Google Business Profile Optimisation in Nigeria

By WDN Editorial
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Published: February 18, 2025

Google Business profile formerly Google My Business is a free business marketing panel-listing platform by Google for business identifications and promotions over the internet.

It is one of the key advantage-platform for small businesses that want to stand out from the crowd. It allows you to leave a strong first impression on potential customers engaging with your business for the first time.

With a solid marketing system in place, converting these prospects into paying customers becomes much easier and faster.

Why Google Business Profile?

You can supercharge your online presence with a Google business profile, position your website to generate more laser-targeted leads and achieve your business goals.

In this guide, we’d exemplify a few steps and tips to achieve this, but just before, let’s consider some facts and figures about a Google Business Profile for a small business.

Small businesses seeking a radical approach to optimise their web presence has to understand that their GMB profile is one of the first places that customers look for updated information about the business, past customer experiences and reviews and more.

It can them get firsthand information such as your opening hours, offices and locations, your most active contact channels, review from customers and clients of your business and lots more. I understand right now you may be thinking what makes a GBP- Google Business Profile different from other review platforms such as yellow pages, Trustpilot, Capterra, Feefo and the rest?

The thing is you can’t be sure your prospective customers are ever going to find your profile page on these platforms compared to Google. A GBP is designed in such a way that it can be optimised based on the services your business offers, based on location, and lots more.

Many Small businesses are bleeding customers today due to lack of an up-to-date Google Business Profile. At a time when businesses all over the world are launching at a blistering rate, an active Google Business Profile can be a great marketing companion for your business.

It helps to list your business in a way it’s more accessible on SERP pages, and you also have an edge over your competitors when you properly optimise your GMB listing.

One of the best ways to create more exposure for your business and drive organic traffic and is through having an effective online presence, and that starts with listing your website on business listing platforms.

With Google my business, you can annex your story telling skills to publicise your business so that your prospects can have an inside view of your professional and business standpoint.

Google Business Profile Stats

42% of local searches results to clicks on Google local pack
According to Moz, about 56% of retailers are yet to claim their Google Business profiles
Moz study, shows that about 40% of small businesses have never posted on their GBP
over 51% users on smartphone use Google maps in 2021
Google maps has been downloaded over 25 million times
According to BrightLocal, Reviews on Google is fastest growing review platforms
GBP is useful for answering frequently asked questions
39 is the average number of review on GBP
20% of prospects expect to get a timely response from GBP business owners
90% of searchers read reviews before deciding to initiate a purchase
Google is the number 1 search engine, dominating the US market with over 92%
There are over 3.5 billion searches performed on Google per day
Most of these searches are done on mobile devices
84% of near me searches doubles as discovery searches
Professionally crafted GBP profiles can 7x your clicks compared to an incomplete profile
There are over 4000 GBP categories to choose from
Local businesses with more than 11 images on their GBP are deemed more reputable and get improved results
Add images in GBP can jack up revenue by up to 17%
Over 5% of GBP views results in conversion
94% of calls from GBP are on weekdays
72% of local searchers visita business within 5 miles proximity
Over 16% of GBP listings get more than 100 calls per month
33 Clicks is what the average Google Business Profile receives per month
61% increases in calls to businesses with a Google profile from 2020
64% of prospects uses GBP to find contact information of businesses and providers
97% of users primarily use GBP panels to discover local businesses newly
Over 50% of GBP visits results into web visits
Near me searches has increased by over 200% over the last 24 months (Google consumer insight)

What are the benefits of Google my business?

Free to Use:

The benefits of Google My Business is enormous. Most importantly, you don’t have to pay to get your business listed on Google My Business.

It’s absolutely free. Which means you’d need not spend a dime for your customers to find your business on Google search when they search for related keywords.

Everyone is connected to the internet nowadays, and that’s the only thing it will cost your prospects and potential customers to find you.

Ease of Use:

Another amazing thing about Google My Business is the ease of use. Google my business like every other tools from Google is easy to use.

Every step from start to finish is very simplified, and you do not need any special skills to handle things well on GMB.

The initial step is to fill in all the required details about you and your business and in just a few clicks you can have you go live on Google search results.

Competitive Marketing Edge:

Your google my business page gives you a marketing edge, you can optimise to get your products and services in front of people who have never come across your business before.

Update:

The process of getting your page updated is also very simple. All you had to do is login to your dashboard and supply the new details, and instantly you should have your details corrected on the Search engines. In some cases, some updates such as address may need some review from Google to take effect.

Let’s learn how to use it!

How to create a Google my business page

To get started, you need to have a Google business profile. You’d then have a personalise dashboard where you can manage your business NAP details.

After signing up, painstakingly fill in all the necessary details about your business, such as your location address(es) , phone numbers, operating hours, etc.

You can also use the platform to share business-related images, such as your team, your products, showcase the ambience of your workshop and more.

Promoting your business with Google My Business, what works.

Now let’s go over how you can use this tool for promotion, starting with creating an account and claiming your listings.

1) List/Claim your Business

If your business is not already listed on Google my Business, then you need to create a listing, what this means is to submit your business details to the platform.

You are allowed to manage your business’s appearance on the platform.

You can change its name, address, and the categories it falls in. Furthermore, you also need to add your phone number for matters of urgency or emergencies.

It is important you remember to update these details periodically on a monthly basis as Google refreshes its data from time to time with new listings.

In case there are any changes in your business information, you can update them and save the changes.

You are also given a choice to share any posts on your Facebook or 𝕏 accounts with the Google My Business platform as well from time to time.

The best thing about this is that it’s completely free for small businesses in Nigeria.

2) Offer up easy access to your business

You can effectively interact with your customers and potential customers using Google My Business (GMB).

It makes it easy for your customers or potential clients to get details of your business contact, navigation and map directions, customer reviews and photos of your establishment.

You can also edit or delete the GMB listing you have created at any time that suits you.

3) A powerful lead generation tool

Google my business is a powerful lead-generation tool that provides the ability to promote and market your business online. In recent times people have been using the search phrase “near me” to easily find businesses that are closed in their proximity.

With Google my business you can promote your products, and services and get noticed in search engine results pages. The app is oversimplified for use by anyone and with the use of Google my business to promote your business in Nigeria you can have an edge over other businesses.

Google My Businesses FAQ

A Google My Business page is a simple way for you to claim and update your business listing in Google Search.

Businesses that are eligible for the new can use Google my business feature: restaurants, auto repair shops, dry cleaners, and doctor offices. Schools and almost all businesses whether big or small are eligible to use Google my business as an effective business promotion tool, provided they operate legally.

However, Google has a list of eligibility requirements for businesses that may request this feature.

There are some rather broad categories to qualify if you’re not sure if you’re on one of them:

Your company has a local presence (e.g., storefronts)
Your company owns property with address(es) visible from the street map.
Your company offers products and services that are contravening government policies.

Google Business Profile Optimisation (GBP Panel) Service

Looking to optimise your Google Business Profile? We got your back at Web Designs Nigeria, you can rely on our Google My Business service to strengthen your local visibility fo more quality leads.

We’ll help you gain valuable local search visibility with a fully optimised Google Business profile within weeks instead of months!

Our experienced team will help your business reach its full potential with your GBP listing using data-driven approaches and local market optimisation strategy.

We can help, if: