Google has made many upgrades to its social media listings for companies over the years. The current program for brands is Google My Business, and it’s highly beneficial for a firm to join up with this service, whether or not Google+ is a strong element of your social media strategy.
The local page option within this service is meant for businesses that either operate from a brick and mortar storefront or ones that work across a specific service area. When you create a local page, you can take just a few steps to become verified on the network. This is an important step to making the most of your local page and all that Google has to offer businesses.
Why Verify?
For starters, verifying your local page will help the business to appear in searches across Google’s properties, from Maps to Search. Google will be able to use the information you provided in any local queries. Verification is also a must for making any changes to your page that you want to appear to your customers.
Verified pages can read and respond to the reviews left on the local page by customers. Engagement is a must on any social network, so having the opportunity to thank people for positive reviews or repair the effects of negative ones can make a big difference in your business’ reputation. Finally, local businesses that verify also can see data from Google about how people arrived at their page. This can be valuable information for understanding your customer base and further refining your online presence.
Verify By Postcard
This screen for verification options will automatically appear when you create a local page. If your page is already made, look for verification on the My Business dashboard.
The first option is to receive confirmation by postcard. If you select that option, you’ll see an image of the verification postcard with the name of your business and the address you supplied when creating the page. Double-check that the information is correct. You can add an optional contact name to the address in the text field below the image.
You’ll receive it in the mail after one to two weeks. Once you’ve gotten the postcard, go to the website listed (http://www.google.com/local/verify) and log in with the same account you used to request the code. Go to the My Business dashboard to complete your verification. Enter the code and you’ll be finished.
Verify By Phone
If you choose not to verify by postcard, your other option is to receive the code by phone. If you pick that option, make sure you’re able to directly answer the number you provided as your business’ contact point.
Click ‘Verify by phone’ from the menu to have Google send an automated message with your verification code to your business phone number. As with the postcard approach, enter the code from the message.
After you’ve entered the code, you’ll see a screen asking you to review your information and make any last-minute changes if needed. Then click ‘Done editing’ and you’ll be finished.
Add a Verified Website
The last step to having a fully verified local page is to connect your website with your Google local page. Log in to Google My Business as the page you want to edit. Click ‘Profile’ on the left-hand navigation menu, then click the ‘Link website’ button next to the URL of your company.
If your site is already part of the Webmaster Tools program, then Google will ask if you want to send the webmaster a request to approve the link through that system. You’ll receive an email when the approval is granted and your website will appear with a checkmark on your profile.
The other way to verify your website is with direct linking. This requires adding a small amount of code to the site that’s listed as the primary link in the ‘About’ section of your page. For a full explanation of the code to use, visit Google’s support page on the topic.
As with having a verified page, verifying your website can offer your business some extra benefits with Google’s services. Confirming that information can help the search engine to supply better results in queries.
The post How to Verify a Local Business Page on Google+ appeared first on Sprout Social.
How to Verify a Local Business Page on Google+
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