Google My Business for content websites?

Darth

Darth

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If your site/brand is a a legitimate source of news/information with no physical presence anywhere, would there any benefits in getting a "Google My Business" for it?

And, as a non-US based (but US focused) website, how would you go about it?
 
I recently built NAP citations for a content site of mine and the two I avoided was Google My Business and Apple, because I don't want to appear on their maps, or get wrapped up in some special Google penalty. I simply avoided it. While it's likely the most beneficial, I feel like there's a lot to lose like negative reviews and people trying to show up to a physical location that isn't there.
 
Been massively struggling to get approved on Google My Business.

Think I applied multiple times too quickly or something and got us flagged. Their only verification method left to use was a literal video recording walking around a physical store/location.

Paid a lot for a solid mail forwarding address so we'd have a unique address for postcard verification but didn't even get the option. I'm in the UK so our site's in the US, wanted to get a location + map set up there but no luck.

I've been told it's a great signal but there's plenty of sites doing fine without a GMB. Like I don't see TheSpruce or HomeAdvisor or anything on Maps.
 
MinstrelJunkie said:
Been massively struggling to get approved on Google My Business.

Think I applied multiple times too quickly or something and got us flagged. Their only verification method left to use was a literal video recording walking around a physical store/location.

Paid a lot for a solid mail forwarding address so we'd have a unique address for postcard verification but didn't even get the option. I'm in the UK so our site's in the US, wanted to get a location + map set up there but no luck.

I've been told it's a great signal but there's plenty of sites doing fine without a GMB. Like I don't see TheSpruce or HomeAdvisor or anything on Maps.
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It is of my opinion that you can't push these things ahead of time.

Hopefully everyone's aspiration is to one day become more than just a content site. Businesses have addresses because they have the need for physical office office whether it be for housing employees or for moving products.

I guess a great example would be epicgardening... they moved beyond just website SEO and bought warehouse space in order to store their products.

Rather than the goal being, I want a GMB. It should be oh, I should probably set up a GMB since I already have a physical location.

Personally for the site that I'm working on right now, my plans for it include:
  • Generating positive cash flow.
  • Buy commercial real estate and establish a filming studio.
When I hit that second goal, it's a given that I'll have a GMB.
 
JOoa0ky said:
It is of my opinion that you can't push these things ahead of time.

Hopefully everyone's aspiration is to one day become more than just a content site. Businesses have addresses because they have the need for physical office office whether it be for housing employees or for moving products.

I guess a great example would be epicgardening... they moved beyond just website SEO and bought warehouse space in order to store their products.

Rather than the goal being, I want a GMB. It should be oh, I should probably set up a GMB since I already have a physical location.

Personally for the site that I'm working on right now, my plans for it include:
  • Generating positive cash flow.
  • Buy commercial real estate and establish a filming studio.
When I hit that second goal, it's a given that I'll have a GMB.
Click to expand...

Great perspective and fully agree! I was trying to tick a box, but it's definitely for a physical location / customer facing business and not a content site.
 
Not that this is something anyone is discussing doing here, but it brings some context and is another reason not to do this:

A person from a Facebook group called "Rank and Rent - GMB Strategy & Domination" is being sued by Google for creating and ranking hundreds of fake GMB profiles, posting fake reviews on them, and then collecting and selling real leads to unsuspecting customers. The entities being sued are GMBEye and Rafadigital, which Google says is the same company.​

And the interesting question is how they defeated the Google Verification System. It says they used zero effort photos and videos proving they were real, on the same workbench, photographed from different angles (lol). That's a funny part of the article if you want to see the pictures.
 
Ryuzaki said:
Not that this is something anyone is discussing doing here, but it brings some context and is another reason not to do this:

A person from a Facebook group called "Rank and Rent - GMB Strategy & Domination" is being sued by Google for creating and ranking hundreds of fake GMB profiles, posting fake reviews on them, and then collecting and selling real leads to unsuspecting customers. The entities being sued are GMBEye and Rafadigital, which Google says is the same company.​

And the interesting question is how they defeated the Google Verification System. It says they used zero effort photos and videos proving they were real, on the same workbench, photographed from different angles (lol). That's a funny part of the article if you want to see the pictures.
Click to expand...
I wonder if GMBEye and Rafadigital are shitting their pants?

The legal fees and damages are most likely going to be significantly more than what they've earned with their rank and rent.
 
Ryuzaki said:
While it's likely the most beneficial, I feel like there's a lot to lose like negative reviews and people trying to show up to a physical location that isn't there.
Click to expand...
Don't know about Apple but with GMB - you can tell them to hide your address (basically saying you don't accept foot traffic).
 
GMB has it's own analytics...

Google tracks GMB profile interactions and they provide you data for the last 6 months:
  • Website clicks
  • Directions
  • Calls
  • Bookings
  • Messages
  • GPS location dwell time data for people visiting in person.
That last one everyone should be familiar with... you know that chart that tells you "how busy" the business is at every hour of the day.

I would have to say that if you've a ghost GMB profile, it's probably not that helpful. It would be similar to a web page that gets zero traffic.
 
Ryuzaki said:
Not that this is something anyone is discussing doing here, but it brings some context and is another reason not to do this:

A person from a Facebook group called "Rank and Rent - GMB Strategy & Domination" is being sued by Google for creating and ranking hundreds of fake GMB profiles, posting fake reviews on them, and then collecting and selling real leads to unsuspecting customers. The entities being sued are GMBEye and Rafadigital, which Google says is the same company.​

And the interesting question is how they defeated the Google Verification System. It says they used zero effort photos and videos proving they were real, on the same workbench, photographed from different angles (lol). That's a funny part of the article if you want to see the pictures.
Click to expand...
I think the main reason they got sued was because the had 14000 fake reviews, and were selling the profiles promising top rankings. They didnt even have that many fake profiles (350) but they did massive review spam which I'm sure google sees as a lot more serious.
 
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