Why Is Google My Business So Important for Fort Worth Real Estate

---

Having a Google My Business (GMB) account as a real estate company. A GMB account allows you to control how your business appears on Google Search and Maps.

Google will verify your business information, which will help potential customers trust you. You can add photos and videos, which will help show off your property listings. 

This post will teach you nine great benefits you can reap by creating and optimizing a GMB profile for your Fort Worth real estate business.

Benefits of Google My Business for Fort Worth Real Estate

---

1. A Place to Display Crucial Information

As a real estate agent, you know that an online presence is crucial to your success. Now, with the help of Google My Business, you can easily create a profile for your real estate business that displays important information like your hours of operation, services offered, and contact information.

You can access this profile on Google Maps and Google Search, which means potential customers can find you quickly and easily. Plus, being verified by Google gives your business an added level of legitimacy and trust.

Tips:

• Ensure to complete all of the information requested on the profile. This includes a link to your website, hours of operation, and a description of your services.
• You can also add photos of your real estate business and team.

Here’s an example of a GMB profile with complete information:

2. It Helps Your Local SEO Efforts

GMB profiles help improve a company's search engine rankings by providing businesses with a verified location and contact information. Google uses this information to determine the relevance of a business to specific search queries.

The more accurate and complete the information provided in a Google My Business profile, the better chance the business ranks higher in search results.

Make sure to add photos, hours of operation, and other information. This can help improve the accuracy of search engine results for businesses and may lead to more website visits from potential customers.

Tips: 

• Ensure NAP consistency between your GMB profile and other online listings to boost your local search engine rankings.
• Get local backlinks from influencers and local newspapers.

Here’s an example of a backlink from a local newspaper:

3. A Platform to Get More Reviews

It's no secret that online reviews are important for businesses.

Several studies conclude that consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. This is especially true for businesses like real estate, where potential customers look for unbiased information before investing.

A Google My Business profile is a great way for your real estate company to gather reviews. Customers can leave reviews for your business on Google, and you can respond to them.

Reviews help potential customers learn more about your business and what others have had to say about it. Having good reviews on Google can help you attract more customers and boost your business.

Tips:

• Be prompt and respond to negative reviews
• Ask your loyal customers to leave reviews
• Use a review management tool like BrightLocal or Birdeye

Here’s a screenshot of BrightLocal:

4. Allows Two-way Interaction

One of the advantages of having a GMB profile is that it allows companies to have a two-way interaction with their customers. This interaction can take many forms, such as answering customer questions or complaints, providing feedback on customer interactions, etc.

Also, the GMB profile can help businesses improve their customer service by letting them see how customers are interacting with their products or services.

This gives customers a better understanding of the business and builds trust between the customer and the business. The two-way interaction allows businesses to connect with their customers and build stronger relationships.

Tip: Use a social listening tool like Mention or Google Alerts to get notified when people talk about your real estate business online.

Here’s a screenshot of Google Alerts:

5. More Inquiries & Customer Footfall

A GMB profile is like a real estate company's business card. It tells people who the company is, what they do, and how to get in touch. 

When someone searches for a real estate company on Google, the Google My Business profile for the company will show up in the search results. 

People can click on the profile to learn more about the company, and they can also click on the phone number or website link to contact the company.

Note that the effectiveness of a GMB profile in generating phone calls depends on many factors, including the competitiveness of the industry, the quality and completeness of the GMB profile, and how well the profile is optimized for search engine results.

However, it is generally agreed that having a GMB profile can help increase phone calls and customer walk-ins to a business, allowing potential customers to easily contact it.

Tip: Enable GMB's free call-tracking feature to access the call history. This will help you respond to missed calls. Learn how to do this by reading this article from Google.

The phone number, business hours, and location on your GMB profile increase inquiries and customer footfall:

6. Seal a Spot in Google Map Listings

Google Maps is a popular online mapping service that offers directions, live traffic updates, and satellite imagery. It also allows businesses to create free listings with business hours, website, and contact information. 

Having a GMB profile will make your company visible in Google Map searches, which can help you attract new customers.

When potential customers search for businesses near them on Google Maps, they may see your company's GMB profile and click on it to learn more.

When users search for a business, the associated GMB profile may appear as a "knowledge panel" in the search results, providing information such as the business' address, hours of operation, and customer reviews.

Tips:

• Frequently update your GMB profile
• Use a local phone number
• Double-check NAP consistency

Here’s a screenshot of GMB:

7. Get Featured in Google Local Pack

Google's Local Pack displays a list of the top three businesses or services nearest to the user's location. One can access the local pack through the Google search engine or Maps.

Getting your business featured in the Google Local Pack is an excellent way to get more exposure and new customers. However, getting featured is not always easy.

If you want your Fort Worth real estate business to get featured in the Google Local Pack, you can do a few things to improve your chances. First, make sure you have a complete and accurate GMB profile. Include as much information as possible, including your business hours, address, and website. 

Read: Tips to Rank on Google Local 3-pack

You should also add photos and videos to help showcase your business. Next, optimize your website for local search by including keywords and phrases related to the real estate domain.

Here’s a screenshot of the Google Local Pack:

Tip: Bookmark this Wordstream article to find the popular real estate keywords.

Read: Important Local 3-Pack Ranking Factors You Should Know

8. Access Customer Insights

A GMB profile helps your real estate business get customer insights by providing information about what properties customers are searching for and how they find you. This information can help businesses understand what services or products to offer and market them to customers.

For example, you can see how many people searched for your business, how many clicked on your website from Google, and where they are located. 

This information can help you understand what marketing efforts are working well and what areas you need to improve to reach more property buyers.

You can use the insights to create targeted ads and content appealing to your customers. Learn how to properly read customer insights by reading this Google article.

Here’s a screenshot of the customer insights the GMB console offers:

9. Creates a Great First Impression

A GMB profile can create a great first impression for a business by building trust and credibility with potential and current customers. A well-crafted profile can include rich business information, such as photos, reviews, products and services, and contact information.

This rich information can persuade potential customers to choose you over your competitors in Fort Worth.

Also, by sharing this information, customers can learn more about the business and feel confident in doing business with you. This can help build trust and credibility with potential and current customers, improving the customer experience.

Tips:

• Upload pictures of you and your clients sharing a light-hearted mood/moment
• Ask your happy customers to leave a review on your GMB profile.
• If a user-generated photo (Yes! users can upload photos to your GMB profile!) have malicious intent, report it to Google. Read this Google article to know how to flag an unwanted photo.

Here’s an example of a happy customer’s review on a real estate business’s GMB profile:

Key Takeaways:

---

• Fill out every detail in your GMB profile
• Upload high-quality photos of houses, vacant lands, customer interactions, etc.
• Make frequent updates to your profile
• Ask for reviews from your customers
• Respond to negative reviews first
• Enable 'Call Tracking' in GMB to respond to missed calls
• Use a local phone number
• Use a consistent Name, Address, and Phone Number (NAP) across all online listings, including GMB, to boost rankings
• Use customer insights to your advantage
• Use keywords in your GMB profile
• Use review management software and social listening tools for an effective customer service