How to add a business to Google
Nowadays, it’s so easy to add a business to Google, it’s a
wonder every business doesn’t do it. What a smart-looking, helpful website can
do for your online business, having current, relevant information about your
business on Google Maps can do for your brick-and-mortar store. Let’s go over
the few steps it takes to add your business to Google.
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To add your business to Google Maps, go to google.com and
look up your business. If it is there, click on Claim this business to control
the information that appears on Google. If it is not there, click on the
three-line menu in the search box and select Add your business.
JUMP TO KEY SECTIONS
Check if your business is already listed
Go to Google.com and enter the name of your business in the
search box. When the results page comes up, click on the Maps tab at the top of
the page.
Kevin Convery / Android Authority
Here you will see the location of your business and a
sidebar on the left with all the information Google currently has on your
business. Especially if you see some incorrect information, it’s important to
control what information is publicized by Google about your business. This
could include your hours, how busy you are at the moment, and your website URL.
This information will often determine whether a customer will go to your store,
somewhere else, or just stay home. Let’s see how to take this control.
Make sure the name and address of your business on Google
Maps are correct, and then click on Claim this business.
On the page that comes up, click on the Manage now button. This will bring up a menu that will let you claim ownership of the business and control the information displayed about it on Google Maps.
Adding your business through Google MapsIf you search for your business and don’t see a result for
it in Google, you can create a listing by clicking on the three-line menu in
the search box. Then click on Add your business.
This will bring up a series of pages where you will enter the relevant information about your business.
You will need to provide a phone number or email, in order to confirm that it’s yours. When you are finished, your business will appear on Google Maps, making your business easier for your customers to find.
Read more: How to see coordinates in Google Maps
FAQs
Google My Business is an online tool that helps you manage
your business profiles on Google. It lets you insert much more detailed
information about your business than you can through the standard Google Maps
interface.
A business shows up on Google when someone — a business
owner, a customer or neighbor of a business, or Google itself — creates a
business profile for it. If your business is not on Google Maps, it means no
one has created a business profile for it. See the instructions above to enter
your business information on Google Maps.
Yes, you can, but you will need to verify your business
again under the new name.
No, this is not possible. Google will consider removing
individual reviews if they are inappropriate, but the business owner has to
request it.
Is Google My Business free?
Yes, Google My Business is free to use.
Google helps small
businesses in many ways: Google Business Profile builds customer awareness,
while Google Ads generates web traffic and direct leads.
Google Analytics is
a free tool that shows website traffic reports so you can create more content
that visitors like and fix issues that are not working.
Google Workspace is
a suite of web-based software and productivity tools that you can use for
collaboration.
This article is for
small business owners who want to leverage Google’s free tools for marketing
and productivity.
Google helps you find just about everything you could
possibly need. Hungry? Find the closest restaurant to you. In the mood to shop?
Browse the latest sales. Wondering what your boss just meant by the acronym she
used? Look up possible meanings.
No matter what you’re searching for, this internet giant has
your back – even in the business world. If you own a small business, you can
utilize Google to attract customers and get ahead of competitors.
From calendars and email to business profiles and maps,
Google helps you run your business efficiently and establish an online
presence. Google’s Get Your Business Online (GYBO) is the umbrella site that
explains how to use its suite of tools to establish and enhance your online
presence.
Google has partnered with thousands of cities and local
organizations to help businesses build their websites, stay on top of Google
search results, and be seen by customers. Resources include free custom
websites, a step-by-step guide to using Google Business Profile, diagnostic
tools to measure your website’s performance, training programs and business
workshops.
Here’s how these solutions will help your business, and how
to get started.
If you’re a small business owner, a potential customer’s
first exposure to your company is probably through a Google search. Google
Business Profile, formerly known as Google My Business, gives them something to
find.
Google Business Profile establishes you as a business as far
as Google is concerned, allowing you to show up in search and map results when
someone searches for your type of business near them. It also allows customers
to leave Google reviews of your business, which goes a long way in building
your company’s credibility and generating leads.
“[It] is a great starting point for a small business, as
it’s simple to set up and free too,” said Ryan Scollon, a PPC consultant. “It
allows you to show in the local/map results on a Google search results page
when people are looking for a local service or business. It also allows you to
show business opening hours, contact details and even directions to your place
of work should people need to visit you.”
