How to setup your ‘Google My Business’

Google has over 3.5 billion searches per day, which represents a great opportunity for small businesses to reach a massive crowd who might be interested in their product or services. Google created ‘Google My Business’ (formerly Google+) to help small business owners increase their visibility within Google search for FREE! Get ready to take your presence online to the next level?

Benefits of Setting up A ‘Google MY Business’ Listing

There are several benefits for setting up your ‘Google My Business’ Page but most importantly, doing it right will allow you to drive more visitors to your site.

The ‘Google My Business’ admin interface or dashboard allows you to:

1. Keep your business information updated so people can find you.
2. Build loyal customers by starting a conversation. This means that the clients can leave you great reviews about your services and you can respond straight away, which are GOLD for attracting new customers.
3. Increase engagement with your audience by adding photos of your products and/or services.
4. View information on your related YouTube channels and Google Analytics accounts.
5. ‘Google My Business’ listing is also very good for Local SEO. ‘Local SEO’ is the search optimisation process of your website in order for you to acquire higher local ranking on the search engines and ultimately, more visitors.
6. The listing has a BONUS FREE SIMPLE website to launch your new business fast (optional).
7. Whether you’re a home-based business or a service-area business, you can list your details to appear on Google with or without an address.

‘Google My Business’ complements your existing website by giving your business a public identity and presence with a listing on Google. The information you provide about your business can appear on Google Search, Maps, and Google+.

First, set up your Google account (if you haven’t already)

To unlock the option of setting up your ‘Google My Business’ listing there are some basic things that you would need to do. The first thing you would like to do is to create a Google Account or a Gmail Account. Below are the steps on how to achieve that:

1. Go on accounts.google.com/login
2. Click on the Search Result ‘Sign-in – with your Google Account’
3. If you don’t have a Gmail account setup, then you will need to create one.
4. You will need to fill in the information as requested by the “Create your Google Account” online form. After that, simply follow the prompts.

If you previously used Google Places for Business or Google+ Pages Dashboard to manage your business information, your account has been automatically upgraded to ‘Google My Business’.

Setting up your ‘Google My Business’ Listing

STEP 1: Go to google.com/business STEP 2: Click on ‘Start Now’ button then ‘Sign In’ your Google Account by entering your email address and password. STEP 3: Once you sign in, you will see a map. In the search box (refer to below screenshot), you can search for your business. If your business doesn’t come up automatically in your first search, choose “Not a local business” link top right, which is the option shown by the arrow in the picture below. STEP 4: Choose your business type. This is an important step that you want to ensure you get right. It makes a big difference because the Brand means that you don’t have a local street address but you still can make it function as a regular Google Plus Page. You can choose ‘Service Area’ option if you are serving clients at their place within a specific service location. The ‘Storefront’ option is perfect for businesses that have a specific location like  a restaurant, hairdressing salon, gym etc. Let’s assume your business has a fixed location and will we choose ‘Storefront’ to set up your ‘Google My Business’.

STEP 5:  After choosing your business type, now we need to find our business (again). Look for your business in the search box as highlighted below. If you can’t find your business, then  click on the option ‘Add your business’. STEP 6: Once you click on ‘Add your business’, you will be taken to new window where you will need to fill in an online form with your location details. Fill in the information and click on the blue button or hit ‘Next’. STEP 7: After entering your information, you will have to accept the terms and conditions to let Google know that you are authorised to manage the business page. Now click ‘Continue’. STEP 8: Once done Google will send you a code via mobile or snail mail. When you receive it, simply login to your newly created account and enter the code (as shown in Step 9). STEP 9: After receiving your code, simply sign in your Google My Business account and click on the “Verify Now” button to enter it. STEP 10: After verification is complete, your Business Page is fully operational. Congratulations!!   The ‘Google My Business’ Page is being used by so many small businesses already and for good reason. We highly recommend you claim and setup your ‘Google My Business’ listing to be on Google Maps and remain one step ahead of your competitors and for the sake of just 30 minutes of your time (or less), it is well worth the investment.   BONUS TIP: Want to test the speed of your website?  TestMySite