One of the main goals of SEO is to get maximum site visibility and site traffic through page ranking.
Achieving optimal site visibility improves site traffic, increases your website authority, and, of course, revenue.
The ability to increase revenue is the reason small business owners focus so much effort on SEO.
It’s a less expensive and more effective long term strategy compared to online advertising.
However, getting to the first position on the first page isn’t the only way to get maximum visibility and site traffic. You can also become more visible when people search for your business name on Google. There’s no question about it: every business should claim their page on Google My Business. It’s a free listing offered to every business owner by Google. I will explain how you can claim your page.
What is Google Maps?
When you’re searching on Google, you might find a little area on the side of the results page.
What used to be Google’s white space is now a business information box, complete with the name, the address, the operating hours, the contact numbers, the rating, the reviews, and even the history of the shop.
This is not only attention-grabbing; it also potentially attracts the right customers thanks to the quick info box that provides every information they might need about the business.
Now just imagine that business info on Google’s white space is yours.
But first, let’s take a look at what it looks like and what some of the things are that you can control.
As you can see in the annotated graphic above, there are a lot of benefits to grabbing your spot on Google My Business. So let’s take a look at how you can claim your business.
GOOGLE MY BUSINESS
Fortunately, getting on Google maps is easy and free, thanks to Google My Business, Google’s dedicated business information dashboard that allows business owners to create, edit, and, verify their business online so that they can be found on relevant Google searches and on Google Maps.
HOW TO GET VERIFIED ON GOOGLE MAPS
If you’ve been running your small business for some time, chances are Google My Business already has your business information in its directory and all that’s left to do is to claim it.
- The first thing to do is to head over Google My Business and click on the ‘Get on Google’ Button.
- Next, type in your business name and address in the search box located in the upper left corner of your screen.
