Google’s My Business Streamlines Online Marketing for Small Businesses
Google recently launched My Business, a consolidated way to update business information, like address, hours of operation and phone numbers for local business owners across Google products like Search, Maps and Google+, all from a single dashboard.
Prior to My Business, local business owners had to log into each platform separately to make changes to their business profile across the various Google products and, in addition, view analytic and review data independently. Current users of Places for Business and Google+ will automatically be upgraded to Google My Business.
Google My Business streamlines the claiming and profile management process with Google+ sharing, reviews management and integration with other Google products like Google Analytics and AdWords. However, the heavy lifting of completing business profile information, verifying and claiming listings, is still required by Google in order for the business to be present on Google Search, Maps and Google+.
The Google profile verification process still requires a local business owner to verify a listing via a postcard or telephone PIN code. Upon verifying and claiming a Google business profile, local businesses will be visible on Google with accurate business name, address, phone and website (NAPW) information.
Additionally, Google announced that business owners will be able to access Google My Business on mobile devices via an Android app and iOS app launching soon.