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In the past, a Google Business Profile gave a business a
competitive advantage. Today, not having one gives you a marked disadvantage,
and you lose the opportunity to tell potential customers about what you do,
where you are, when you are open, how others feel about you, and anything else
you want to tell them. To take advantage of this service, you will need to
create or claim your Google Business Profile.
With a Google Business Profile, you can build a following
and keep customers coming back with news updates, event announcements, and
special offers and discounts. Your business profile on Google lets you keep contacts
in the loop by sharing status updates, photos, videos and links. Your profile
also allows you to view and reply to customers’ feedback and answer their
questions.
When the coronavirus hit, Google expanded the business
profile section so companies could post any pandemic-related changes – such as
different hours of operation, and changes in service like curbside pickup or
takeout only for restaurants – which was a useful way for small businesses to
communicate with customers.
A Google business listing will allow others to find your
company on Google Maps and rank high in Google search results. This makes it
easier for customers to find directions, hours and contact information for your
business – whether they are searching on their computers or mobile
devices.
You can now share content directly on Google by following
these steps:
Search your
company’s name on Google.
When you see your
logo next to “Your business on Google,” click “Add update.”
Type in your
update, and add a photo and/or a button.
Anyone searching for you or your business will have access
to the posts, where you can share pictures, videos and GIFs, and event
announcements. The setup is quick and simple. [Get started: Learn more about
Google Business Profile.]
Google Local (Google Guaranteed)
Google Local – also called Google Guaranteed – is local
advertising that shows up when people in your area search for the services you
offer. Unlike with Google Ads, you only pay Google Local when a customer calls
or messages your business directly through the ad, so it is great for lead
generation.
Home services businesses can get a Google Guaranteed badge
by submitting paperwork. The badge shows customers that Google has verified
your business and backs your services. Professionals such as lawyers and
consultants can get a Google Screened badge, showing that Google has verified
their background and vouches for their expertise.
To begin this service, tell Google how many leads you would
like to get per week and set up your ad budget. These simple ads include the
company’s name, the average number of stars it has from Google reviews, and a
few other words. Google will display your ad in accordance with the budget at
the top of the search results, along with two or three competing companies.
Customers can reach you by selecting the ad and sending a
direct message, or by calling you. When your business receives these phone
calls through the Google ads, it is important to have a live human answering
the phone and not a voicemail. If calls are not answered by a person, Google
will reduce the number of times your ad shows up. Having a lot of good Google
reviews also helps with your ad exposure. Google Local is the major lead source
for many small businesses.
Google Ads
Need to reach even more customers? If you offer a truly
unique service and want to advertise based on keywords, or if you can sell to
customers nationally or internationally in addition to locally, Google Ads is
the way to go. Small businesses may take advantage of the search giant’s reach
with Google Ads, an easy-to-use, cost-per-click (CPC) advertising platform.
The CPC model means you only pay when people click on your
ads. You can set your daily budget for each advertising campaign and adjust
these budgets as necessary. For example, if you have a daily budget of $10, you
would have a maximum CPC of 50 cents and approximately 20 clicks per day.
Using Google Ads, your company can create advertisements
that appear in relevant Google search results – including on mobile devices –
and related websites. For instance, if you own an ice cream shop in Los
Angeles, your ad would appear when someone searches for an ice cream shop in
the area and in results for “ice cream,” “dessert” or other keywords that you
specify.
You can change your ads at any time and launch them locally,
nationally, and even globally. Google Ads offers robust reporting and analytics
tools, so you can monitor ad performance to ensure your campaigns meet your
advertising goals.
According to Scollon, though, Google Ads needs to be approached
with caution.
“The problem here is that if it’s not set up or maintained
correctly, it can very quickly burn your money,” he said. “It can allow small
businesses to get up and running pretty quickly without having to wait for
other marketing to kick in, but make sure you put in plenty of time for
research or hire a professional.”
