Google My Business Listing- Setup & Verify

Getting started with your business on the internet is one thing and doing the right things with it to substantially succeed is another. Besides ensuring a solid kickstart, proper management and necessary and timely modification are key steps towards creating the successful experience that you are looking for.

When it comes to things that you can partake in order to add to your business, you would like to take care of such things from the get-go to make sure that you are doing all the right things from the first step that you set in the market.

One such thing that you can do is to create Google My Business listing for your business and then verify the same. Once you have done that, you get in a position where you take full control of the online profile of your business. Doing so helps you consolidate yourself in the online market, especially if you are a local business, and also makes your business visible to the potential customers.

In my opinion, getting yourself a GMB listing can be a game changing thing for your business that will open the door to manifold benefits, while overlooking this step can hamper your strategy and prove to be detrimental. I’m sure none of you want that.

But before we go on to setting up and verifying the GMB listing, let’s first understand what it is and why it is needed.

Google My Business- What It Is & Why You Mustn’t Ignore It.

Starting with the ‘What’, Google My Business is that one single tool that lets you take real control of your business on the internet in full measures. From being able to customize and update how your business and information related to it is shown on Google to engaging and interacting with potential customers, there are countless ways in which creating a GMB listing allows yourself to go all ok with your online enterprise.

If you are still wondering if you truly need it, let me help you understand why it should be a no-brainer.

When you get started with the optimization of your online business for maximum visibility, better performance and more revenue, one of the major driving forces is ensuring that the customers who are looking for the services/products you offer can easily find you. In my experience, that should be the top agenda for your optimization regime because when you can get the customers to flow in, rest of all that you need are sure to come along.

Ensuring that you have a verified, accurate and updated Google listing helps you take a step forward towards realising the agenda. As such, it is an indispensable part of SEO, especially if you are a local business and are willing to build your brand awareness. Regardless of the size or type, online businesses must capitalize on every opportunity or method that helps them to get visibility, exposure and the consequent traffic. And when half of the businesses online don’t care to claim/create their Google listing, let alone verify and utilize them, you can get ahead of the competition in just a few steps.

Claim/Create Google Business Listing

We have discussed enough of why you should get yourself a verified Google listing, let’s get into the process now.

The first thing that I’d recommend is to check for an existing business listing for your business. There are chances that you might already have a Google listing for your online business that you don’t know about or have forgotten about. We don’t want to create confusions with duplicate listings so you are better off checking it right off the bat.

Now if you end up finding a GMB listing in your business’s name already existing, you will be required to ‘claim‘ it. To do so, you need to click on the ‘Own this business?‘ option and then proceed with the necessary steps which I am going to discuss. But what if you don’t find any? Well, you will then have to create one from the scratch. Here’s how you do it.

Log into the Google account

You will have to log into the Google account that you want your business listing to be connected to. Once you have done that, head on to google.com/business and select the option ‘Manage Now‘.

Time to enter the basic details

It all starts with the name of your business. You are then required to fill in the address of your business. Make sure that you enter the accurate details and try to make it as precise as possible. If you provide delivery option, select ‘I deliver goods and services to my customers’.

Fill in the key information

Once you are done with the previous steps, you will be prompted to provide some key information related to your listing. The first one is the business category. It is one of the most crucial details and you must ensure that you choose the right option. Your business category enables Google to decide what type of customers you are looking for.

You are also required to provide the phone number and the website (if there’s any) for your business.

Along with the address, the phone number and the website are key information and you must ensure that they are correct, updated and functional. Ensuring a consistent NAP citation will help you at many steps in the short as well as the long run.

That’s it. You’re done with the creation process of the business listing. What I’d like you to keep in mind while undertaking the process is that you should aim to keep the information provided at each step as clear, precise and consistent as you can. This will help you set a solid foundation for your local business listing.

