Keeping Google My Business up to date

I follow a very useful chap for local marketing called Phil Rozek. Phil recently posted this article which covers WARNING EMAILS FROM GOOGLE MY BUSINESS (was PLACES) currently being sent to US businesses.

Forewarned is forearmed so if you take action now then when this rolls out to the UK you won’t have any issues.

What happens if you ignore Google if this email arrives? You won’t be the owner of your page any more, that’s what. 

You’ll have to reclaim it (by phone or postcard).  Probably nobody will hijack your page in the meantime, nor are your reviews likely to disappear.  What’s more likely to happen is that some of your business info may change, and your rankings may take a hit.

Just log in at google.com/business, go to the area where you manage your page, and there should be instructions.  (Even if there aren’t instructions, simply logging in should do the trick.

(A little more detail in this post by Mike Blumenthal, if you’re interested:
http://blumenthals.com/blog/2015/06/04/google-now-requiring-null-edits-to-keep-accounts-active-in-us/)

A few notes:

1.  Although Google only sent the warning to US businesses, it’s a good idea to check up on your page if you’re outside the US.  There’s always another shoe that falls.

2.  When you’re in your Google Places dashboard, be sure to check out the “address” area.  You may see an error message.  Read this post if you do: http://bit.ly/1JqAexw

3.  If you don’t know what email address you (or someone else) used to claim/manage your page, you’re in for a little hassle.  Here’s the ugly link to the page with the instructions you’ll need to follow:
http://support.google.com/business/answer/4566671?hl=en&ref_topic=4854130
If you’d like help with this please let me know.