Small-to-Medium Enterprises are at the forefront of the COVID-19 era, many of them relying on various online listings to attract customers. While having several online listings is important, there’s one listing to rule them all: Google My Business.
But what if you don’t have a Google My Business listing? We’ve talked with several business owners who are on the fence with creating a GMB account, seemingly unaware of its benefits and importance. So what if you don’t want to claim your GMB listing – especially now that the silly season is right around the corner?
Well, let’s say that you might have a harder time expanding your business online. Here are 4 problems you can encounter when you don’t claim your Google My Business.
1. Someone will claim it for you.
One of the most important reasons why you need to claim your Google My Business listing ASAP is because if you don’t, someone else – someone outside your business – can create a listing using your name and business details.
Most of the time the user does not have any ill intentions and didn’t actually know that they did that. But the repercussions are big: that listing could have wrong information about your business and that could mislead prospective customers and prevent them from visiting your physical store.
What you need to do: Claim your Google My Business listing immediately. This way, you can provide accurate information, upload photos of your store, publish posts about your new products and offers and respond to reviews to show customers you’re taking note of their feedback.
And speaking of feedback…
2. You can’t monitor and manage customer feedback.
A favourite feature among Google My Business owners is Google Reviews, where they can see what customers have to say about their brand. From there they can gauge overall customer sentiment and see what they can improve or maintain about their brand, products or services. It also helps them engage with their customers and let them know that they’re listening.
When you don’t own your GMB listing, you won’t be able to talk to customers, flag false reviews and monitor sentiment. This will be especially hard for you to improve your brand and delight customers during and after each purchase. At the same time, if your customers feel that you aren’t listening to you, don’t expect any repeat purchases.
What you need to do: Set up your Google My Business and invite your customers to write reviews. This not only encourages more people to choose you as their brand of choice but your listing can boost up rankings.
And speaking of rankings…
3. You get fewer chances of appearing on Google Maps.
If you don’t have your own Google My Business listing, you won’t take advantage of ranking on search results and even on Google Maps. When someone searches for a local service such as a nearby plumber on Maps, results will pop up with location pins and other details a customer needs to know. When you haven’t claimed your GMB listing, you won’t appear on Map search results.
Google Maps can also help you, especially if you are a new business and you want to attract customers near you.
What you need to do: You might want to completely fill out your GMB listing to give customers more information about your website. When you claim your Google My Business listing, you’ll be prompted to add your NAP (Business Nap, Address and Phone Number) and primary category. Once you supply those details, you can add more information so that customers can make better decisions on doing business with you.
And speaking of searches…
4. You lose the opportunity to increase your SEO.
Google My Business listings serve three main purposes: display information about your business on Google search results, let people know that you exist and improve your website’s chances of ranking higher in SERPs. When you have your GMB listing, you are increasing your changes of adding quality web links that your customers click to get to your website. Think of it as one of the most legitimate back links you can get – and for free.
What you need to do: At this point, you know that you should claim your Google My Business listing because this can help your other online real estate appear on the first page along with your listing on the Knowledge Graph.
It really is important to claim your Google My Business listing before someone else does. With the DigitalMaas Platform, you can create a location in minutes and take control of your online visibility on search results. Sign up today!
