = 173%

In 2023, you're still paying an agency the same fees, but No Click Searches now account for 47% of all search queries:

Ranking = #1

Total monthly searches = 3,000

No Click Searches (47% x 3,000) = 1,410

Total monthly searches, excluding No Click Searches (3,000 - 1,410) = 1,590

Percentage of visitors that click on the #1 ranking = 27%

Website visitors = 430

Customers (5% x 430) = 22

Revenue = $2,200

Revenue - Expenses ($2,200 - $1,500) = $700

ROI in 2023 = 47%

This example does not even account for other expenses, like your overhead or cost of goods sold (COGS).

Moral of the story?

Your investment is not yielding the returns it used to.

But many agencies and consultants would never tell you that.

Because your campaign is how they make their living - even if it's slowly causing you to lose your shirt in the process.

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The rise of Google Business Profile.

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Google Business Profile has been around for quite a while - before No Click Searches were even a thing.

Here's some of the other names it has gone by:

Google Places
Google Local
Google Business
Google My Business (most recent name change)

Google Business Profile has grown in prominence in terms of how and when these listings appear in search results.

Everything we've covered to this point is about how Google is getting greedy with its traffic.

They don't want to send people to your site unless they have to, or unless you pay for it with ads.

But the fact is - people will always want and need to speak to local businesses at some point.

Google knows this (they know a lot, after all).

So rather than having people go to your site when they reach that point - they built an entire platform for people to connect with businesses - one that they own.

Before you start yelling at the sky and condemning Google, it's important to realize two things...

1. We need to play nice with Google (you'll see why shortly).

2. Google Business Profile actually generates more customers than your website does on its own.

Resist Google at your own risk.

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We have two choices.

We can take our ball and go home - crying about how Google is evil, agencies are evil, and how we're not going to play with either anymore.

We'll debate the ethics of Google's desire to keep their traffic. We'll argue over the usefulness of agencies and consultants.

Or, we can choose to be rational problem solvers, survey the digital landscape, and let the results drive us towards better decisions.

And honestly, that's what I love about digital marketing:

At the end of the day, the data is all that matters. Data tells us what's working, what's failing, and where we should invest our time and money.

Why Google Business Profile is so important for your business...

Using data from third-party sources and my own campaigns.

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Here is what the data says:

1. 46% of all Google searches have a local intent. [Source: HubSpot]

That's about 1.6 billion searches per day where people are looking for products, services, and information in their location.

2. 93% of local searches now feature Google Business listings. [Source: STAT Analytics]

There's a lot of people using Google every day for local purposes.

And now we know that virtually all of those searches feature Google Business listings.

3. 68% of people contact a business directly from search results. [Source: Search Engine Land]

If users are on a mobile device, which is already 50% of all web traffic, all they need to do is tap a link...

And they're calling you - or your competitor - directly from search results.

These three data points show the importance of Google Business Profile.

But we haven't even covered the most important one...

"88% of people trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations." [Source: Forbes]

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Welcome to the review economy.

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Reviews from trusted third parties, like Google, are at the core of buying behavior in 2023.

There is no way to escape it.

People don't want to hear you toot your own horn.

They want others talking about how great you are - on websites they trust.

This is the single most important piece of data which speaks to the usefulness of Google Business Profile.

When used correctly, your Google Business Profile can become a high-octane customer acquisition engine.

That's because the people viewing your listing are being pre-sold on doing business with you...

Due to the sheer amount of social proof that your listing can offer.

Let's look at another example of how traffic from Google Business Profile differs from traditional search traffic.

Important: This is based on data from a client, so I am not going to share the industry to protect their confidentiality.

I will say that the numbers are significant (analyzing millions in revenue).

Here is how each stacks up, when comparing revenue per lead.

Traditional search: $197

Google Business Profile: $679

Leads from Google Business Profile are worth 3.4x more than those from traditional search.

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Google is investing big in Google Business Profile because they failed with something else.

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In April 2019, Google shut down their failed social network, Google+.

This was at least their third attempt at trying to build a competitor to Facebook. The other two:

Google Buzz
Google Wave

Instead, they are building a platform based on what their users are already doing: searching for information, products, and services in their location.

Look at the features that have been added to Google Business Profile:

Posts
People can ask questions (which anyone can answer publicly)
Messaging
Customers can book appointments directly on the listing

See how Google Business Profile is slowly turning into a social network all on its own?

But more importantly...

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Notice how Google Business Profile allows people to take actions they used to only be able to take on your website?

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People don't need to visit your website to:

Call you
Message you
Ask questions
Post reviews
Find your offers and pricing

...all the core functions of a company's website.

Now - you're probably wondering:
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"How exactly can I take advantage of Google Business Profile?"

"I already have my listing claimed - so am I good?"

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Most businesses will just claim their listing.

Maybe they will pay an agency $750 to $1,500 to "optimize" it for them - while that agency just copies and pastes information from their site and calls it a day.

Or maybe they'll visit their listing every now and then to respond to a review.

If you haven't guessed, that is the wrong approach.

(We'll get into the right one shortly.)

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A shift is coming. Whether we like it or not.

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Your best prospects, the ones using Google to find your products and services, don't need to visit your site to decide if they want to work with you.

The smartest companies know this and they're doing something about it.

Here's the catch:

In order to thrive on Google Business Profile, you have to stop thinking about it like a generic Yellow Pages listing. Handling it like a Yelp page isn't good enough, either.

Because if you are still thinking along those lines, you'll never be able to make Google Business Profile work. I mean really work.

But if you are ready to give Google Business Profile the respect it deserves, it will change everything for you:

More new customers.
More returning customers.
And a plump bottom line.

On the next page, I will walk you through The Execution Plan for transforming Google Business Profile into a customer acquisition engine.

One that's comparable to a super car. Not a beater.

Next Page >>

The Execution Plan is now closed to new members.

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