How to Set Up And Claim Your Google My Business Listing

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Every business today is looking to be found in local search. They spend a lot of time optimizing their website, using Google and Facebook Ads, implementing SEO Content Marketing strategies, etc. Despite all of these efforts to show up in search results, the most powerful tool to make sure your business shows up in local search is 100% FREE, and yet many businesses are still not taking advantage of it. Any business today needs targeted visibility on Google. Most businesses know that this requires optimizing their website and Google Ads, but what most don’t know is that there is a third entity that also needs optimizing: their Google business listing.

Google My Business (GMB), is an online dashboard that allows you to manage all of the information that Google displays about your company in searches and in Google maps. You can provide everything from your company name, address and phone number to information regarding your services along with pictures, reviews, and more.

If you optimize your free Google my Business listing properly, it can become a 24/7 local lead generation machine!

Sound important? It is! Because over 86% of searches come from Google, it’s important to make sure that all of the information in your business’s listing is up to date. Google My Business listings will give you a fairly high SEO boost as well. For local businesses especially, the time spent on your GMB account is invaluable.

The initial set up for a GMB listing isn’t extremely difficult, and won’t take you very long.

How to Claim Your GMB Listing

In order to properly optimize your Business Profile, you need to verify your business so you can access to it. This is a manual process to verify with Google that you are the rightful owner. If your business already exists on Google, the first thing to do is claim your listing. This will allow you to manage it by correcting details, and answering questions and reviews.

Search your listing in either the Google Search or Maps search bars

Once you find your listing, choose the option to claim your business, then "manage this business"

Follow the steps and select a verification option

Depending on what option you end up choosing, verifying it can take a few weeks.

Steps to Creating A New Listing

If your business doesn’t exist in Google yet, you’ll need to create a brand new listing. This is common if you just launched your first website or only recently started your business. A new listing will submit your business information to Google so it can show up in search.

Log into Google My Business with your business Google account. Google will link your Google My Business Account to your business email
Enter Your Business Name, Address, and Phone Number in the correct boxes
Fill in all of the relevant information about your business

GMB Listing Optimization

Once you’ve claimed and verified your listing, you’ll be able to update your business’s information, and optimize your google business profile and google map listing. To do this, visit business.google.com and log in with the email you used to claim the listing.

On the left side, you’ll see a list of areas you can make changes or view analytics. Choose ‘Info’ and you’ll be able to edit all of the information visible. Add as much accurate information as you can.

While claiming your Google My Business listing is easy, most businesses don’t ever think to do it. However, having an accurate and up-to-date listing will improve your website rankings, as well as possibly give you access to the “Maps 3-Pack,” the top Maps search results that show on both Google Maps and Search.