Now that you have either created or claimed the Google listing for your business, it’s time to move on to the next and in my opinion, the most important part of the whole thing. Verifying the listing.

Google Business Listing Verification- Why it’s necessary and how to do it.

After getting done with Google My Business Setup, you should focus on business listing verification. Now, before we get into the details of it, I want you to understand something that I feel to be very important.

A verified business listing is way different than one that is not. In fact, if you miss out on the verification process, you miss out on all the perks that a Google listing comes with. Unless you are verified, you would not be able to fully control your listing or your GMB profile. You cannot update the information, photos nor can you respond to reviews and engage with the customers.

Besides, having a verified listing bears a mark of authenticity and authority both in the eyes of the customers as well as the search engine algorithm. Verified businesses are more likely to attract customers and other benefits that come along. The reason is simple, when you have a GMB profile for your business that’s verified and consistent, you are more likely to be considered authentic and win the trust of your customers. Also, it helps you to secure your listing as no one else can claim it except for the authentic representatives.

By now, you must have understood the significance of verification and how it is quintessential to take full charge of the online profile of your business. If you have already created or claimed your business listing, let’s now dive into the process for verification.

There are a number of ways in which you can complete the business listing verification. Let’s discuss about each of them.

Verification Through Postcard

This is the most common method for verification. In this, you request for a postcard that is sent to you via mail at your physical address. The postcard contains a five digit code which you are required to enter in the GMB verification field.

It usually takes around 2 weeks for the postcard to arrive. Make sure that once you have requested for the mail you do not edit any information, especially related to your contact and address.

Verification Through Phone

Although this mode of verification isn’t available for all, if you see the option, you can verify your business listing through phone. You can either request an automated call or a text message containing the five digit code that you are required to enter to complete the verification process.

Verification Through Email

If the option to ‘Verify by email‘ is available, you can select it and complete the process accordingly. You will be sent a verification code to your registered email along with a link to GMB dashboard. Before requesting the code via email, check the email that is shown and make sure that it’s the right one and something you have access to.

Instant Verification

This is the quickest mode of verification. However, this option is only available for some businesses. If you are already verified in the Google Search Console and have considerable authority and trust of the search engine algorithm, you will most probably have this option to instantly verify your business. Just ensure that you log into GMB with the same account as that of the Search Console.

Bulk Verification

If you are a business that owns more than 10 storefronts, you are eligible to bulk verify all the locations for your business in one go. All you need to do is sign in to Google My Business and select any one of your locations. Then, choose ‘Chain’. You’ll be redirected to fill a form. Ensure that you fill in the required details properly and submit it. It takes around a week for Google to review your request.

Verification Through Video Chat

Another option is to complete the verification process via video chat. If you find the option available, you can use it to verify your business through a video chat with a Google representative/specialist. You are required to have the Google Hangouts app for this.

You might be required to show your workplace, logo, employees/clients or anything similar that helps to prove your authenticity and legitimacy as a business owner.

My Business Providers

My Business Providers, which was earlier known as Trusted Verifier is another way to verify your business. This option is available to local businesses with storefronts that have already signed up for Google My Business. In this, organizations that manage large amount of business data can generate verification codes for businesses that they are a partner with or that they support and aid them in the verification process.

Verification With The Help Of Product Experts

Although only available for some businesses, this method lets official Google Product Experts of different levels ranging from Gold to Alumni to complete the verification process while adding new businesses to Google. This is a free service that doesn’t require you to undertake traditional verification modes, but only available to some businesses.

Looking for some help?

If you are stuck at some stage and are looking for some help, there’s plenty of assistance available.

While there are so many ways to get help with your queries, I’d like to let you know that the methods are completely systematic and hassle-free. As long as you keep in mind the basic points that I’ve shared with you, getting done with the whole thing would be a walk in the park. However, if you get stuck at some point and can’t seem to get your issue addressed, feel free to get in touch with me and I’ll look into what you need help with and we will fix it together.