Are you in control of your Google Business Profile? 🤔
I’m assuming everyone knows what a Google Business Profile is. It’s basically the 21st century version of a Yellow Pages listing, but the best part about it is THEY’RE FREE!
Not all business owners realize they can take control of their listing, and even optimize it! Here’s our Google Business Profile 👇
How can you tell if you’ve claimed your listing?
❌ Your listing is Unclaimed if you see a “Claim this business” or “Own this business?” button on your profile.
✅ You’ve claimed your listing if you see options to edit information, add photos, or respond to reviews.
❓ Your listing is Claimed but Unverified if you see some editing options but limited functionality. In this case, maybe you’re already waiting on verification. If not, you’ll need to verify your listing. This is important since Verification adds credibility to your listing and unlocks more features for you to use.
If the profile looks ok, but my listing is unclaimed, does it really matter if I claim it?
Yes! Absolutely! Here are some reasons why you want to claim your Google Business listing:
Ensure Accuracy 🔍 The information on your listing might be accurate now, but what happens when the holidays roll around and your hours are a little different? Or you might start adding new products are services that aren’t currently covered by your Google Business Profile. (For that matter, if you’ve never claimed your listing, Google can only guess at the products and services you offer. They don’t have your firsthand info.)
Enhance Visibility 🌟 If your Google Business listing is claimed and optimized, it can help make you more visible to customers. For starters, they give you an easy link you can provide to customers to ask for reviews. More reviews will result in greater visibility! (Social Proof is critical for your business’s online presence.)
Engage Customers 🙋♂️ If you haven’t claimed your Google Business Profile, you’re not able to interact with customers as the business owner on your profile. On the other hand, if you have claimed your profile, you can reply to reviews as the business (and you should ALWAYS reply to reviews), plus potential customers will have the opportunity to ask questions that you can answer on your profile, creating a Google FAQ for your business.
Elevate Your Brand 🚀 Be sure and add high quality photos and video clips to your Google Business Profile. Customers are able to add photos in reviews of your business, and that’s fantastic, but your GBP is a great place to show off that new feature at your business that you want customers to know about.
Enjoy Insights and Analytics 📊 If you are in control of your Google Business Profile (GBP), you can manage it anytime and gain all sorts of insightful information about how many times your profile has been viewed, as well as the kinds of devices people are using and even the search terms that showed them your profile! Here’s an example from the Seaport Webworks GBP showing recent views and the devices people were using when they found us.
Enforce Brand Reputation Protection 🛡️ Ok, it was a stretch thinking of an E word when what we really want to say is – Protect Your Brand Reputation. The point is, when you have claimed your Google Business Profile, you can respond thoughtfully to negative reviews and report abuse or harassment, safeguarding your business’s reputation online.
Not sure about how to claim or manage your listing?
We have a whole article about how to create or claim your Google Business Profile listing here. https://seaportwebworks.com/how-do-i-get-my-business-on-google/
To claim your existing listing, search for your business on Google. If you see a business profile come up for your business and it has buttons like these, just click on the Own this business? link to claim it.
Need Help?
That’s what we’re here for! Let us know if you need help with your Google Business Profile or optimizing your business’s presence on search engines. Just send us an email at [email protected]!
