Many of our readers have been struggling with the creation and optimisation of their Google My Business listing. This is why we decided to take this opportunity to give you a step by step guide to this process. As you will see it is quite simple and straightforward and it will not take a lot of your valuable time.
Don’t Let One More Day Go By without a Google My Business Listing
Despite the many advantages they have, less than have small business owners have claimed their GMB listing so far. One of the reasons, we believe, is that they are getting confused along the process or they still don’t understand the benefits of having this listing.
To get this cleared out of the way, here are just a few key reasons why your business needs a Google My Business profile:
- Increase your chances of ranking for local searches;
- Place a pin for your business on Google Maps;
- Collect positive reviews and ratings for your business;
- Share news and updates about your business for free.
And now let us really get started and create a Google My Business listing for your company!
1. Create Your Page
Go to www.business.google.com/create, sign in and you will be prompted to create a listing for your business. Type in your business name, as you want it to appear in Google searches, and click next.
Please note that as you type, Google may suggest existing business pages. If you find one that is a perfect match for your business name, you may claim it (we’ll explain later on how to do it).
2. Select Your Business Category
This is a very important step, because it will influence the way Google matches used intent (what they are looking for) with your business. Right now, you can select from among 3,000 different categories.
If you cannot find a precise definition of your business activity, select a more general one. However, as Google learns more about the businesses using its services, it continues to add more categories. So make sure you constantly review your Google My Business listing and update information where appropriate.
3. Opt to Add a Location or Not
In the next step, you can add a business location (store) that customers can visit. If you are working from home or supplying online services, there is no reason to add the location.
However, please note that if you do not add a location by mistake, your business will not appear on Google Maps.
4. Add Your Full Address
It is important to pay attention to this step. If you don’t want to confuse Google and become your own competitor, the address for your Google My Business listing must be written exactly the same way as on your website and other business directories.
As you finish typing, Google may suggest a few existing listings. Look at their names and addresses and claim them if they match yours and click Next.
5. Choose Whether You Serve Customers Outside Your Location
If you have a restaurant that also makes home deliveries for your clients, you will select the option “Yes, I also serve them outside my location”. In this situation, the next step is to select the area you serve (district, borough, city, etc.).
6. Add Other Contact Details
The last but one step is to add a phone number, email address and website for your clients to contact your business. After you added these details, the next step is to confirm whether you want to receive notifications and updates from Google. Once you make your choice, the next page will show the button Finish. Your Google My Business listing is created.
7. Verify Your Business
Before Google indexes your GMB listing, you have to verify that the information you provided are accurate. Depending on country and type of business, you can choose one of the following methods:
- By phone (instant)
- By email
- By postcard
- Bulk verification – if you have more than 10 locations listed on GMB you can verify all of them at once.
Claiming an Existing Listing
As we specified above, sometimes you may find that your business name already exists on Google. It may have been created by an employee or even a competitor trying to block you out.
In this case, you have to click on the business name and then on “Request Access”. You will have to fill in the level of access to the listing you want (Manager/Owner), state your position in the business and then type in your name and phone number.
Google will contact you and, once your information is verified, you will have access to the respective Google My Business listing.
That’s all! After completing all the steps above, your company will have a Google My Business listing and can be found on Google Maps and in local searches.