How to Claim Your Google Local Business Listing

Claiming your local business listing on Google is important. Why?

For one thing, you’ll keep all the information about your business accurate and current. And for another, unclaimed businesses are at risk for competitive hijacking!

So follow the instructions below for claiming your Google local business listing, and have peace of mind that the next person to search for your business could be your next lead.

Step 1: Go to Google Maps and search for your business.

Step 2: Click on More Info next to the title.

Step 3: A large pop-up will appear to the right of the listing, click on Edit in that box.

Step 4: A second pop-up will appear. In this pop-up you will see, Are you the owner? Claim your business. Click on this link and it will take you to the login page for Google’s Local Business Center. Log in with your Gmail or Adwords account, or if you don’t have one, create one now. Once you’re logged in, you will see the business you want to claim.

Step 5: IMPORTANT: Look very carefully at the listing data! Is all the information correct? Now is also a good time to add any additional information such as hours or payments accepted. Be as thorough as possible.

Step 6: Verify your listing by either phone or postcard. Once verified, you have claimed your listing! Congrats.

Now, as with anything, there are a few problems that can arise when claiming your Google local business listing. One common problem is that a listing gets flagged. If this is your listing then simply comment on the LBC Maps forum about the flagged post and a Google employee will look into the issue.

Another issue that might arise is having duplicate listings for the same company. The best way to solve this issue is to edit each listing the EXACT same way. When this is done, Google catches the repetition and will update the listing to just one.

Good luck! With Google Local business listings, you can be confident that potential clients will find your business easily!

Browse BestLegalMarketing.com for more information on other Google tools like Places and Analytics.