Uncover a disturbing trend: unscrupulous individuals, are manipulating Google Maps pins to misrepresent business locations as if you didn’t have enough to worry about when running a small business! But don’t worry; this episode offers crucial guidance on defending your clinic or business against such tactics.
We'll explore effective strategies for monitoring your Google Business Profile and provide step-by-step instructions for addressing unauthorized pin relocations. Equipping yourself with the tools to safeguard your digital footprint is vital to your online success.
By the end of this episode, you'll know how to use an unlinked Google account to correct any erroneous changes and maintain your business's rightful place on the map.
Listen to the podcast episode:
Important: New Google Maps / Google Business Profile Listing Scam
Show Notes & Related Resources for Important: New Google Maps / Google Business Profile Listing Scam
- How to Optimize Photos for Your Google Business Profile
- Google Business Profile: The Ultimate Guide to Optimize Your GBP Listing
- Google Posts: An Overlooked Google Business Profile Listing Feature
- Going Beyond Google Reviews to Improve Your Online Reputation
- How to Repurpose Your Google Reviews
- How to Use Your Google Business Profile Listing to Generate New Leads
- Google Posts: what they are & how they can improve your SEO
- 3 Simple Steps to Increase Your Company’s Local Presence on Google
- Local Online Reviews: Trends, Behaviors, & Platforms
- 4 Online Listings that Will Help Your Clinic Get More Patients
How to Navigate the Google Maps / Google Business Profile Listing Scam
Sometimes, people are just mean and want to disrupt your business for reasons that serve them or simply un-serve you. That’s what’s happening with a new trend involving people unrelated to your business moving your pin on Google Maps.
It’s a nasty little game, but you can quickly fix it by regularly checking in on your Google Business Profile listing. Here’s all you need to know about navigating the Google Maps listing scam.
Image from Google Business Profile
Why It’s Important to Protect Your Business
We talk about local SEO a lot and that’s because it’s essential to your small business with a physical location. And a huge part of your local SEO campaign is your Google Business Profile (GBP). And a huge part of your GBP is your Google Maps, which tells your patients, users, customers, etc., where you’re located.
So, imagine what would happen to your business if your clientele were sent to the wrong location. It wouldn’t be great. A bad user experience means negative reviews, ranking, and SEO.
How to Ensure Your Google Maps Listing is Correct
While this scam is annoying and can cost you big time, there’s an easy fix. The first step is to check in on your GBP often to ensure everything is correct.
Here's a quick way to check if everything's in order:
Log into your Google Business Profile dashboard
Click on "Edit Profile," then "Location"
Take a look at the map – is your pin in the right spot?
Is your pin out of place? Don’t panic if so. Here’s what to do to correct your Google Maps listing.
If you notice anything off, don't worry; take these steps:
Use a Google account not linked to your business
Find your business on Maps
Click "Suggest an edit" > "Change name or other details" > "Edit map location"
Adjust the pin to the correct location and Save
Check Your Google Business Profile Regularly
We recommend checking your profile monthly to ensure everything looks good. It's a simple way to keep your online presence accurate and strong! Pro tip: Set a reminder in your calendar.
Podcast Transcript - Important: New Google Maps / Google Business Profile Listing Scam
Hello and welcome to this short yet important episode of The Clinic Marketing Podcast.
I'm your host, Darcy Sullivan, from Propel Marketing and Design.
This is a special episode that I was going to wait until our typical Monday release of the podcast, but I had a number of people reach out to me recently regarding the latest scam that is happening in the world of Google Maps’ Google Business Profile listing.
I wanted to make a short episode to let you know about what is going on and how you can safeguard your business.
Did you know that there's a way for others to either accidentally or, unfortunately, intentionally move your Google Maps pin? When somebody does this, it's going to show the wrong location for your business in the Google Maps listing, and while most people use the feature that we're going to talk about, called Suggest and Edit, with really good intentions, other times; unfortunately, their intentions are not so good.
So your competitors, or just not nice people, can move your Google Map pin to a new location, which can not only negatively impact your ranking, but it can really harm your business because all of a sudden, you have people saying, “Hey, I'm trying to find your location, but when I pull it up on Google Maps, it's showing me another business that's in a completely different state or region.”
This can be detrimental for your business. There's been a growing surplus of this happening over the past few months. Again, it's just really easy for scammers to just jump in and click, Suggest and Edit, and again, this will move the location of where it shows that your business is in Google Maps. So, obviously, this can be a huge issue.
So what do you do?
Well, first off, you want to make sure that, on a regular basis, you are checking in on your Google Business Profile listing.
To do this, you want to check and make sure that everything is in order.
- You're going to log into your Google Business Profile dashboard
- Click on the Edit Profile
- Then look at the map and make sure your pin is in the right spot
Now, if you notice that it is not in the right spot, here's what you're going to do:
- You are going to use a Google account that is not linked to your business (that part's important, so let me repeat that: you are going to use a Google account that is not linked to your business)
- You are then going to go find your business on Maps and click Suggest and Edit,
- Change Name or Other Details
- And you are going to click Edit Map Location
- And adjust the pin to the correct location
- And Save
We strongly, strongly recommend that you check in on your Google Business Profile listing monthly to ensure that everything looks good. It's a simple way to keep up with your online presence and make sure that your information is being accurately represented.
We have tons of additional resources to help you with your Google Business Profile listing. You can visit propelyourcompany.com and sign up for our latest free SEO training, which will talk about how to optimize your Google Business Profile listing.
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Darcy’s SEO strategies are easy to implement and effective. She’s the #1 SEO expert I refer to whenever I need help with my rankings.
SEO queen! I can’t thank Propel and Darcy enough for holding my hand through the SEO process! I’m loving the podcast and all the insight! Also loving that my business is now getting the brand awareness and sales I’ve always wanted!
Wow! Clear, concise and impactful. Excellent details and tips - already seeing a return!! Worth the 20 min listen.
Sponsors
This episode of the Propel Your Practice Podcast is brought to you by Propel Marketing & Design. Propel Marketing & Design helps Chiropractors, Acupuncturists, Physical Therapists, Wellness Practitioners, and other clinic owners improve their website rankings.
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