HOW DO YOU GET YOUR BUSINESS ON GOOGLE MAPS? AN EASY GUIDE TO GOOGLE MY BUSINESS SET-UP!

So you’ve decided to get your business on the MAP and you know that a super-tool like Google is where it needs to go! How easy is to get your business set up on Google Maps, or Google My Business (GMB) as it’s now called? Very easy! Infact Google walks you through the whole process, and even emails you regularly afterwards with performance and super hand tips! Infact I even received a lovely little email prompt from the super-search engine this December to remind me to update my Christmas opening hours! As I had totally forgotten about letting the world know I would be off relaxing for a couple of weeks I found this absolutely tip top of Google!

So how can you set up Google business for your location? You want to Be Seen in the right way and ideally ahead of other businesses in your area. For instance if you are a Marketing Company in Wakefield you would like to appear above other Marketing Companies in Wakefield. But how do you set up your Google My Business listing?

Firstly, what is Google My Business? It is the way to tell Google all about your company so that it can help people who are searching for your services in your area find you. I’m sure you will agree that we all have tapped into Google the name and area of a local business we are hoping to find and love that little box which appears with “Call Now” or “Directions” via their Google Business Listing. Well this is what I want to help you set up for your business!

HOW LONG DOES MY GOOGLE MY BUSINESS LISTING TAKE TO APPEAR?

It takes 3-4 days to go live after you have input your activation code from Google (yes even Google has to rely on good old snail mail for sending you an activation code if you are a new business to them).

Go to their set up page Google My Business
Follow the instructions and fill in your details
Google will then need you to prove your address is real so will send you a verification code. Usually this is posted but if Google is aware of your business already it may offer you a phone verification.
Once you have your verification code follow the instructions and “Verify” your Google My Business
You’re up and running (give or take a few days)

QUICK REMINDER – CHECK IF YOU’RE BUSINESS IS ALREADY LISTED ON GOOGLE FIRST!

I can’t tell you the amount of times I have helped someone set up their Google Business listing only to discover that there is already one in place! If you’re business is already listed on Google My Business, or Google Maps, it’s so much quicker to CLAIM this rather than starting from scratch. Plus you don’t want loads of duplication of your business, as it just gets messy and is bad for SEO! To check just go to Google Maps and search for your business in your town/city/village and scroll down or 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: GET ON GOOGLE MY BUSINESS

First you need to head over to Google My Business and you will see a page that looks something like this:

Screenshot from sign-in page of Google My Business — Click the green “start now” button and follow the instructions.

The key thing here is be consistent. Make sure your address appears the same as on your website and all online listings (same order, same spelling, same areas etc). For instance if you use “Rd” rather than “Road” state this everywhere, or if you use your village name aswell as your town use both everywhere – keep you address identical everywhere you list it online. If you don’t you confuse search engines, web crawlers and generally make for messy SEO.

STEP 2: PICK YOUR BUSINESS CATEGORY

Choosing your business category on Google My Business — When setting your company up on Google My Business choose your single category carefully. Check through the various options and find the one that best suits your primary service. Google will only let you pick from it’s listed services and will only let you have 1 primary category.

You can add secondary categories later but your primary category choice is important.

Careful not to skip the last part on this page: “I deliver goods and services to my customers at their location.” with the options Yes or No.

If you don’t want your address listed on Google Maps you need to check “Yes”.

Don’t skip the last yes/no question – your answer here is important

If you’re a trade person or the sort of business that visits your customers at their own location you want to check “Yes” here too. Basically, unless you want people coming to visit you at your address you want to click “Yes”. You will later be presented with the option to choose your ‘service area’ which is the radius of places that you’re willing to visit, sell to or work for, and potentially the area Google may serve your details up to.

STEP 3: PICK YOUR LOCATION

You may see that Google has not dropped your location pin in the right place, or you may wish to move it for privacy. If you’re familiar with Google Maps then changing this will be fairly simple. Again, Google tries to help, it’ll drop a pin in the map based on the address it thinks you have provided. If it’s not right just drag the pin and drop it in the right place.

If you serve people in your surrounding areas from your base, or if you checked “No” to the question about delivering goods above, then you can still set your delivery/service radius. You can either pick cities or regions (e.g. Wakefield or West Yorkshire) or you can choose a distance from your given address in miles radius. You can also check a box to add (and show) your business location too if you sell goods at your store and deliver.

STEP 4: DOUBLE-CHECK FOR YOUR VERIFICATION

Last step: Double check all the details – especially the postal address. Your verification code will be sent to the address you have given so make sure it’s right! You can also add a “FAO” field if you need to add your own name to make sure it gets to you, just before you submit.

You will get a final “I am authorised to manage this business and I agree to the Terms of Service” to tick off and then you will get a preview of your authorisation mail out. Again check this is correct!

It generally takes 7-10 days to receive your Google verification postcard and within it are all the instructions to verify your listing, nice and easy! If it hasn’t arrived after 2 weeks go back to Google My Business login and select “resend my verification code” and a new one will be posted out. After all we all know how things can sometimes go amiss in the snail-mail!

Good luck getting listed and give me a shout if you need any help with your Google My Business listing on 07960 485173.

Get Your Business On Google Maps GMB