Welcome to The Local Search Economy. 

Google My Business (GMB) is upstaging your community website. This spells trouble for a few reasons: 

• You’ve invested (and continue to invest) time and money in your website.
• Users form first impressions based on your GMB profile, then decide whether to visit your website.
• You depend on your website to generate leads and leases. 

So, what’s going on? 

Things change rapidly in a digital-first world. Google introduced GMB in 2014 and since then has steadily evolved the platform and its localized search algorithm. GMB is now a critical part of local search for any business with a physical location and an ideal solution for apartment marketers. 

Consider the following six points:

1. GMB is Free. Setting up a GMB profile for a physical location is free and helps ensure your communities can be found on Google search and Google maps while prospects are actively searching. 
2. The Rise of Zero-Click. 65% of Google searches end without a click to another website, with users' queries resolving directly from the search results page. Prospects can call, get directions, view your offers and other info, right from your GMB profile. Catch prospects where they are and provide them with what they need to choose your community.  
3. Google is (Still) Eating The World. Google dominates the global search engine market share, handling more than 92% of all search queries globally. And Google's local search algorithm favors signals from GMB profiles that are complete and consistently updated. Optimizing your GMB profile is your pathway to local search success.  
4. Traditional Search SEO is table stakes. While helpful to your business brand and website at a national or global level, traditional SEO falls short when it comes to local search. When devising a local SEO strategy, pay special attention to the unique set of ranking signals Google uses for local search results.  
5. GMB is Disrupting The Status-Quo (Read: paid advertising). GMB community profiles are a low cost/no-cost source of qualified website traffic and leads. For this reason, marketers are reevaluating their advertising spend. With the average apartment marketing spend being: $1,500/month for search marketing or $2-2.37 for Google PPC ads, the free alternative starts to look pretty darn good. 
6. Reaching the Next Gen Renter: Connected practically from the cradle, 90% of Gen Z use the web multiple times a day and nearly 40% start their apartment search on Google. At 65 million strong, this cohort has incredible buying power.
   
   

Final Word

“Google is the new homepage” – Mike Blumenthal

GMB is quickly becoming the best way for apartment marketers to gain a competitive advantage and generate qualified leads, cost-effectively.   

So, what's the catch? According to the industry, the number one challenge is the time and effort required to update and manage GMB profiles. This is intensified by the ongoing labour shortage and subsequent increase in the responsibilities of corporate marketers and site teams. The good news however, is that there are plenty of educational resources, software and services to help alleviate or eliminate the effort. 

References: 

* Source: SimilarWeb Study
** Source: Searchengineland Study
*** Source: RentCafe Research