Google My Business Issues Q&A

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1. What’s the Right Way to get Google to Recognize Your Business?

Ans. You can get Google to recognize your business some crucial SEO practices. These include:

• Building a Google My Business profile for your business
• Creating a website and optimizing it so that Google crawlers can crawl & index your site
• Next, you must enhance your business exposure by listing it on other local directories and social media platforms.

2. Is there a Way to Restore a Suspended Google My Business Location?

Ans. Yes, you can request reinstatement for your suspended GMB listing.
Follow these steps:
Sign in to manage and edit your Google My Business Profile
Scrutinize the reason why Google suspended your profile. You need to recheck Google’s Business Profile guidelines.
Check possible reasons like:

• Keyword stuffing
• Adding redirection to a link in GMB
• Having a virtual presence or shared office
• Creating too many edits at once

After examining and optimizing your profile according to the GMB guidelines, request a reinstatement.

3. Can I List My Freelancing Business through Google My Business?

Ans. Yes, you can list your freelancing services on Google My Business. You can list your home address for the location or rent an office for location verification.
If you do not want to highlight your address, you can checkmark “Hide my address (it’s not a store).”
Moreover, you can create your profile as a ‘Service Area Business.’ Next, you can choose the specific area or city where you serve.

4. How Much Google Charges for GMB Listing?

Ans. Google offers Google My Business services for free to every business.

5. What Google Offers with Google My Business Feature?

Ans. Google My Business or Google Business Profile is a free business listing tool by Google. It allows managing the appearance & performance of your business in Google Maps and location-specific searches.

6. Can I Manage Google My Business With the Ease of an App?

Ans. Yes, you have the convenience of managing your Google My Business profile through an app. Download it from here:

• Android GMB App
• iOS GMB App

7. Can I Do Competitor Research for My GMB Listing?

Ans. Yes. You can assess your competitor’s GMB profile and even check their target categories.

• Switch to Google Maps
• Enter your competitor’s name
• You can now check the details added in their GMB listing
  
• Next, you can right-click on the listing and choose “View Page Source” from the options
• Here you can use CTRL + F or CMD + F (for Mac) to use the Find function
• Here enter the primary category of the competitor, and you can see the secondary categories listed alongside. Here is how it looks:
  

8. What If I Serve from My Residential Address? Can I Claim a GMB Listing?

Ans. Yes, you can establish the GMB profile for your work-from-home business. You can add your home address as your business location. Meanwhile, you can opt for hiding it by clicking on the check box - “Hide my address (it’s not a store).”
Moreover, add your service area if you serve virtually or on locations other than your home address.

9. I Already Have A Website. Is There Still A Need For Google My Business Listing?

Ans. Your GMB profile represents the official presence of your business on Google. It helps your business rank in the Local Pack Finder and Google Maps. Moreover, GMB listing features your business reviews, location, images, offers, and contact.
As per Moz, GMB signals are the most crucial ranking factor for local 3-pack results.

10. What If My Business Location Is Different From My Service Area?

Ans. In this case, you must represent your business as a service area business in your GMB profile. Here is how you do it:

• Switch to your GMB Dashboard - https://business.google.com/locations
• Use the “Info” tab in the left-hand side navigation bar and select the edit option alongside the address.
  
• Next, use the “Clear address” option to remove your address.
• Then, select the service areas (area, town, state) where you serve.
  
• Once you submit, you can view your listing on Google Maps to verify the changes

11. Is there a Fee for a Google My Business Verification Post Card?

Ans. No, whether it is listing on Google My Business or verifying it, Google doesn’t charge you anything.

12. Do I Need Expert SEO Assistance for Creating My Google My Business Account?

Ans. Not necessarily. One can easily establish a comprehensive GMB profile for his business. But, a local SEO expert can further help you optimize the profile for better visibility & SEO value.
Here are the steps to create a GMB profile for your business:
Start with creating your Google Account (if you don’t have one). Use your Gmail ID for the same. Link - https://accounts.google.com/

• Then head over to Google My Business gateway (https://www.google.com/business/). Here click on “Manage Now”
  
• Here you need to search for your official business name. If no business appears in the search, click on ‘Add your business to Google’
  Even if you see your business in the search result, you can ‘Request Access’ by clicking on the result.
  

