The process of getting a local business on the map through online listings can be an intimidating task, so many local businesses simply ignore it all together. However, this important SEO step cannot be ignored if local business want to drive customers to their location. With the implementation of Google’s new Trusted Verifier program, the time and effort this process takes is cut into less than half the time!
Out with the Old, In with the New
Once upon a time, getting your local business listed on Google took weeks. After completing confusing form after form of information you would still have to wait up to three weeks before hearing back from Google again. Then if you didn’t respond to Google’s verification of your business within a certain timeframe, you would have to start the whole process from the beginning.
What is a Trusted Verifier?
You may be asking, “What is a Google Trusted Verifier?” Google has recently trusted a handful of experts at providing businesses with local visibility the ability to fine tune and instantly verify local business listings. BizTraffic, LLC is proud to be one of the selected companies granted this honor.
Now, what does this mean for the local business owner? Since there is now a larger amount of people with the ability to complete this verification process, the time that it takes to verify a business is significantly shortened, which makes getting on the map easier than ever.
Becoming a Trusted Verifier
After deciding who has the skills to become a Trusted Verifier, Google provides program training. Successful completion of the training course results in Trusted Verifier status. These individuals can now instantly verify business listings to drive local SEO. However, Google will still be watching every verification that comes through to avoid duplicates and fake listings.
Google My Business
The combination of the Trusted Verifier and Google My Business programs makes gaining local traffic an easy task. Local businesses can easily set up their information through Google My Business for free. After doing this, the Trusted Verifier simply needs to verify the business to make it official.
Once verified, Google My Business provides tools that allow the business owner to easily manage their online listing. Through the tool they can do things like create and edit their business information, add listing managers, and manage business photos. By keeping their listing up to date after verification, the chances that Google will pick their business over another during a search increases.
What This Means for the Future of Local SEO
When buying habits change, it’s important for businesses to keep up with these trends and access to Trusted Verifiers helps them do just that. For business owners, this new program not only provides them with help from SEO experts to greatly improve their local SEO, but also the ability to have their listings instantly verified.
The Google My Business and Trusted Verifier programs also offer uncapped accessibility since they can be accessed from any device at any time. This function speeds up the verification process and allows businesses to stay connected with their customers on the go.
At first glance local SEO can seem like an impossible, meaningless task. In reality, showing up on the radar locally plays a big part in the success of local businesses. Programs like Google Trusted Verifier and Google My Business allow business owners the opportunity to dominate their local market quickly and effectively.