Google Business Profile to some might appear redundant. After all, you have established a presence on social media platforms, and already have a listed address, a contact page with phone number mentioned there. Google bots can easily crawl through your website and grab the information without you doing a single thing.
It is great for localizing your business and improve your location on Google Maps. People usually search for a business through Google search or Google Map (if they plan to visit). Having the right Google Business listing will ensure people are contacting the right guy!
- Why Should you Make a Google Business Profile?
- Google will Display your Phone Number
- It Paves Way for Customer Interaction
- You can Add Photographs for Increased Exposure
- You can get a Short URL for your Business
- You will enhance your Business for Local SEO
- You can Use it to Gain Insights
- How to Reclaim Ownership of a Google My Business listing
- Check for the person who claimed the account
- What if I do not know who claimed the account?
- If You Know the Person Who Claimed your Business Profile
Why Should you Make a Google Business Profile?
Let’s start by understanding what a Google Business Account really is?
Let us begin with a little experiment. Google the name of any brand, like Levi’s, H&M or even your competition. What do you find? You will see that these high end brands have a completely professional looking business listing with their phone number, working hours, and address, etc. everything mentioned in order. These brands have used Google Business Profile to get the final, polished look.
You can get your Google Business account by checking out my detailed article: How to claim your business profile on Google Search and Maps, directly?
From easier access to your brand, to a more professional outlook, Google Business account can help you get the most out of your digital presence.
- Google will Display your Phone Number
- It Paves Way for Customer Interaction
- You can Add Photographs for Increased Exposure
- You can get a Short URL for your Business
- You will enhance your Business for Local SEO
- You can Use it to Gain Insights
Google will Display your Phone Number
The easiest way for anyone to get in touch with you is still through phone. Providing a phone number increases the legitimacy of your brand. Your professional phone number can help you manage your calls. Sometimes, people are not tech savvy, and are unable to find your outlet even through Google maps. What would they need? Your phone number. No one would want to go to your website, go to the contact page and then scroll through to get your number.
Besides, websites provide the number of the headquarters. If you are looking for Pizza Hut in your area, you would need the number of that particular branch.
Through Google Business listing, the number of that very branch will be displayed on the Google search page, without the customers getting restive.
It Paves Way for Customer Interaction
Listing your business with Google also paves the way for engaging with customers. The customers can easily drop their reviews which you can read, and even respond to. This will help to build a strong, trustworthy relationship with potential customers who are going through your Google Business account.
You can Add Photographs for Increased Exposure
Visuals are a great way for any business to attract audience, especially if you deal in finished goods. When you add a photo to your Business Listing you enhance the trust, and encourage increased interaction with the prospects. Google statistics show that adding photos can increase requests for directions on Google maps by 42 percent.
You can get a Short URL for your Business
Google Business listing will help you to keep things simple, especially your website’s URL. This will improve trust with customers and reduce any friction when it comes to clicking through site.
You will enhance your Business for Local SEO
As I mentioned before, you can localize your business and optimize it for domestic audience. People will know which number to dial, and whom to contact in case of an emergency. It means people in the vicinity will be able to find your business easily, and without any problem. Eventually, you might become the top ranking business in Google search in the locality.
You can Use it to Gain Insights
Another way Google Business account can help your business is for gaining insights. You can get an idea about your audience, and how the local search performs. You will find the keywords your clients have used, to search for your business, in the analytics tab of the platform.
How to Reclaim Ownership of a Google My Business listing
Now what to do if you want to claim a Google Business Account but it has already been claimed by someone else?
- Check for the person who claimed the account
- What if I do not know who claimed the account?
- If You Know the Person Who Claimed your Business Profile
Check for the person who claimed the account
One of the common reasons of why you cannot claim your business is because the previous owner did not transfer the listing. It is a common mistake. You can get in touch with the previous owners or their employees to confirm if they have claimed it.
What if I do not know who claimed the account?
This is where things might get a bit difficult. But have no worry, I know just the trick.
- Make sure you use your official email id to facilitate the claiming procedure. If you don’t have it, create one.
- Furthermore, choose your business’ listing type.
- Storefront or Hybrid business: Your business has a physical location.
- Service Area Business: Your business operates without a physical location, but customers get service face to face at their location.
- To claim your business on Google which has already been claimed you need to go business.google.com/add
- Enter the name and choose it from the search results. If several options appear, you can add your postal code or business address to narrow down the search.
- A message will pop up informing you that the listing is already claimed or verified. You will also receive a hint to the email address which was used to do this.
- Click on Request access.
- Fill out the form.
- Click submit.
How to Claim a Service Area Business When Someone Else Claimed Your Business on Google
- Search for the business profile by going to Google Search.
- Click on: own this business link.
- You will be then asked to enter the business name.
- Go through the normal setup of adding your business to Google Setup.
- Once you have clicked on Finish, you will be asked to enter your email address for verification.
- After you receive the verification code your profile will be verified.
- You will then be prompted with the Owner Conflict box, indicating the location is duplicate.
- Click Request access and fill out the form.
- Click Submit.
What Happens after your Request is Submitted?
The current owner will get an email with your request. You will receive a request confirmation. You can click on View request to get a detailed idea of the request.
The current owner will have almost three days to respond to the request.
They can either
- Approve the request,
- Deny the request or
- Not respond at all.
The owner has approved the request
If the owner approves the request you will receive an email and gain full access to the listing. All you ned to do is login to your Google Business profile.
The owner has denied the request
In this case, you will be notified with an apology email, stating: Sorry, the owner of [Business] has rejected your request to become an owner on Google Business Profile. If you would like to appeal the rejection, you may verify your affiliation with the business to gain access. Appeal Now.
After you have clicked on Appeal Now, you will need to wait for a positive result.
The owner did not respond
If the owner did not respond, for whatever reason, you can have the option of claiming the listing yourself. Go back to the confirmation email you received after sending the request. Click on View request.
If You Know the Person Who Claimed your Business Profile
If you know who claimed it and thy confirm it, you need to ask if they have access to that account. If they still have access, it is really good. All they would need to do is transfer the ownership of the listing to you.
If they forgot the login details, they can try to recover the details and transfer the account to you.
Conclusion
Google Business Profile is a free platform created to help business manage their local presence across Google Search and Google Maps. Having a Google Business Profile verifies your business information, and makes it easier for customers to find your business. It gives them quick access to business contact, location, and customer reviews. Furthermore, it lets you manage update and display any information on Google. It is a great way of improving Google Search rankings.
In case your business has already been claimed by someone else, you can take multiple steps to reclaim the name. If you know the person who has claimed it, you can easily ask them to transfer the listing. However, if you are unaware of who the owner is, you can ask Google to help you in this matter.
Google will send an email to the current owner, and will notify you after they have responded. In case they do not respond to your email, you can still reclaim the listing by providing relevant information about your business.
