Google My Business: A Free Local Listing Tool

With the launch of its Google My Business (GMB), Google introduced the biggest change to location search. The Google My Business creates a completely new way for businesses and platforms to get information about their locations into Google Search and Google Maps.

Business owners now have more control over how they appear to their customers in search, which improves the consumer experience by delivering more accurate information.

The first step is to claim your business via GOOGLE MY BUSINESS. You will need a Google account in order to use GOOGLE MY BUSINESS. Log in Gmail or Google+, or you can create a new account.

How to Claim Your Business on Google

To claim your business on GOOGLE MY BUSINESS, visit the GOOGLE MY BUSINESS dashboard and search for your business

using its name and address. If your business is displayed in the menu, click on its listing.

If not then click “None of these match” and enter your business information.

Enter the complete and exact street address for your location. For example, “1201, Park Street, Hills View, CA, 94043”. Only include information that is part of the official address.

Do not include information like cross streets, nearby landmarks, because they are not part of your official address. Many times such additional information may make it more difficult to determine your location on Google Maps. Add office numbers separately in address Line 2.

Verify your business

Now that you have identified or entered your business information, you need to verify its accuracy with Google and confirm that you are the owner. You may have up to three options for verification. Not all options are available for all businesses.

To verify your business select the location you would like to verify. Google verifies only your location and this way it approves you as the sole owner of the claimed business. The verification process is done in the following way:

Verify by mail

Google My Business team mails you a verification postcard with a code. It may take some day to arrive so be patient and keep checking your mail. Enter the code on the postcard in your GOOGLE MY BUSINESS dashboard.

Verification on phone

This feature may or may not be allowed in certain regions or for certain business categories. You will know this once you register for verification. The available option for your regions will be auto enabled.

Make sure that you have access to the business phone number that you provided to receive your verification code. When you click verify by phone a code will be sent to your phone and you need to enter the code in your GOOGLE MY BUSINESS dashboard verification panel.

Verification via Search Console

If your business’s website is verified with Google Search Console you may be instantly verified. The Google Search Console is yet another free Google tool to help you website rank in the Google Search.

Make sure you are signed into GOOGLE MY BUSINESS with the same account you used to verify your website with the search console.

Google in the form of GOOGLE MY BUSINESS has provided a free tool to small and large companies to manage their online business information across Google Search and Google Maps.

With GOOGLE MY BUSINESS, businesses can add and claim locations, edit listing information such as opening hours, clean up closed and duplicate locations and lot more.

GOOGLE MY BUSINESS being free and easy to manage is steadily gaining its popularity among every size of business owners. Its highly recommended that you start with GOOGLE MY BUSINESS right away.