You already know it's important that your business shows up on Google. Don't pay somebody to set it up for you.
You can do it yourself for free, let's look at how!
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So, is it important to have your business listed on Google? Of course it is! Google is the gateway for people to find things.
Google Maps, Google search all of those things are tied to your Google business listing.
And yeah, somebody like me or lots of other people out there could charge you money to set it up for you,
or you can do it yourself in just a few minutes, and I'm gonna show you how right now.
It's completely free to set up. By the end of this video
you'll not only know how to get your listing set up, but also
I'm gonna show you how to verify it with Google.
That way you'll have that verified checkmark which is important for the credibility of your business or brand, as well as
helping you in search results. And a lot of people have asked me,
"Do you have to have a physical storefront or a physical address,
where you do your business and customers come to?" to have a Google business listing? And the answer is no as I will show you
in just a second.Now before I show you how, in case you're not quite convinced
you need a Google business listing, here are three reasons you definitely need one.
Reason number one: You may already have
a
Google Business
Listing and not know it. Some customer might have typed it in once and Google just made it a listing in which case you need
to claim it,
because there might be the wrong information on there, in which case you could be damaging your business and losing potential leads.
I've seen Google Business listings with the wrong phone number,
so nobody can reach you to call you and hire you. Reason number 2: You get to control
what's on it once you own your Google Business listing. Not only the hours and things like that
but you can change it last second. For example, you might change and put holiday hours on there.
You can also control the photos that are on there. Customers can add photos to Google Business listings,
and if you've never gotten ahold of your listing, they may have uploaded
terrible pictures of your business
and they're
representing you when people find you on Google search. And reason number 3: you can monitor and
respond to reviews to make sure that your reputation is good. So whether you're trying to get on Google Maps
or Google Search, any part of Google,
let's get into how to set up your Google Business listing. Start off by going to google.com/business.
If you're not already signed into a Google account you'll have to do that now,
and if you don't have one just create one.
It's totally free. You'll see a map come up
and you'll want to fill out the information on the box over on the left. At the bottom
you'll see it says, "I deliver goods and services to my customers at their location."
You can click this link for more information, but basically if you run your business,
maybe you run a garage door repair company out of your house and all the work you do is at other people's locations and
businesses and houses, then you would go ahead and click yes.
Or if you have a meal delivery service, anything like that where you don't have a storefront you're gonna
go ahead and click yes. Now
they need a little bit more information here, so "My business delivers goods and services to customers within this area."
This is basically going to help Google show your results to the right people If you only serve the city of Pittsburgh,
then Google doesn't want to show your results to people in Los Angeles.
Obviously put in your location and the range that you want to serve.
And if you're like me you run a business out of your house you do not want to check this box here.
But if you do have a storefront or anywhere that
customers come to and you want your address to be public you can go ahead and click that it'll ask you to verify your information.
Check the box hit continue.
This is where you're going to get your business listing verified. Now if you have a business that is already legitimately online,
maybe you have an actual retail store, or a restaurant
or something like that then you can actually get verified much quicker by using your publicly listed phone number.
Since what I'm running is out of my house, and there's not much record of it yet,
I have to do it by mail so the way it works is you say, "Okay yes,
I want to do it by mail." Google's gonna send you actual mail, a postcard, snail mail,
which is kind of crazy! Just thinking about who Google is! They say it'll take one to two weeks,
but they usually show up within five business days in my experience. Once you get your card log in to your My Business account, enter
the code and you will be all set with a verified business on Google. Then you're in total control, now
I have a business listing on Google for Five Minute Social Media. You'll see here
it says my profile is 55% complete so I can do a few things.
This is probably the easiest place to continue right here, "add profile photo." Select a photo from your computer
or just drag it in there, crop it the way you want it.
Then you can choose a cover photo.
This is just like on Facebook or anywhere else. You might want a picture of something that represents your business You might want a picture of
your actual business. I'm gonna use this awesome stock photo of somebody with a great French manicure and
clearly health-conscious with their pear apple or whatever is in the background here.
You'll see a few tabs here across the top where you can add different photos, things about your team if you've got a staff,
your
identity, this is where you can
put another logo in,
in addition to your profile picture if you look over here on the left side of the screen you'll see now, Home, Info, Photos,
Website, Users. Photos is where we are right now. We just uploaded a few photos. Website -
They'll actually let you build a free website
if you don't have one. Users is where you can add other people that have access to your page.
And then Info is the other place you're going to want to click. Make sure that all of the information here is
accurate. Add your hours, additional links, anything else that you want to include. Once you're verified you'll be able to see Google Insights here where
it'll show you exactly how people are finding your page,
what kind of customers are finding your page, a lot of great free info from Google, as well as manage your reviews, so people can
leave you reviews. You can reply to them if they're good, bad,
whatever you want to do. If you're concerned about what the public can see and what they can't you can look here under info and
you'll see under my address it says, "Only visible to you."
I want to show you what happens if your business already
exists on Google, even if you've never registered it. There may be a listing because some consumer or customer
may have gone ahead and added it to Google. They may have done it with the wrong information!
This is why it's important to claim your listing.
I'm gonna put in Starbucks.
So you'll get this message: "The following business looks similar to the business that you already added. Is this your business?"
Obviously I do not own the Starbucks in Pike Place Market in Seattle, but if your business does come up
this way, then you would go ahead and click on it.
Then you have the opportunity to claim and verify the business in the same way that you would if there was no business listing. One
more thing though, even you do verify, it may take a few weeks for all of that to show up in search results.
If you got something out of that video,
I would love it if you would give it a quick Like! Also consider subscribing right over here (pointing).
And if you have any trouble or have any other questions about things to do with Google or anything else,
let me know down in the comments. I would love to talk to you about your business.