When I speak at events, I always leave the audience with this to-do: Claim your business locations on Google Maps and Bing Places. It’s low hanging fruit that’s free and important. Most people with a computer can do. It is easy to setup and allows you to directly communicate to Google and Bing information about your operations. Claiming your business listing is essential for brick and mortar businesses. Lets take a look at how and why.
According to Google’s Get Your Business Online (GYBO.com) program, only 37% of businesses have claimed their local listing on Google Maps. That’s significant when you consider what completed listings mean to the average customer (See graphic below from Google’s 2014 Search Listing Research Study):
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This free listing Increases Engaged Interest, Establishes Trust, Creates Positive Brand Equity, and Motivates Action — and it’s free!
- 38% more likely to be viewed as a business I would visit
- 29% more likely to motivate consumers to visit the business
- 29% more likely to motivate consumers to consider purchasing from this business
Here’s How to Claim your Business Locations
Claiming your Google and Bing listing is pretty easy, but there is a process.
- Search for your unclaimed listing by searching the map,
- Click on claim your listing,
- Verify you actually own that business by receiving a verification code by call or mail,
- Update the listings information with NAP (or Name, Address, Phone — remember consistent NAP across the web is essential for good SEO!), hours, photos (internal, external, team, profile), virtual tour, manage reviews, business category, website url, and more!
Google:
Simply sign into your Google account (or create one) then go to Google Maps and search for your business using business name or address. Click on Claim this business (see image). Follow the verification steps. Update information! (If someone already owns the listing, you may need to request ownership.)
Here’s a video if you get stuck:
Bing:
1) Search for your business on Bing, or go straight to Bing Places. If a listing appears, 2) look for the link at the bottom of the listing on the right that says Is this your business? 3) Login using your Microsoft account (email address associated with Bing). You’ll be transported to Bing Places and you can 4) update the listing there with similar info used in your Google listing.
This is home, we got to support each other
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