MVP162: Mastering Your Store's Google Business Profile with Bill Hibbler

Hey ,

What would the impact of having 100 extra potential customers walk into your store each month be? People who are interested in the games and products you have to sell. How would that affect your cash flow and bottom line? What about 500? 1000?

Unless you live in an extremely isolated community, it's possible.

I have yet to talk to a game store owner that doesn't want more customers coming into their store every month. But accomplishing that goal isn't always easy. There are so many ways to reach out and spread the word within your local community, but in today's episode Bill Hibbler and I explore one of the most effective ways to get your store in front of more people.

Google search has been the default way most people use the internet to find what they're looking for. We go online and search for things like "Magic cards" or "warhammer store" or "sports card store" and we see what pops up. Sometimes we see places like Amazon and Target near the top of the search results, sometimes it's the local hobby store. We end up clicking on the website to get more info.

The results aren't random. The reason the #1 result on Google is there is because they put in the work to rank that high. That's SEO (search engine optimization) and it has a big time commitment in order to pay off and start generating the traffic you're looking for.

That's not what we're talking about in this episode.

SEO is great. It's effective, powerful, and can change your business, so I recommend putting some effort into it.

But if you want to see results in weeks instead of months, listen closely to how Bill breaks down a simple strategy for leveraging something you've probably set up once and forgotten about: your store's Google Business Profile.

By optimizing your Google Business Profile and making a single page on your website, your Google Map rankings can see huge improvements in a very short amount of time. Instead of people in your surrounding local area finding big box stores when they search for the products you sell, your store can show up at the top of the Map Pack and grab that traffic for your business instead.

We go over:

• Setting up your Google Business Profile correctly so you get the most out of it

• How Google tells you what it's looking for in terms of information

• The one webpage you need to get the most from your GBP

• How to calculate the lifetime value of a customer so you can measure the effectiveness of your marketing strategies

• The simple strategy that reframes your store into a local destination

There is a ton of great info in this episode, and to quote Bill "Google Business Profile is where your store’s introduction is made."

👉 Listen to the episode right here

To your success,
Tom

P.S. If you didn’t hear, I’m headed to GAMA Expo this March! I’m going to be sharing booth 1352 with Mikah and Devon from SortSwift so come talk marketing and the game business with me!

What if your next 1000 customers were already looking for a store like yours—but just haven’t found you yet?

Manaverse Marketing is a full-service digital agency built exclusively for friendly local game stores. We help shop owners attract more players, boost event attendance, and grow sales, both online and in-store, with proven marketing systems that work.

From email campaigns and local ads to full Shopify store builds, we do the heavy lifting so you can focus on running your business and building your community.

Here’s why game stores partner with Manaverse Marketing Agency:

📈 Real results: We’ve helped stores sell out event signups and explode online sales

📬 Done-for-you marketing: Email, ads, content… we handle it all

🎯 Laser-focused strategy: No fluff, just practical tactics that bring gamers through the door

🤝 Built for FLGS: We know the industry, the games, and what it takes to grow game stores

And to make it even easier, I’ll personally jump on a free strategy call with you to talk through what’s working, what’s not, and how we can help.

👉 Ready to grow your game store? Book your free call today and let’s make it happen.