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How to List Your Business on Google My Business

List Your Business on Google My Business

Including your business to Google is a process that is free and quick. It helps you get your organization out there. It is a free means of advertising locally that is waiting for you to exploit. Google My Business is a seamless way of ensuring your clients can find you when they run a search on Google or Google Maps. Here, we will be covering how you can develop your Google business listing. The process is quite easy for List Your Business on Google My Business.

Why Should You Promote Your Business on Google?

With regard to search results, you would want your business to feature on the first page of Google. Over 3 billion individuals are taking advantage of Google to get their daily needs. That is more than 70% of every search online. More than half of these searches take place via mobile devices. Individuals are always searching for what they require in places close to them at the present moment.

This moment is a great one for businesses running locally. Clients are using Google to locate your product or service locally in massive amounts, and Google is providing you with the opportunity to advertise your business for free on their platform, which is the largest one out there.

How then do you take advantage of this great opening? The steps below can help you with that. You can easily List Your Business on Google My Business. But first, let us take a look at what Google My Business is about.

What Is Google My Business?

This is a tool for local listing that helps you develop the online presence of your business for free. You can List Your Business on Google My Business. It allows you to feature on Google Maps, Google Search, as well as the useful Local Pack.

This tool offers you the chance to tell your story, develop brand awareness, display your business, and promote exclusive sales and occasions using video, photos, and other things.

When you claim and verify your Google My Business listing, your clients can locate you, and you can offer what they are searching for.

What you need to do first is to search for your business name on Google to find out whether it has already been claimed by someone else or whether it is still available. If a Google My Business listing shows up, it means someone else has claimed your business.

If the latter is the situation, you have no issues. Google can aid you in reclaiming your listing and List Your Business on Google My Business.

Create Your Listing on Google

There are two core rules to note to ensure that Google promotes and identifies your business. These are the following:

  • You need to be consistent: your name, phone number, and address have to be the same one on your website and other social media platforms.
  • You need to be accurate: your name, phone number and address, events, opening hours, location, and your complete business information have to be accurate.

If no one has claimed your business listing, the next step is to create your Google listing for free. The initial steps are the most important ones, and you need to ensure your business information is accurate as we have covered earlier.

When you start the creation of your listing, you will be required to fill out the details of your business, which include the following:

  • The name of your business: This is straightforward. Put down the legal name of your business into the field provided.
name of your business
  • Your location: You need to put in a physical local business address where individuals can find you if they have to. It’s not ideal to use a virtual address or PO Box here.
  • location of your business

    How to Include Your Business to Google Maps

    When you have included your location, Google will instantly show you the area and give you a pin for your area. All you need to do is drag this to your exact business location and click on next. When you add your business and location to Google My Business, you are now on the most utilized service for navigation on the Web.

    Select Your Category

    Select Your Category

    Google has more than 10,000 categories you can pick from that are constructed to aid your customers in finding your exact offering and locate your business. Make efforts to choose as little categories as you can. Do not forget to be very specific.

    If you are a Mexican restaurant, don’t just fill in “restaurant.” Let your clients find precisely what they are searching for. Also, don’t let your choice be redundant. For instance, don’t select both “restaurant” and “Mexican restaurant.” Google does not find this appealing.

    If you notice that you are unable to go any further and need some help, Google My Business support provides terrific advice on optimizing and picking your category.

    Include the Contact Information You Want Everyone to See

    Include the Contact Information You Want Everyone to See

    It is preferable to use a phone number in addition to a local area code on Google if you can. Google does not support toll-free numbers, but it’s always best to follow the principles of Google.

    When including the URL of your website, make sure you are the owner of the website and not a third-party website. It also should not be your profile page on social media. Google prefers that you link your website directly. Also, ensure that the details you fill in your Google My Business listing are no different from what is on your website.

    Now that you have included the necessary information about your business, you can now head to the next step of verifying your business.

    How to Claim Your Business on Google

    When including the name of your business into the dashboard of Google My Business, it is likely to show up in the drop-down menu. If you notice this, it implies that someone else has already listed this business even though you have not developed the presence.

    It will still be necessary for you to claim and verify your listing. This is to enable you to take charge and alter your account on Google business.

    Unclaimed Listing
    Do a quick search on Google for your business. If you have not developed a listing and one shows up, it may be surprising, but it does not need to be. Any individual using Google can develop a Google My Business profile, and this could have been the situation. If you see the “Own the business?” link on your listing, it means it hasn’t been claimed, and all you need to do is click it.

    When you click this, you will be led through some steps that are similar to creating list your business on google my business. All you need to do is go with the above steps and take charge.

    Listing Already Claimed
    If someone else has claimed the listing, you will see a message with an incomplete email address. If you have the details, all you need to do is log in to Google My Business with that email address and make changes to your listing.

    If this email address does not seem like the one you remember, click Request Access and go with the provided options. When you have filled in your details in Google, a confirmation mail will be sent to you. The individual who owns that listing will also get a Google mail to contact you and clear up everything. You will also be provided with a link from Google in your confirmation email that will give you the capacity to monitor your request status.

    If you are facing problems, like not getting feedback from the owner of the registered listing, Google support offers you additional information.

    Verify Your Business

    Verify Your Business

    Now that you are through creating and claiming your Google listing, the next step is to verify your presence.

    Google will offer you a pin for verifying your account, which you can then fill in to finish the last step. To ensure owners of any business can take advantage of this opportunity, Google will give you the chance to select from a range of methods to attain this pin.

