Google has rolled out a great program to help chamber members claim their “Un-Claimed” Google My Business accounts. The Goshen Chamber of Commerce will be partnering with Google to help speed the claiming process up dramatically.
- Step 1 – Awareness
- Every business or merchant has a free Google My Business Account, in many cases set up by Google, without the business owner or merchant ever knowing it. The WHY? Google wants clients & customers to be able to leave businesses a Google Review – plain and simple. That being said – Google puts a high value on reviews and how it reflects your business… Zero, Few, Poor or Old reviews … Google puts you at the bottom of a search result. Lots, Great & Current Reviews, push you higher up on the search page. WHERE DO YOU WANT YOUR BUSINESS TO BE?
- Step 2 – Determining if your Google My Business is claimed or unclaimed.
- (Enter your business name in a google search and your account should appear on the right side of the page. See image below)
- Step 3 – If unclaimed
- You are at the potential risk of someone else claiming your account and even being able to change your business phone number and guess what? All calls to your business go to the hacker – Scary and Not So Good!
- To claim a Google My Business Account it generally takes 5-7 days after a request is made, and is completed by waiting for a postcard to arrive at your business … messy & long-awaited. With Googles new “Roll-Out” our Chamber, The Goshen Chamber of Commerce will be able to provide you with a unique code for immediate verification and the claiming process is done with hours.
- Step 4 – Get Reviews From Your Clients! (more on the how-to… will follow in another post)
- Step 5 – Business owners should always respond to client’s reviews. Google reads them as well as your clients and it adds to better page ranking.
Stay connected to the Goshen Chamber of Commerce for more information.
Rick Scherer, Owner of Network Fusion Digital Marketing, Partner and Digital Ambassador of the Goshen Chamber of Commerce