Start with adding details to your listing. Add your Business Name and Category (Primary and Subcategories). You can also edit the details later.
Next, add your business location. If you serve online or offer services at the customer’s location, click on “No” in the question displayed below:
Then, based on your selection, you can either add your business location or your service areas.
Next, continue along the list of questions to complete your GMB profile and verify the profile. Most probably, you will have to agree to the Postcard verification. The phone and email verification options only appear for a few business types.
You need to add the Contact Info, Business Hours (and Service Hours), Description, and Images. Later, you can create GMB Posts (Offers, CTA buttons, and Events).

13. How to Get More Viewers Click on My Google My Business Profile?

Ans. Use these five ways:

• Enable the “Chat” option on your GMB listing and add automated welcome messages for customers. (Check this link)
• Populate your GMB profile with relevant FAQs and Answers
• Add posts (offers and events) and products/services
• Add video testimonials of your clients and attract more customer reviews
• Make your profile comprehensive with images, descriptions, CTAs, etc.,

14. Why You Must Attract Plentiful Reviews to Your Google My Business Page?

Ans. Your GMB signals have a huge say in your local search visibility and rankings.
Abounding positive reviews on your GMB listing can help you rank for the local 3-pack results. Moreover, these reviews create strong social proof to boost your conversions.

15. What are the Crucial Optimization Parameters for My Google My Business Page?

Ans. Some GMB parameters that you must optimize:

• Make your GMB listing verified and follow Name, Address, Phone Number consistency.
• Add the right business category and secondary categories. Use competitor analysis for choosing the right categories.
• Add your services/products and sub-services or sub-category products.
• Leverage the 750-character window smartly for your description. Mention your business USPs, service/product-specific keywords, years of experience, recognitions, etc.
• Add service areas if you serve online or on your customers’ location.
• Keep your Business Hours (and Service Hours) updated for each day of the week.
• Encourage your clients/customers to post positive reviews on your GMB listing.
• Add images regarding your products/services, projects, team, store, etc.
• Create engaging posts related to offers or events and add CTAs
• Enable the “Chat” option of the Google My Business profile
• Add highly relevant FAQs to the GMB profile.

16. How An Optimized Google My Business Profile Aids to Your Business Growth?

Ans. As per Moz, your GMB signals have a 25.4% share in deciding the local 3-pack results.
Moreover,

• Your GMB profile deeply impact your ranking probability for the local-intent searches
• GMB reviews form a crucial social proof for your business
• GMB profile allows your business to earn visibility in Google Maps
• You attract direct inquiries and leads from your profile

17. How Can I Do Away with Fake/Negative Reviews on my GMB Profile?

Ans. Here are the options:
a) You can respond to a negative review with a humble and fact-based comment. And you can take this conversation to email or chat platforms. Further, you can request the customer to remove it.
b) You can flag a fake review by following these steps:

• Go to the “Business Reviews” tab in your account
• Open “All Reviews” and click on the options tab alongside the review you want to remove
• Next, choose the “Flag as inappropriate” option
• Then, fill out the “Report a policy violation” form
• Finally, Submit the form

c) Connect with Google’s support team

• Open http://support.google.com/business and click on “Contact us”
• Next, open the “Customer reviews and photos” option to click on “Manage customer reviews”
• Next, choose the preferable contact option (email/phone/chat)

18. I am Rebranding My Business, so Can I Edit My Brand’s Name on GMB?

Ans. Yes, you can edit your Business Name in the GMB profile. But you need to verify your profile again once you have edited your name.

19. What is the Right Way to Showcase Multiple Business Locations on GMB Page?

Ans. You can easily add multiple business locations to your GMB profile. Follow these steps:

• Open your GMB account and click on the “Add business” tab in the top right corner.
  
