Create a Google Business Profile
If you have a business, you need to create a Google Business Profile. It’s that simple. As Google continues to be the dominant search engine, it is vital your business is represented prominently on their search pages. If you’re a local company and you’re in search of local customers, it is even more critical to create and actively maintain a Google Business page. Creating the page won’t take you too long, maintaining it will require some attention, but the results will be worth it.
Step 1: Go to Google.com/business
The first step in the process is to go to google.com/business. This is an important link to keep track of as you’ll use this URL to access your Google business page moving forward. It’s a good idea to bookmark it.
Step 2: Enter your gmail
Once you’re on the Google Business page, you’ll need to sign in using a gmail email address. If you don’t yet have a gmail account, you’ll need to create one. You’ll need a gmail account in order to start accessing not only your Google Business page, but a lot of other great Google features, such as Google Drive, Google Docs and Google Slides.
Step 3: Add your business name and address
Once you are signed in to the Google Business page, you’ll need to enter your business name and address. It is critical you get both of these right as these will be used to locate your business on Google Maps. Additionally, once your business has been verified, changing this information requires re-verification, so it’s best to get it right the first time.
There are a couple of important caveats to consider when entering your business address. The first is that your business address should not be a PO Box or a “virtual” address. This should be a physical address where customers can come to receive services or products.
The second caveat is that you need to choose whether your business has an actual physical location (in which case you can be found on Google Maps) or if your business is a virtual business such as a remote digital service. If that’s the case, rather than use a physical address for a location you will need to select a “service area”. The service area can be the city you live in, or a wider area. You can even select surrounding states.
Step 4: Choose your business category
Next you will need to choose what your primary business category is. This step is again quite critical to get right as it will dictate when your business will show up in Google search. If your business is a web design agency located in Arvada, Colorado and a potential customer living in Arvada searches for “web design companies near me” – you’ll want your business showing up in Google maps and search results.
Step 7 Enter your business phone number and website
The next step will be to enter your business phone number and website address. Calls and website clicks are both tracked, so you’ll know how often customers click on this important information.
Step 8: Verify your listing
In order for your new Google Business page to show up you’ll need to verify your listing. It’s quite easy to do. In most cases, you’ll have a postcard sent to your business address which contains a verification code. Generally the postcard will show up in about a week’s time. Google does this in order to make sure you are the business manager and have access to any mail being received at your location.
Step 9: Add images
If you have good images of your business, such as what the inside or outside looks like, or a company logo, you can add those to your profile. The better job you do of describing and visually displaying how your business looks and the services you offer – the more likely your Google Business Profile is to be clicked on.
Your business is live on Google, now what?
Now that you’ve correctly set up your Google business page, customers will be able to see your business in local search results. However, you’re just getting started. There are other important points to address on your business page. One critical step after your page is live is to ask for customer reviews. We’ll explore this more in a future post. There are other great tools associated with your new business profile. Take some time to review each section to find out how you can continue to improve your reach and exposure.