Google My Business is an essential tool for home service companies who want customers (and leads!) to easily access key information about a business. When we onboard new clients, making sure their GMB listing is correctly set up and verified is one of the first things we do.
Your GMB listing helps customers looking for quick information like a phone number or address, and it’s a vital part of being visible in Google’s maps and local search results.
But an unverified GMB listing leaves you and your customers in limbo ... until now.
Editing Information as an Unverified Merchant
Google recently announced that business owners can now make edits to key information in their GMB listings as an unverified business owner.
In the past, any user could suggest an edit to an unverified GMB listing, meaning business owners were at the mercy of other users and Google’s internal review process. This also meant that business owners had to go through the same “suggest an edit” process, which can be slow and may not even go through.
With this new update, business owners can now go in through their GMB account and make edits to core information. While these edits won’t show up as quickly as they would if the listing were verified, they will not have to wait until after verification.
Tips to Improve Your GMB Listing While It’s Still Unverified
While it might take some time for your listing to get verified, that doesn’t mean there isn’t more you can do to increase your company’s visibility. Here are some things you can do to improve an unverified listing:
- Make Sure All Information is Correct: Typos and misremembering key information is not uncommon when filling out a GMB listing. However, receiving incorrect information can very easily give customers a bad taste in their mouth. Giving Google the right information the first time will help prevent verification delays and prevent negative customer experiences.
- Remove Duplicate Listings: This tip is relevant if you have two versions of the same business location submitted to Google. You’ll know if you have a duplicate listing if it is marked as a “Duplicate location” in your account. A duplicate location can result in your verified listing being suspended from showing in search results. If you have duplicate locations in GMB, remove the duplicate or merge the listings together as soon as possible. If there is a duplicate location on Google My Business that you don’t have access to, you can also report the duplicate in Google Maps.
- Go Beyond Street View: While home services customers aren't usually coming to you, it's important to include images of your business in the listing. If you note your business address in your listing, you will need to publish photos of the office building with signage of your business. This will prove to Google that your business information is legitimate and help guarantee your listing’s verification.
Once you have them, you should also include images of your company vehicles and technicians. This will personalize your business to anyone researching your services.
A high-quality GMB listing will help you receive more traffic and leads online. And with this new update, home service business owners no longer have to wait for Google to verify their company before optimizing their GMB listing.
If you need help making your business findable, give Leadhub a call.
