How Do I Get My Business on Google My Business?

February 19th, 2019 by Jared Jones

Homepage of Google my Business on a computer screen at Search Influence in New Orleans, LA

Google My Business is a free tool offered by Google that lets business owners create a listing for Google Maps and Google Search. Google My Business (GMB) also offers the ability to manage your listing in many ways, but the first step is to get listed. So, how do you get listed on GMB? This step-by-step guide will show you precisely how.

Add or Claim Your Listing on Google My Business

  1. Go to Google My Business and Click the “Manage Now” Button

    2. Head over to the official Google My Business website. You’ll find the bright green “Manage Now” button in multiple places, but they all lead to the same place. Note that this does require a Google Account to complete, so make sure you have one available that will always be easily accessible.

  2. Enter Your Business Name

    3. Enter the name of your business in the box that is presented to you on this page. If your business has already been claimed and verified, you’ll receive a notice that will instruct you to use the recovery email address to get access to the listing. If not, you’ll enter your address on the next screen; the option to hide your address for service area businesses is in this step as well.

    Screenshot of Google My Business page on a computer screen at Search Influence in New Orleans, LA

  3. Add Contact Information

    4. A potential customer doesn’t have much value if they can’t contact your business. Entering your phone number and website will display it on your GMB listing. You’ll also enter your address here. Be aware, Google will not allow any P.O. boxes for business addresses. Don’t worry if you own a service area business and don’t want to have that information displayed all across the internet; you can choose not to display your address.

    Contact info page of Google My Business on a computer screen at Search Influence in New Orleans, LA

  4. Verify Your Business

    5. After clicking finish, you’ll be taken to a screen to verify your business listing. The most common verification method is through the mail. Google will send a postcard to the address that was entered for the listing to verify that it actually exists at the location that was added to the GMB platform. Once a millennia (internet time of course), Google decides that a simple phone call is enough to verify a listing. The chances of this happening are very rare, so make sure to keep an eye on your mailbox!

    Postcard verification page of Google My Business on a computer screen at Search Influence in New Orleans, LA

  5. Confirm Your Business

    6. After verifying your business, you’ll just have to confirm your business details one last time, and you now have a shiny new Google My Business listing! Now that all of your information is verified and confirmed, your listing will show up in Google Maps and in Google Search whenever it matches a relevant search query.

    Screenshot on a computer screen of a Google My Business page at Search Influence in New Orleans, LA

What Can I Do With Google My Business?

Admittedly, verification is only the first step of your GMB journey. In addition to the visibility that it provides you on Google Maps and in Google Search, Google My Business allows you to interact directly with users. The first way is by posting on Google My Business. Users can “follow” your business on Google Maps, which allows them to view posts on their mobile device. These posts also show up in Google Search results. You can add a call to action that gives users a direct way to interact with your business when discovering your posts.

Example of a post on a Google My Business page at Search Influence in New Orleans, LA

Optimizing your profile is another customizable feature of GMB. You can add a menu, add a service area if you service more than your storefront, add product listings, ensure that you have the most accurate categories associated with your business, add photos, and much, much more. There is a GMB mobile app that also lets you manage on the go while at work or while working on vacation, as some people like to do. It gives you some very thorough metrics like top search queries, calls from your listing, website clicks from your listing, how many direction requests you receive from Google Maps, and a suite of other features. All this may sound like a lot, and it is. Managing your online presence can be tough, but Search Influence does offer local SEO services that cover every corner of Google My Business.
Another bonus is that the strength in Google My Business’s signals for significant local search relevance was increased just from having a GMB listing. Once your business starts to receive some reviews, for better or for worse, this also improves your local presence. Even if a review is not favorable, it does provide a good opportunity to reach out to dissatisfied customers in a professional and public manner. Having a high rating with a large number of reviews is definitely something that looks good to people who find your business while searching on Google.

Example of a bad user review on a Google My Business listing at Search Influence in New Orleans, LA

Example of a user review on a Google My Business listing at Search Influence in New Orleans, LA

Google My Business is essential to any business attempting to optimize their local SEO, which should be almost every small business. With a whole suite of services, this platform has progressed light years from the old Google+ Local and will only continue to grow. At Search Influence, we set up and manage GMB accounts for countless clients and continue to follow and track best practices. Don’t wait to take advantage of this free service! Get in touch with us for your local SEO needs and explore our complete digital marketing services.