How to get your business to show on Google maps

Are you unsure of how to get your business shown on Google maps? Or perhaps is it there, but with incomplete or incorrect information? In this blog we will cover some (but not all!) of the common problems that might occur when creating or editing your location. Let us help you to get on the Map!

Google my Business v Google Maps

If you don’t have a Google my Business account, it is the first step in getting found on the net!  Google my business is the dashboard that controls whether your business, and how your business will appear on Google maps. This is the profile for your business which includes all of your trading information, such as your name, phone number, website, opening hours and most importantly your address. Google maps is controlled through your Google my business account.

Google My Business

Google Maps

How to setup your Google my Business

1. Go to https://business.google.com/
2. You will need a Google account to go any further so if you don’t have one now is the time to create one!
3. Once signed in for the first time, it will ask you to find your business. If you can’t find your business, use the bottom button to add your business to Google.
4. If setting up a new listing, follow each step ensuring to add all your business information accurately, remember that the more specific and accurate the information Google has about your business, the better it will be able to correctly classify and display your business listing. The final step when adding your information, is to verify your account. This is done via a postcard sent to the business address. Once you receive the postcard, you can log back into your account and enter the supplied code. Until this verification process is complete,   some features of your business may be withheld and you will not have full editing power over your details.
5. If your business is already on Google,  but you have no access over it you will need to claim it. You can do so by clicking the ‘Own this business?’ This will then bring you through the steps related above and through a verification process so you make reclaim ownership.

New business listing

Claim an already listed Business

Verifying your account

Whether your business is already listed or you need to create a new listing, the most crucial step is to verify it. Crucially, an unverified business will not show up on search results.  This occurs more regularly if your specific industry is in competition for space with other verified accounts.  It is important to note that if your listing does show unverified, it is free to be edited by any member of the public.   This means false or misleading information about your business can appear on Google search results.

There are a number of ways of verifying your account and Google has an illustrated guide available to help you if there is a problem.

Optimize your Google My Business listing

Once you have created and verified your business listing, it is time to optimise it. Optimising the account makes it more accessible, as it gives Google more information, including a website address, so they can crawl in there for more search information. It is an SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) tool you cannot ignore.  Here are some quick & easy tips on how to do that:

• Ensure the NAP - name address and phone number- provided matches the one on your website – Google will check this
• If your address is correct on Google my business, it should then automatically appear correctly on Google maps.
• Add good quality relevant images to your listing.  These should be photos of your business and it is recommended that you add at least 3 interior and 3 exterior photographs and a team group shot.
• The business description needs to be short and accurate so that customers are confident they have found the correct listing.
• The Business Category selection will affect how and when Google shows your listing. Take care to choose correctly.
• Answer questions customers ask on the Q & A section. It is helpful to setup email alerts to be notified when a new question comes in.
• Reviews – encourage customers to leave reviews and engage with them once they do – Google likes this. More on this in the next section.
• Add an Eircode to your business but be careful that this doesn’t change your physical address as the Eircode sometimes can have a slightly different variation of Irish addresses.

Google My Business Reviews

Once your business listing is verified and you’ve taken the time to go through the above steps, it’s now time to start collecting Google reviews and interacting with customers who engage your business. When it comes to gathering reviews, you shouldn’t sit back and leave it up to your customers. Making a proactive effort to ask all your customers to write a Google review, the more reviews you have the more Google will see your business as creditable and trustworthy. A great feature of a verified account is when a person who visited your business premises, with their GPS turned enabled on their mobile device is prompted to leave a review.

With the demise of the standard phone book and the tendency for more and more people to search for business’s addresses online, it makes absolute sense that you, your website and your business can be found easily.  These are simple steps to make that happen.  It is our stock and trade at Dmac Media to ensure that the amazing websites of our clients, along with their physical places of trade, are easily accessed, in both the virtual and the ‘real’ world. Not only do we make our clients easily found, we optimise so as to ensure that they are more easily found than the competition. Google My Business is a simple step towards this goal.  If you feel like starting a conversation about taking this process further, just give us a call.  Unsurprisingly, you will find all your need to know about us online here……..   www.dmacmedia.ie