If you went out and bought a lottery ticket today, then saw you had the winning number, you would probably claim that ticket as soon as possible, right? Of course you would! Think of your Google My Business listing as your winning lottery ticket in business, the sooner you claim it as your own then promote it effectively, the value will be worth thousands, potentially even millions over time.

The first step to maximizing profitability via the online giant is to claim your listing. It’s important that you do so because Google doesn’t know your business, so they need your help. There have been cases in the past where businesses had the same name and the wrong information got attached to the listing, in turn misleading the customer because it wasn’t claimed/verified. Talk about a nightmare that would be. Claiming your listing will ensure your business is categorized properly, your website has the correct link and most importantly the address is correct. Seems simple enough right? Remember it’s your business and your profit – it would be silly to miss out on customers because the information led to another business. However, patience will be a virtue during this process, as Google verifies addresses by sending verification codes by phone or via postcard and sometimes it can take weeks.

Once claimed you then have an obligation to your product/service to promote it to the billions searching professionally and consistently. Keeping your listing up-to-date with high-resolution photos, live updates and promoting to your customers to leave reviews will show people you’re serious. Imagine going to your local lottery dealer to find a new vendor promoting, and there were no visuals or information about how much the jackpot is – would you trust it? Probably not.

We are now reliant on the internet when it comes to forming opinions about businesses, products or services. So, in conclusion, being able to provide accurate, helpful information for the people looking will create a recipe for success for your business and over time, translate into that winning lottery ticket you’ve always been looking for.

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Citations:

https://seoexpertbrad.com/local-seo-stats/

https://www.smartinsights.com/search-engine-marketing/search-engine-statistics/

https://support.google.com/business/answer/2911778?hl=en

https://www.google.com/business/

https://moz.com/blog/how-to-optimize-your-google-my-business-listing