Adding your company to Google Maps may seem like a simple step, but it can go a long way towards increasing your visibility, making it easier for users to find you and potentially increasing sales – especially if your business is one that customers would want to visit in person. If you’re saying, “Great, I’m in – where do I start? How can I get my business on Google Maps?” simply read on – all the answers are laid out below in five easy steps.
How to Get Your Business on Google Maps
1) Create a Google My Business account
Firstly, you will want to create a Google My Business account (or login if you already have one), which you can do by clicking here. The process is free and simple, so don’t worry about incurring any costs now or in the future.
2) Get your business listed
Once you are logged in, you should be immediately taken to the Google My Business homepage. There you can check to see if your business is already listed, which you can easily do by searching for your company’s name. If it appears, you can simply select the listing to claim it. Once you do that, no one can post a new listing of your business. This is a good thing, as double listings can confuse customers and make managing your online reputation far more difficult.
If you’ve found that you are not listed, click ‘Create a business with this name’ and you can begin the process of building your business profile.
3) Enter your business’s information
Now that you’ve either claimed your listing or made a new one, you can begin making sure all the information you include about your business is as accurate as possible. This includes:
- the business location
- the phone number
- the opening hours
It’s important to remember that if the information you include is inaccurate, you could put off potential customers and come off as less professional. You may also lose business from incorrect information. For example, if a customer wants to call or locate your company and can’t, they may take their business elsewhere.
Top Tip: At this point, you will be asked if you want your business to be listed on Google Maps. Don’t say yes just yet! You want to make sure you are verified before you allow this.
Which brings us to…
4) Verify your business
You may have to exercise some patience with this step. Getting verified by Google My Business can take up to two weeks. However, if you are prepared to wait, you will receive a postcard in the mail that will have a verification code from Google on it. Once you receive the postcard, you will have 30 days to complete the verification process.
If you’re really impatient, don’t worry! Some businesses may be allowed to bypass the mail verification process. In some cases, Google will send a company a PIN via phone call or text message, which significantly speeds things up.
Once you get your PIN, you can return to Google My Business and easily verify your account. Now you can allow your business to be listed on Google Maps!
5) Update your information as needed
Make sure that someone from your company is in charge of keeping your information up to date. If your hours or location change, update your account. You can also share photos and other information about your business that will make you more appealing to potential customers.
The Benefits
Benefits of getting a Google My Business listing and adding yourself onto Google Maps include the following:
- You will know the information listed about your business is accurate
- You’ll connect with customers who are looking for local businesses
- You’ll gain access to an enormous database of users – over 154 million people use Google Maps each month, which potentially exposes you to a very large audience
Whether you’ve been itching to hop on the bandwagon and get your business listed on Google Maps for a while now and just didn’t know how to make it happen or this article has convinced you to list your company, making yourself more visible online is never a bad thing. Once you make the move, you’ll gain a better reputation, more customers and, of course, your very own spot on the map.
Want to learn more about how you can make your business’s online presence shine? Our team at Passion Digital is here to help! Our SEO experts are on hand to give you the most up-to-date advice on SEO best practice. Contact us today for more information!