Google have made changes to their reporting on business profiles, with further metrics apparently to follow in the coming months.
How to access new Google My Business reports?
To view the reports, login to your Google My Business profile and click “insights”. Currently, there’s a notification that says “Your insights are moving”. When you click on “See new profile performance”, the new performance report will pop up and show more detailed information.
At first, there is an interactions chart, displaying how many users have interacted with the business via the Google My Business profile. That could include calls, asking for directions or clicks through to the website from the business profile.
As the above shows, the discovery report now shows a breakdown of business profile views by both platform and device, more valuable information than we previously had from the Insights section.
The right-hand side shows search queries that triggered the business profile to view, which is similar to the previous Insights report.
It’s also important to note that the new-look reporting also has a custom date picker with up to 6 months worth of data, whereas previously we just had 3 months of data available.
Google’s support article also breaks down the meaning of each of the metrics reported on.
What does this mean for businesses?
Reporting insights such as these give valuable insight into how users and customers find our businesses online. Log in to your Google My Business profile and take a look at the data – are you surprised by what you see? Or was it what you expected?
The more data available at our fingertips, the more we can understand about the user journey and how our existing and prospective customers behave. This ultimately means that we are more informed and can influence how we drive the business forward.
Why use Google My Business?
Google My Business can provide invaluable information to businesses, but it’s vital that the profile is kept up to date. From temporary closures or updated opening hours, to Google Posts and customer reviews; there is so much more to the knowledge panel than many businesses realise.
Unfortunately, many overlook Google My Business and do not keep it updated or make the most of the real-estate space on the Google SERPs.
For more information on how to make the most of your GMB listing, feel free to reach out to me on LinkedIn.