Google Maps has become the GPS navigation service preferred by users. We no longer use specific GPS navigators, devices dedicated solely to it, but our smartphone and this application. So, if you have a company, it is essential that it is registered in Google Maps because it will be a way to increase your visibility on the Internet. So, if for example you have a bakery, your business will appear when someone nearby is looking for ‘nearby bakeries’. The same with any other type of business.
Why Google is important
Every day, millions of people use Google Maps to search the local area. In fact, according to estimates, the Mountain View company receives 40% of its searches on a local basis. That is, it is really important that a company is registered in the Google search engine so that, in this way, they can find it in Google Maps using their computer, smartphone or tablet. It is something that exponentially improves the visibility of the business and that, therefore, can help to get more customers and improve revenues significantly.
All this is free and managed through Google My Business. It is a platform of the Mountain View company that we can use to register companies with all the information that customers may need. Not only with the location of our premises, but also with details about our products or services. So that we appear when looking for our business by name, yes, but also so that we appear if we are an Asian restaurant, for example, and a user searches for ‘sushi restaurants’.
The first steps
The first thing you should do is access Google My Business, the portal of the Mountain View company specific for companies and businesses. And once inside, we must click on ‘Start’ or ‘Start now’ to start the process of company registration. The first thing that Google will ask us, in an extensive form, is the company name. But then other details will be asked. The next question will be if we want to give the location to appear in Google Maps and, while this is precisely our purpose, here we will have to indicate Yes, and then fill in all the details about the location.
We are going to ask for the country, the postal address, the postal code, the city and the province. Data that, by the way, we can fill in automatically by clicking on the icon in the form of POI, in case it is our location at that time. If so, we will have to grant the web browser the corresponding permission so that, from our device, it takes the exact information about the location in which we are. However, it is more advisable to fill in the information form about the location manually. This will prevent any type of error from occurring.
What service do you provide?
Later we will have to indicate if, outside that location, we provide some kind of service to our clients. Select the option Yes in case, for example, we send. Otherwise, we will select No, and we will give Next. And now we have to indicate the category of our business, and then we have to put the phone number through which we can provide some kind of telephone service to our customers. These are data that we must take into account that will appear publicly for those who search on Google, or within Google Maps. Here you will also ask us for the URL of our website.
When we have done this, after clicking the Finish button, we should locate our company by searching for it by its name in Google Maps. However, within the control panel of our company, which will have opened just by clicking on Finish, we can continue to provide information such as business hours, additional contact information, a shorter identifier, the business description and our logo. company.
This control panel of Google My Business is really useful because, in addition to helping us to complete all the information of our company, it allows us to manage publications as business -like a social network- and to control the photos of clients that are published. And we can see there also the statistics of our business such as searches. And also see the reviews left by our customers, and the detail of their ratings.
Also published on Medium.