• The dropdown shows options like “Add single business” and “Import businesses”
• Select “Add single business” for adding a single location. If you have to list more than 10 locations, you can use the “Import businesses” option. Here you can download a sample spreadsheet and fill the sheet with business details to upload the same.
• Next, you need to do the setup process for the added businesses and verify these listings.

20. How Can I Leverage Google My Business Posts?

Ans. Log into and open your GMB management dashboard

• Click on the “Post” option and select “Create Post”
• Select the location for which you want to create the post (if you have multiple locations)
• You can now start creating your post by adding text, images, events, and a CTA button
• Use the “Preview” feature to scrutinize the appearance of your post
• Next, click on the “Publish” button in the top right corner

Your posts have a 7-day validity, and event posts appear until the day after the event date.

21. What are the Possible Reasons Why My Business Is Not Appearing on GMB?

Ans. Some possible reasons include:

• Your GMB profile is still due to the verification, or some locations are still unverified.
• Google has suspended your profile owing to the violation of GMB guidelines.
• You have failed to update important updates like (business relocation, rebranding, revamped services, etc.)
• You have erased your address on the GMB just to hide it from the customers. However, the right way is to mark your business as a service business and choose service areas.
• You have a shared address with another business listed on the GMB.
• Your business lacks strong Location Authority.
• You are using keyword stuffing, irrelevant category stuffing or redirected links on your Business Profile.

22. I Wish to Delete My Business from Google Maps Altogether, Is It Possible?

Ans. Yes, you can remove your business from maps in cases like:

• The business never existed
• The business is in some way not eligible for Google Maps
• The address on the listing is wrong

Here are the steps:

• Sign in to your Google Business Profile management account
• Open Google Maps and search your business on Maps
• Next, click on the options for your business listing and choose “Suggest an edit”
• Next, click on ‘Close or remove’
• Then follow the trail of instructions

23. I am Relocating My Restaurant; how Can I Update My Address on GMB?

Ans. It’s easy:

• Log into the Google Business management account
• Click on the “Info” in the left-hand navigation panel
• Next, choose the pencil icon next to the address field and edit it to the new address
• Once you have met the address guidelines, click on “Apply”
• You must manually “Set marker location” for perfection and then again click “Apply”
• Google will then again verify your account edits

24. What would be the Best Local Business Listing Platforms Other than GMB?

Ans. Google My Business is undoubtedly a priority listing platform for a local business. But, here are some other alternatives:

• Yelp
• Foursquare
• Yellow Pages
• Apple Maps
• Bing Places
• Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest

You must also find your location-specific and niche-specific listings.

25. What Type of Fields Can I Edit on My Google My Business Listing?

Ans. You can edit most of the information on your GMB listings. It includes:
Business Name, Category, Address, Business Hours, Contact, Website, Photos, Description, and Opening Date.

26. What Does Google My Business Location Authority Indicate?

Ans. Google My Business location authority is a measure of authority & credibility of your local business.
It directly impacts your business’s visibility in Google Maps for category-specific searches.
Factors like address accuracy, GMB profile quality, positive GMB reviews, other local citations, etc., impact location authority.

27. How Long Will I Have to Wait Till My Google My Business Profile Gets Verified?

Ans. Google will send you the verification postcards within 14 days. Meanwhile, it will delay if you edit your listings during the verification process.

28. Can I Rank for Location-based Keywords without a GMB Listing?

Ans. Yes, you can still rank for location-specific keywords, but the odds are quite low. If your competitors leverage GMB, they might have a higher location authority. And this significantly impacts the rankings for location-specific searches.

29. Can I Add My Google MY Business Icon to Google Maps?

Ans. No. Google has a defined algorithm that controls the Maps labels (business icons).
Tourist assistance places like ATMs, restaurants, parks and hotels are easily labeled.
However, other businesses may get a label based on their location authority and the quality of GMB listing.
Read: What are the Benefits of a Google My Business Listing?

30. Can I Use My GMB to Promote My Ecommerce Products?

Ans. Yes.

• You can head over to your GMB account.
• Next, choose the “Products” option from the left-hand navigation bar.
• Here you can add your product image, name, price range, details, offer, and website link.
• Click on Submit and preview your listing!