So you’ve decided to start your own business. Great! Google My Business is the way to tell Google all about your business: who you are, where you are, and what you do – so that it can help customers that are looking for that thing you do, in your location or area find you. Setting up your business on Google My Business is a simple task that shouldn’t take you long to do, and it is the first step to increasing your business’ online visibility in your area of service.
Here is a step-by-step guide on how to set up your page.
STEP 0: CHECK YOU’RE NOT ALREADY ON THERE
Before you start with any of the below, check you’re not already on there. Go to Google Maps and search for your business; scroll around the map where you’re located and check there isn’t a pin on your office; go to Google+ and search on there too.
STEP 1: VISIT THE OFFICIAL WEBSITE
Visit the following page:
https://www.google.com/business/ or go to Google and type in “google my business.”
It will be the first result you see.
Click the Manage Now button.
If you’re not already signed into a Google account, it will ask you to sign in.
A key thing to note here is that you’ll need to log-in with a Google account (not the same a having Gmail) or set one up. So if you already have a Google account (for Google Analytics, YouTube, or something else) that you want to associate with your business, you’ll need those log-in details too.
Hopefully, this part should be pretty straightforward. You enter your company name, address, and contact details here. Google will try to help so, as you enter your company name, it will try and match it to listings in its records.
If there are listings here for your firm this should ring alarm bells. Before you go any further go back to Step 0 and have a thorough check if there are already listings set-up for your business.
STEP 2: FILL OUT YOUR BUSINESS NAME
Here is where you need to fill out the name of your business.
You should be using your business’s real-world name here, and it is important to be aware that unnecessarily using keywords within the name could get your listing suspended (don't do it).
STEP 3: CHOOSE THE CATEGORY THAT BEST FITS YOUR BUSINESS
You now need to choose the main category that best represents your business. In most cases, you will see several options, so choose the one that describes you the best.
Don’t worry if you feel that there is more than one that could be used interchangeably; you will be able to add more later on.
STEP 4: CHOOSE WHETHER OR NOT TO ADD A LOCATION
Here is where you will choose whether or not you want to list a physical storefront that the public can visit (and have it show on Google Maps).
STEP 5: ADD YOUR ADDRESS
Be sure to fill out your address in full — adding in new lines as required to make it as easy as possible for customers to find your location.
STEP 6: REVIEW POSSIBLE LISTINGS
At this stage, you may be asked to confirm whether one of several existing locations is your business if a potential close match is found.
If none of these are your business, simply choose the option and proceed.
STEP 7: ADD YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION
Next up, you will be able to add your phone number and website’s URL (or choose not to link to a website and set up a free Google site based on your listing).
STEP 8: FINISH AND VERIFY YOUR BUSINESS
You are all done adding things; you just need to click ‘finish’, and your GMB page is set up. All that is left is verifying the listing.
Next, you’ll have to verify your business and that may take a couple of days. You can optimize your listing in the meantime though.
Google may give you a different option to verify your business but for most business owners, you’ll have to wait for a postcard to be mailed to you from Google with a verification code on it.
Depending on what kind of business listing you’re attempting to create (or manage) you’ll have a few options available to verify your business:
Verify by mail (postcard)
Verify by phone
Verify by email
Instant verification
Bulk verification
Once your postcard arrives you’ll need to sign back into google.com/mybusiness, click Verify Location from the menu or the Verify Now button if it’s available, then enter the 5 digit code from your postcard.
And that’s it. You know have your listing all set up.
Now it’s time to optimize it (if you haven’t already) so you can leverage the value it can bring to your business.
If you have any doubts you can contact us for free consultancy through the 'contact-us' option on this website.
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