Google My Business (GMB) is a powerful tool for businesses to reach potential customers and build their online presence. It allows businesses to create a profile, list their services, and share updates with customers. To ensure that your business is accurately represented on Google, it’s important to verify your GMB listing. Verifying your listing will help you stand out from the competition and make sure that customers can find accurate information about your business.
In this article, we’ll provide a step-by-step guide to verifying your GMB listing. We’ll cover the different methods of verification, how to complete the process, and what to do if you run into any issues. Let’s get started!
Why Should You Verify Your Google My Business Listing?
Before we dive into the verification process, let’s take a look at why it’s important to verify your GMB listing in the first place.
Verifying your GMB listing is essential for ensuring that customers can find accurate information about your business on Google. When you verify your listing, you can add more detailed information about your business such as hours of operation, contact information, and photos. This helps customers get a better understanding of what you offer and makes it easier for them to find you online.
Verifying also helps protect against inaccurate or malicious listings that could damage your reputation or confuse customers. By verifying your listing, you can be sure that only accurate information about your business is displayed on Google search results and Maps.
Finally, verifying gives you access to powerful tools such as Insights which allow you to track customer engagement with your GMB profile over time. This data can help inform decisions about how best to reach potential customers and optimize their experience with your business online.
How To Verify Your Google My Business Listing
Now that we understand why it’s important to verify our GMB listings let’s take a look at how we can do it! There are several methods of verification available depending on the type of business you have: mail postcard verification, phone call verification, email verification or instant verification (for eligible businesses). Let’s take a closer look at each one:
Mail Postcard Verification: This method requires sending a postcard with a unique code directly to the address listed on the GMB profile. Once received, enter this code into the “Verify Now” section of the GMB dashboard in order to complete the process. This method typically takes 1-2 weeks for delivery so plan accordingly if this is the method you choose!
Phone Call Verification: With this method, Google will call the phone number listed on the GMB profile and provide an automated voice message with a unique code which must be entered into the “Verify Now” section of the dashboard in order to complete verification.
Email Verification: With this method, an email will be sent directly from Google containing a unique code which must be entered into the “Verify Now” section of the dashboard in order to complete verification. Instant Verification (for eligible businesses): If eligible for instant verification (such as those who have already verified their website domain), simply click “Verify Now” in order to complete this process without having to enter any additional codes or wait for delivery/phone calls/emails from Google!
Once verified successfully via any of these methods above – congratulations! You have now successfully verified your GMB listing! Keep in mind that if any changes are made after successful verification (such as changing address/phone number) then re-verification may be required before these changes are reflected publicly on Google search results/Maps etc..
What To Do If You Run Into Issues During The Verification Process?
If at any point during the process you run into issues such as not receiving postcards/phone calls/emails from Google or not being able to enter codes correctly – don’t worry! There are several steps that can be taken in order resolve these issues quickly:
1) Check all spam folders – sometimes emails from Google may end up here so make sure they haven’t been filtered out by mistake!
2) Contact support – if all else fails then contact support directly via phone or email for assistance with resolving any issues encountered during verification process quickly and efficiently!
3) Try another method – if one method isn’t working then try another one instead (e.g., mail postcard vs phone call vs email).
Conclusion
Verifying your GMB listing is an essential step for ensuring accurate representation of your business online and protecting against inaccurate or malicious listings damaging its reputation or confusing customers. In this article we provided an overview of why it’s important as well as step-by-step instructions on how businesses can verify their listings using mail postcard verification, phone call verification, email verification or instant verification (for eligible businesses). We also discussed what steps should be taken if any issues arise during this process such as not receiving postcards/phone calls/emails from Google or not being able enter codes correctly – don’t worry there are several steps that can be taken in order resolve these issues quickly including checking all spam folders; contacting support; trying another method etc.. Following these steps should help ensure successful completion of verifying one’s GMB listing quickly and efficiently so businesses can start taking advantage of all its features right away!