How to verify a Local Google + Page
Just like Google Places, Google now requires Local + Business pages to be ‘verified’ by the business owner (or page manager, more on that later). If you visit your Google + Business page look at the top of your screen where it displays your business name. If you haven’t ‘verified’ it yet, the icon will say ‘unverified’. We just verified ours yesterday so it says ‘in progress’ take a look…
It’s just like a Google Places Page claim in that you need to click verify, input your contact name and they send a PIN via postcard to your business address. Once you recieve the PIN, you’ll need to hit ‘enter PIN’ to fully claim the page.
Also as a cool new update, Google is allowing Google + Page Managers to request verification as well. Read on to learn more about the new Google Page Manager feature.
Here’s the full news release from Google:
Are you a storefront business who loves connecting with your customers through the Google+ page that you already created through Google+ for Business (google.com/+/business/)? Now you can verify your Google+ page in the Local Business or Place category. This will unify your business’s online presence across Google Search, Maps, and Mobile and ensure that your customers get the right information about your business, wherever they are looking for you! Verification will enable you to update your business address and hours, respond to reviews, and more from the same Google+ page where you currently share posts with your customers.
The Final Merge of Google Places + Google Plus + Google Local?
It sure looks like it. According to Google, once your Google + business page has been verified, it will “unify your businesses’ online presence across the Google Maps, Google Search and mobile platform”. I think the key piece to this latest change is the ability for users to update their hours of operation, business address and respond to reviews. These were tasks that could only be done if the business owner (or agency) logged into Google Places to make these changes. It seems like they’re slowly phasing the out dated Places platform and merging everything into the more user friendly Google Local / Google Plus platform.
Cool New Feature – Owners & Managers on Google + Pages
In the past business owners either had to log into their Google Places page themselves, or give their username and password to the agency who was working for them. It appears as if Google + has rolled out a new feature enabling two different type of admin access levels: mangers and owners. Each Google + Page can still only have 1 owner but can have up to 50 managers (this is going to make our job much more secure and user friendly, woohoo!)
More Info on How to Add yourself as a Manager: http://support.google.com/plus/bin/answer.py?answer=2380626