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If you want your business to get found on Google. The quickest, easiest and cheapest way is to create a Google Business Listing. This article is an introduction to creating your Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business) and the resulting business listing.​
What is a Google Business Profile and how does it work?​
A Google Business Profile (also known as Google My Business and Google Business Listing) is a free tool for businesses and organisations that lets you manage your online presence on Google, specifically in Google Search and Google Maps. Google did have an app called “Google My Business app” however, at the end of 2021, Google announced they will be retiring the app. Moving forward, they recommend that businesses manage their profile directly on Search or on Maps.
With a business profile in Google, your business can appear within Google’s search pages, even if you don’t have a website. Your customers rely on your Google listing to find out where you are, how to contact you and when you are open. It is also an important aspect of local SEO (search engine optimisation) making it another vital component of your business marketing.
eample of business listings within a search page
The listing includes your contact information, website, and reviews, as well as photos, posts, events and offers. Creating and managing a Google business profile is a great way to improve your online presence and connect with customers. In this post, we’ll discuss how to create and manage your Google business profile. For tips on optimising your listing, read our other post Have You Been Paying Attention to you Google Business Listing ?.
example of detailed view of a Google Business Listing
How to set up your Google Business Profile​
There are three different ways you can create your profile with Google. I will outline the two most popular ways below. The first is through Google Maps and the other is through the Google Business Profile website.
Add your business through Google Maps​
- On your computer, sign in to Google Maps
- You can add your business in 3 ways:
- Enter the street address or the business in the search bar of Google Maps. On the left panel, will be an option to “Add your business”.
- Right click on the map and select “Add your business” from the contextual menu that appears.
- Click on the menu icon in the top left corner and select “Add your business” from the slide out menu.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to finish signing up.
Claim your business through Google Maps​
If you find that your business already has a listing on Google Maps you can go through a process of claiming it as your own listing.
- On your computer, open Google Maps
- In the search bar, search for the business name
- Select the business name that is a match and the corrent one
- Click “Claim this business > Manage now”.
- Select a verification option and follow the on-screen steps.
Add your business through Google Business Profile​
- Go to the Google Business Profile page and sign in with your Google account. If you don’t have an account select the button “Create account” and choose the option “To manage my business”.
- This will take you to the Google Business Profile Manager where you can search for your business name. If it doesn’t appear, you can choose the option to “Add your business to Google”.
- Follow the steps to start building your business profile
Should you include your business address?​
If you have a physical location that your customers visit to buy your products and services, it makes sense for you to include your address in the listing. However, some businesses aren’t tied to a physical location and instead service certain regions, states or nations. Google does provide the option for you to not include your address and enter in the regions you service instead.
Google has a verification process whereby they send a postcard to you, to confirm the legitimacy of the address and the business. Even if you don’t want your address displayed in the listing, Google will request your address to send the verification postcard to. The address won’t be visible to the public.
How to maintain and update your profile​
Once you have completed signing up, you will now have access to the Google Business Profile Manager. Through the profile manager you can:
- edit your business contact details
- add new photos
- create posts, special offers, events
- respond to reviews
- list products
- respond to messages
- update your trading hours and notify whether you are closed on certain holidays
Important Tip: Once you have requested to VERIFY the listing, do not make any further edits to your listing. This could delay the verification process. Wait until you have completed the verification process before you make further changes.
Google Business Profile Manager