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How to Maximize and List All Your Locations in Google My Business 

By now you know that being listed on Google My Business is vital in any online marketing strategy. With a Google My Business account, you can easily connect with your customers through Google Searches, and Maps and give them easy ways to call, message, or leave reviews.

But you may be missing out on an important feature if you’re not listing all your locations. Building a listing for each location on Google My Business helps you maximize local search results and gives your customers more ways to find your business – especially if you’re competing for location-specific keywords.

Obviously, each business location has a unique address and contact details. But if you’re only including your headquarters address in your Google My Business listing, you could be missing out on massive opportunities locally around your other offices.

Fortunately, Google allows business owners to claim multi-location business listings. In this article, we share how to set up your locations and how to ensure their accuracy to get the best results.

Adding Multiple Locations in Google My Business

There are two ways to include additional locations in your Google My Business account. If you have fewer than 10 locations, you can add them one at a time. But for businesses with more than 10 locations, it’s easier to add them in bulk.

It’s important to note, you should not use your personal Google login for your business account. This can create all kinds of security vulnerabilities. First, create a general company login instead and ensure the email address you use contains your business domain.

Adding Fewer Than 10 Locations

  1. From your Google My Business dashboard, click “Add a single location.”
  2. Follow the prompts to add the new information for your separate location.
  3. Add any additional owners or managers you would like to help manage the location by clicking the drop-down menu at the top left of your dashboard and selecting “Manage Users.”
  4. Repeat this process for each location your business owns.

You can add separate owners and managers for each location or use the same person for all of them. You’ll also want to keep in mind, if you add your locations individually, future edits will need to be managed individually as well.

Adding More Than 10 Locations

  1. Create a business account if you don’t already have one by clicking the drop-down menu in the top left corner and selecting “Create a business account.”
  2. On your Google My Business dashboard, you’ll find a list of clickable links. One will download the spreadsheet template you need to fill in with your location information. There is also an example template should you need one. Make sure you save the spreadsheet in one of the following formats when you’re finished: XLS, XLSX, ODS, CSV, TXT or TSV.
  3. Once your spreadsheet is complete you can upload it. On the dashboard, under “Import Locations,” click “Select File” and upload your spreadsheet. Duplicate locations will automatically be merged after the import.
  4. Now you’ll need to verify your locations with Google. To do this, click on the verification icon in the top right corner of your dashboard. Follow the prompts to fill out some information about your business and make sure you do so accurately so Google can contact you if they need.
  5. You will have to wait for Google to verify your listings which could take up to 7 days.

Once verification is complete, you can access all your locations from your dashboard and easily make changes. Just update your locations in your original spreadsheet and re-upload the file. What’s more, you can add a single manager to all your locations or use a different manager for each listing.

Google My Business Checklist

10 things you can do to make your Google My Business page attract new customers.

Managing Location Groups

If your business has 10 or more locations, you should create Location Groups to safely organize your listings and share management of your locations with multiple users. You’ll also be able to assign individual rights for each location or even assign an agency to handle your accounts for you.

  1. Go to “Manage Locations” in the left-hand menu on your Google My Business dashboard. Click in the menu on the top right side and select “Create Location Group.”
  2. Choose a name for your location group or business account and click “Done.”
  3. Now you can transfer locations to a location group or business account that you own or manage. Go to each location by clicking on it and then click on “Actions” and “Transfer Locations.” The previous owner will automatically become a manager.

Having Trouble Adding a Location?

If you don’t have a street number in your location address or you're sure that you've entered it correctly but the system can't find it, you can pin your location directly to the map:

  1. Make double sure the address you entered is up to date and contains no extraneous information.
  2. Click the address field. On the right side of the window that appears, you'll see a map with a red pin representing the middle of your business location. Drag the pin to your business location. You can use the + and - buttons at the bottom-right of the window to zoom in and out.
  3. Once you're sure you've accurately pinned the middle of your location, click “Apply.”

Note that your edits may be reviewed for quality before being published. Wait 2-3 days to see if the location updates in your Google My Business dashboard before contacting Google for help.

How to Optimize Google Local for Your Business

Now that you’ve added all your locations into Google My Business, the next step is to optimize the listings.

Most importantly, you’ll want to ensure accuracy across all your online platforms. Google bots crawl these pages and will compare information about your business to your Google My Business listings to establish validity. Any inconsistencies will raise a red flag and may lead to being penalized in your rankings. Check every piece of information about your business online, including Yellow Pages, Yelp, Foursquare, map applications, your social media, your own website, and any other platforms you may be using.

  1. Make sure you’ve claimed and verified all your locations using a single Google My Business account.
  2. Delete duplicate listings or accounts, even if they were created by other staff members in other locations.
  3. Check that your business name, address, and phone number match exactly everywhere they appear online.
  4. Choose a locator or map widget for your main website that is compatible with Google, which considers your website the most ‘official’ source of information.
  5. Create a microsite for each of your locations so they each have a unique reference and separate “About” page that Google can crawl.
  6. Utilize as many Google My Business features as you can for each location to keep the listing content engaging, relevant, and up to date for each service area. This also sets each location up as a unique source for customers nearby and helps your location stand out in their search results.
  7. Consider using a Local Marketing Platform or Agency that can manage your Google My Business listings, your other online platforms, and your other marketing tasks all together. This is the best way to ensure your information stays consistent, accurate, up-to-date, and optimized to give you the best results. It also saves a lot of time and the need to hire employees with technical expertise in these areas - particularly when you have several locations to manage.

Adding multiple locations on Google My Business will make it easier for your customers to find you. Not only will it improve your SEO and help you get closer to the top of search results, it will also direct local, quality customers to your business in your other offices.

To learn more about using Google My Business or if you need help managing these tasks and improving your local presence, check out our blog or contact us today.

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