It appears that Google My Business is currently down. If you try to login to your account, will be greeted by a 404 error – Page Not Found. You might also notice that are being redirected to a new url: https://www.google.com/manage?hl=en.
Hundreds voiced their concern over not being able to access Google My Business (GMB) platform this morning. Steve Seeley first notified me of this minutes ago on Twitter saying “by chance is the Google my business login taking you to a 404?”
How your brand is being presented and talked about across all the various sites, channels and platforms out there can sometimes feel entirely out of your hands. There’s always that lingering concern that potential customers will be misled, either through malicious reviews or inaccurate business information that pushes people toward your competitors.
GMB has been one path to help brands solve the latter issue. Google My Business platforms serves a similar function to business directory/listings, much like Yelp or Yellow Pages, but has the added benefit of being tied directly to the tech giant’s search engine.
Customers search for your business, and Google My Business returns a matched listing to go along with other search results. Information like location, store hours and customer reviews is available right from Google’s search engine results page, giving users a more direct line to your business and eliminating potential barriers to engagement.
How does it work?
Getting started with My Business is easy; you have to make an account and claim your business. After filling in your details, you will get a real-life postcard from Google on the address you’ve specified. This card is the only proof you’re the owner of the business listed at the address.
Once verified, you can fill in all the necessary details and check how your listing is doing. You can even get regular insights to see how many impressions, clicks and subscribers your listing got over a period. It’s a great way of getting a feel for how your business is perceived by Google and customers alike.
The real meat and potatoes of Google’s platform:
- Google+: You can share new text, photos, links, videos, and events.
- Insights: Once you verify your business you are able to gain insights into your visibility, engagement, and audience. I recently made an edit to our page so it is pending verification.
- Reviews: Each business is given a Google rating and you are able to manage your reviews on Google and view other reviews around the web.
- Google Analytics: Quick access directly to your Google Analytics dashboard.
- Start a Hangout: With the click of a button you can start or join a Hangout.
Yeah, We cannot access it at all right now. Hopefully it will be back very soon but watch the complaints come in… The big thing to note is that you are not alone, many cannot access it right now. As of right now Google’s official accounts have not released any statements or estimates of regarding the situation. Is Google rolling our new features your business profile tool? Are you effected too?
