How To Verify My Google Business Profile

Verifying a Google Business Profile, believe it or not, used to be fairly simple. You’d request a postcard, it’d arrive in 5 days, you’d enter the code and it’d be sorted. Now, the growing amount of remote businesses (and the unreliability of the postcard actually arriving) has meant that Google has expanded it’s list of verification options for businesses.

This has been a gradual change but not one that hasn’t been met with frustration and confusion by most users. For all new Google Business Profiles, you will need to get them verified to show that you are indeed the representative of that business. Recently, Google has implemented several other options for verification. Options such as a phone call, text message or email aren’t too bad; assuming you meet the necessary criteria for each one i.e. your email address ends in your website domain such as info@axonpoint.co.uk. Sometimes, the marketing gods will shine down on you and just verify the business. There’s little science or understanding as to why that happens but sometimes it does. Again, Google Business Profile is a rigorous service not filled with bugs.

However, the latest innovation is the video verification and this has been a source of anger for marketers and business owners alike. Simply put, the video verification service isn’t very good, the description given isn’t very detailed and it wants a very specific video being sent. It’s also worth noting that Google Business Profile doesn’t just let you choose the verification method, you have to verify via the methods provided and that is increasingly just the video verification method. This is something that has hit our very own business after our recent office move so we have been through the rigorous process ourselves.

Essentially, Google wants a video of your office, the location around it and your main tools and branding to verify you are who you say you are. However, if you are a service business or are a remote business, this becomes more difficult. It’s not impossible, we have helped businesses get verified through this method but it’s a far more tedious process than you might imagine.

What do I need to do : There’s no exact science behind this and we would fully recommend looking up some tutorials online on Youtube. There are plenty of decent examples to give you a better idea of what is required. For what it’s worth, Google provides the following as means to what you are looking for with the video. We’ll do our best to break down exactly what you should provide with each one.

Unedited, unique and one continuous recording without breaks. The video should be natural and roughly 90 seconds in length, ideally no longer than that. It is worth noting that the video can only be recorded through Google so it has to be live and unedited.
Show the location of your business. Capture the official street and number signs, nearby businesses or the area around your business that shows your business is at the correct Google Maps location. For a service business, the location around whatever business address you have will work.
For businesses with a physical location, show evidence that your business exists. Capture the shop front, showroom or business signage. Fairly self explanatory but make sure any signage is clearly visible and that you show it in a way that you are interacting with it such as walking by or under it.
For service providers, record equipment or other items related to your business. Capture the products for sale, branded equipment, marketing materials or tools you use to serve your customers. For service businesses, this is a good use of the van. It’s a branded tool that houses your equipment.
Demonstrate proof of management. You can show that you’re authorised to represent your business by recording employee-only items or areas. Record yourself opening a cash register, accessing a point of sale system, unlocking the staff room, kitchen or storage room. A big thing to hit here for any business is this proof. Unlocking a door or unlocking your van is a big step that needs to be in there and one that has performed well for most businesses.

For a location business, your ideal video would be walking through your lot or office block, arriving at the clearly signed door or location, opening up with your keys and showing off any other branding or products you can.

For a mobile service business, your ideal video would be walking up to your van, showing off the branding on the side, opening up the van and then showing the tools and equipment inside.

For a remote business, you may need to start outside, showing yourself opening up your front door (yes, this is how strict it can be), showcasing the outside before moving onto your desk and showing off any business cards or tools you might use that have your branding on them such as a CRM tool.

Google Business Profile is a constantly changing platform that continues to get a fair amount of Google’s more experimental changes but it is also a really important tool for local businesses to increase their reach and presence. If it’s a tool you use regularly, you need to be aware of the changes that are coming to the platform and if you are looking for ways to improve your Google business profile’s reach, check out our previous guides.