    • Mail: You can request for a postcard to be delivered to your address. It takes 5– 14 days for delivery, and you must verify the listing in 30 days for list your business on google my business.
    • Text or call: If you go with this method, you will get the pin, and all you need to do is follow the instructions that follow.
    • Video verification: To help you verify your account, Google can set you up on a video call with an expert.
    • Email: There are businesses wherein Google will send pins directly to their inboxes. You can also click on the verification link that you get.
    • Instant verification: This is a faster route to take. However, you need to be registered with some other Google service to be qualified for this method.

    Once you have covered this step, you have been able to verify your account successfully. You can then take advantage of all other platforms offered by Google.

    How to Optimize Google My Business Listing to Ensure Success

    Now that you set up your listing, the next step is to optimize it so that you can begin getting higher rankings. The steps below can help you with this:

    Take Advantage of the “Google Posts” Feature

    Google Posts

    Google posts are similar to mini ads or posts on social media for your business that come up on Google Maps and the local panel. To create these, you can do it via your Google My Business dashboard. The great news is that they instantly come up in your local search results. All posts can be as much as 300 words, and the best part is that you can include a GIF, image, and a CTA button.

    To use this feature to its full capacity, you can utilize Google posts for the following:

    • If you are running an event, create a post with all the information and include a link to your registration page.
    • Are you launching a new product, or do you have a specific sale? Create a post with high-quality images including all the details.
    • Recently published a blog post? Widen your reach and add a link and brief description in a post.

    The possibilities are limitless and come with a host of CTA buttons that include the following: Reserve, Sign Up, Get an Offer, Learn More, and Buy. When you are through verifying your Google My Business account, your posts option will show up in the menu of your dashboard, waiting for you to exploit it.

    When developing your post, you need to consider the following:

    • You have a word count limit of 300, and the initial 60– 70 words will be displayed on desktop and mobile if you utilize a CTA button. Ensure you use them properly.
    • If you don’t add a CTA button, the entire 300 words will show up on your mobile.
    • This is developed for your clients to ensure the information you include is readable. Don’t use terms that are too technical. Use language that they can easily understand.
    • When you have developed your post and clicked publish, you can take a look at your recent posts waiting to be viewed by individuals in search of your business.

    Create Connections with Your Clients via Messaging

    Google lets you potential clients and clients send you direct messages and vice versa. Although you provide your phone number on Google My Business, they may not call your business every time.

    According to studies, more individuals engage using texts, with over 90% of texts being read in five seconds after it is sent. This can be a fantastic opening for you to enhance personalized customer engagement and have an extra edge over your competitors.

    Not every business owner would like individuals to text their lines. With the Google Allo App, you will be able to use the same number linked to your Google My Business account. This is an excellent method of separating your personal and business text messages.

    This feature lets you have a one-on-one connection with your clients, provide them responses to queries, enhance customer loyalty, and respond to comments. By letting your business be seen as more transparent, you will be able to enhance your credibility and eventually sales.

    Be Informed about Your Insights
    Google provides you with insights into the way customers see your business. If you want to understand how your online efforts are going, these analytics are crucial. They also help you in understanding how to optimize how clients are engaging with your presence online.

    Google aids in breaking down the way your clients find you irrespective of whether they search directly for the address or name of your business (direct search) or they search for a service or product you provide and locate your listing (discovery search).

    Google will also inform you which clients directly check out your website, view your pictures, ask for directions to your location, and call you. Google will also inform you precisely where clients are requesting directions. This will point you to the geographical location of your clients. Being informed about your insights will provide peak impact and provide your Google My Business listings with a great digital strategy.

    Add Videos and Photos

    Add Videos and Photos

    Your profile picture is the first thing clients will come across. The role of your picture is to urge users to want to learn more about your organization. Irrespective of whether it’s your storefront or logo, make sure that the image is of high quality and demonstrates the quality your agency stands for and provides. Studies state that listings that have high-quality images have twice the likelihood to be categorized as reputable and have over 30% more clicks.

    Photos feature has been in existence for some time, and using user-generated images is an amazing way to make your brand less robotic and develop a community. User-generated images of excellent quality help in creating interaction with your agency and can offer you lots of content to use in your photo gallery.

    Video, on the other hand, is a very new feature. Now, you will be able to add a 30-second video to highlight your agency directly to Google. Google has created guidelines to make sure your videos relate directly to the location of your business. This is a great chance to share your organization to prospective clients in a personalized way.

    Use Reviews
    Google urges reviews, and these reviews can help inspire prospective clients. Eighty percent of customers find reviews as reliable as personal recommendations while 90% of clients go through local reviews, and over 60% of clients leave reviews for local businesses.

    Google My Business drives the process of reviews and makes it less complex by offering a link from the dashboard of your Google My Business, which you can then send to clients, requesting they leave a review.

    Leaving a response to every review is crucial. It lets prospective clients know you care and value your present clients. If you get a bad review, it can be a good thing as it presents you with an opening. When you respond to a negative review, it can aid you in noting possible problems with your business and still urge your prospective clients to go with your agency or business. Studies state that 44.6% of clients will still go with a business that has a negative review they leave a good response to. It does not matter if the reviews are negative or positive. When you respond to every one of them, it shows an exceptional level of customer service.

    A very vital gateway for clients to locate your local business offline and online is Google search. By taking advantage of Google My Business, it puts all the information concerning your business in the eyes of prospective clients already in search of your products and services. It is impactful, powerful, and free for you to use and set up. It may be to the detriment of your business if you do not exploit this great opportunity.

    By not claiming your Google My Business listing, you are providing other competitors the chance to have a lead on your agency. So it’s always better to verify and list your business on google my business.

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    Era Innovator

    Era Innovator is a growing Technical Information Provider and a Web and App development company in India that offers clients ceaseless experience. Here you can find all the latest Tech related content which will help you in your daily needs.

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