As a local small business owner, you would do well if you don’t underestimate the power of online marketing, but we’re sure you already know that by now. For those who are just starting out the important thing to consider is the SEO capability of all pages and websites connected to your business. The idea is to get your pages up in the first page of Google when people search for the name of your business or even the products related to your business. To get this you must first learn the basics and you can start by letting Google verify your business in to Google My Business (GMB).

Actually, there are already lots of small businesses out there who have already set up their GMB but in reality most of these businesses just leave their profile for good after they thought they’re through with the filing process. In other words, they just plain forget about it. What many owners are missing out on are the other benefits that, aside from making your business look more legit in the eyes of the viewing public, can optimize your GMB that would make Google identify your business much better and therefore post it more effectively when people are looking for something on the search engine.

There are many other questions that you can answer to thoroughly complete your GMB profile. When you get this sorted, your page will hold valuable data that would make potential customers and clients find your business easier in Google’s search engine. What many businesses don’t realize is that anyone can suggest editing the contents of your profile, and that includes your competitors. Check out what else your competitors are capable of if you don’t keep an eye on your business profiles online if you go to our article, Handling Fake Google Reviews.

This is one of the reason why you have to login to your GMB dashboard every now and then to ensure nobody is toying around with your profile information. You should see a notification on your profile if you or somebody made changes in your listing. Another thing that’s worth noting is that Google asks viewers if they know about the business listed and ask users a yes or no question as to whether a business serves the things it advertises it serves. Obviously, this caused concern to many business owners since anyone can tick whatever option they please and this could be a playground for people who wish somebody’s business ill.

However, Google stands firm with their argument that their system is a “user-generated community” system that with the intention of building communities. Since Google is keeping this feature up with seemingly the best of intentions, we’ll let you make of that what you will. The point is completing your GMB profile and checking it regularly should help any business in the online marketing aspect of things as well as making sure that you have things in your business information in control and not on the hands of the malicious users.