Google Analytics is a powerful, free tool that lets you
measure traffic and track visitor behavior to determine what is – and isn’t –
helping your website meet its goals. It shows various visitor metrics, such as
audience engagement, mobile and social media traffic, and bounce rates (the
rate at which visitors stay on your website or move among pages). It also
includes referral traffic information (where your traffic is coming from) to
help you gauge whether your marketing campaigns are working and how they could
improve.
“Google offers free certifications for business owners
interested in leveraging the gold mine of data that comes from using this
tool,” said Jeanette Guardiola-Woods, founder of Sketch and Form.
Once you learn how to use Google Analytics, you can discover
your customers’ geographical locations, other sites they’ve visited, what kind
of devices they use, whether they completed a call to action on your site, and
which pages of the site they are abandoning the most, said Guardiola-Woods.
“The real value in this data is that it allows you to target
your customer more specifically, fix areas of your site that need to be
optimized, and track successful events,” she added. [Get started: How to Use
Google Analytics]
You don’t need expensive productivity solutions to support
your operations. An affordable alternative is Google Workspace – formerly G
Suite – which offers a streamlined suite of web-based office programs, along
with cloud storage and a collaboration service. It consists of Gmail, Calendar,
and Drive, which includes the office apps Docs, Sheets, and Slides. These
platforms offer desktop and mobile access, offline support, and Google-backed
security.
Google Workspace starts at $6 per user per month. The basic
plan includes 30GB of storage for each user. The higher plans, for $12 or $18
per month, include 2TB and 5TB of storage respectively. There is also an
enterprise plan with unlimited storage. For that plan, you need to contact the
Google sales team for specific pricing information.
If you love Gmail, you’ll appreciate that Google Workspace
lets you access your business email on the Gmail platform, but without the
@gmail.com extension. You can use a custom email address with your business’s
domain, such as you@yourcompany.com. This version of Gmail comes with 30GB of
storage, Google’s search and security features, and integration with Calendar.
As its name implies, Calendar lets you manage your schedule
and organize your events. Features include meeting reminders and calendar
sharing, so you can see when team members are busy or free. Additionally, you
can attach documents to events and embed event calendars on your company
website, allowing clients to set up appointments instantly. [Related: 10 Tips and
Tricks for Google Calendar]
This cloud storage and collaboration platform lets you and
your team store, share, and edit files in real time over the web. Drive
includes full-featured productivity apps – such as Docs (its word processor),
Sheets (a spreadsheet editor) and Slides (presentation software). For on-the-go
access, these services are available as stand-alone mobile apps from the Google
Play Store and the Apple App Store. This provides a great communication tool
for employees who work from different locations.
Google Meet now shows you how noisy your office is
Meet will also help you rise above that noise
Taking calls and attending video conferences from noisy
locations is never ideal — whether you're outside near a construction site or a
cubicle away from a co-worker who's typing on a keyboard with obnoxiously loud
switches — but unidirectional headset mics and dynamic noise-canceling
algorithms built into video conferencing tools make life easier. The latter is
where Google Meet comes in as its ambient noise suppression does a pretty good
job of blocking out the noise. With a new feature, however, you'll know when
exactly it's doing the hard work.
ANDROIDPOLICE VIDEO OF THE DAY
The company has revealed in a post on the Google Workspace
blog a new visual indicator for when Meet has activated noise reduction.
If you enable noise cancellation, the indicator has three
different states: if the voice indicator isn’t visible, your mic isn’t picking
up any sound; if you see a “Reducing noise” pop-up slide out from the voice
indicator, Google Meet is filtering out a burst of noise, so the participants
only hear your voice — this pop-up should appear just once per meeting, at
most; lastly, if you see a pulsating ring around the indicator, it means Meet
is actively canceling out ambient noise. Here, the size of the ring indicates
the noise level.
The new noise indicator will be visible only when you have
noise cancellation enabled. Google is already rolling out the feature, and it
should be visible to all eligible users by the end of August. Google Meet’s
noise indicator will not be available for people with personal Google accounts
and low-tier Google Workspace and Business accounts. It is exclusive to Google
Workspace Business Standard, Business Plus, Workspace Individual, and Workspace
Enterprise customers.
Another recent addition specifically for Meet users in
certain Google Workspace organizations enhances background-foreground
separation when using blur effects and video backgrounds.
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