How To Verify Google My Business Without A Postcard
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The primary way Google will try to verify your business is through a postcard. This however is not always as simple as it first seems. It has become a bit of an occurrence for many of the businesses we manage, that the postcards don’t turn up. Sometimes simply requesting another one works, if you are giving it a second shot, make sure the ATTN is clear so that it has the most chance of reaching the correct person or business. But, more than often if the first one hasn’t turned up the second will likely not turn up as well.
What then? You might be feeling a little stuck and confused on the next steps to take. But, chill out, we are here to help.
Firstly, it might help for us to clearly identify some of the main reasons to get a GMB verified, as it might seem like a good option just to leave it for now and not go through the effort of locking in that verification. But, knowing the value of getting your profile listed and ranking we would advise against this:
Why get your GMB verified in the first place?
- It allows you to optimize and complete your GMB profile. Until you verify, you won’t be able to make any changes to your profile.
- Completed profiles are twice as likely to be considered reputable
- It can prevent anyone posing as a representative of your business, to alter or change your listing.
- Proximity is one of the primary ranking factors for local SEO. Without a verified listing you won’t be able to have a physical location in place and so will find it far harder to rank. This is also the case for category selection, keywords in titles and other GMB signals. Key tip: If you can, verify your listing as close to the city/town centre as possible, as this is an influential ranking factor.
- Often, your profile business won’t even display on Google if you can’t verify the physical location.
The process to verify your GMB without a postcard:
The process of getting your GMB verified without a postcard, is sadly not as simple as just selecting an alternative option. But, I guess you have figured that out, which is why you are here. First things first, what process should you take to get a verification without a letter.
- Login into Google my Business
- Select “I don’t have a code” which is displayed on the homepage dashboard in the pending reviews section.
- Select “Change method”
- Choose the most suitable option available
- If you have a Google search console setup, you can “instantly verify”. Although this is not an option for all.
- Reach out to the GMB community, GMB Twitter team, GMB Facebook Team or the GMB Help Center
- Submit a ticket at the Google directory
- Call us at Digital Rainmaker to sort it out for you
The options to verify your GMB Profile without a letter or postcard
- Phone: This option is not available to all, but if you are lucky enough to be offered phone verification from the available options, then it should be a pretty swift process. You will be offered a 5 digit code, by a automated call. Make sure you don’t have your answering system on, as this will conflict with the Google call bot and so it will prevent it working.
- Text: You are able to choose whether you want to get a call or text message sent to your phone. They will send through the code via text if you select this option.
- Email: Again, if you are one of the lucky ones you might have a ‘verify by email’ option. This will follow the same process, so you will receive a verification code to input in your GMB. The important thing to look out for though, is whether you have access to the email displayed in the verification section. You will be able to change the address name such as ‘info@’ or ‘steve@’, but you won’t be able to change the domain name. If your business does not have the email account attached to your website domain, then you will have to choose an alternative option to email.
- Google Search Console (GSC)/Instant Verification: Not all businesses will have the option for instant verification via GSC, as it often comes down to how much google trusts you in the first place. However, if you do have this option, make sure you sign in using the same google account as your GSC.
- Video call: This option is available for certain industries and is one of the more recent methods introduced. It will be with a Google specialist and they will likely request to see proof, such as a store front or to see other employees.
Step by step process to get your GMB verified without a postcard:
1) Login to your homepage dashboard and select "I don’t have a code"
1.a) If you have not got to the stage of requesting a postcard you will see this message instead. If this is the case them press ‘verify now’. We would then suggest sending out a postcard if you haven’t done this already.
2) Next press ‘Change Method’.
3) You will hopefully then be given options to verify without a postcard. Such as by phone or email.
4) If this is not the case and you are left without any other verification options (as seen below), then the next step would be to verify through one of the alternative methods.
5)The main method we would suggest is heading to the support section on your GMB dashboard, to submit a ticket which would trigger Google to get in touch.
5.a) Press contact us
5.b) Type in pin code and then press next step
5.c) Select postcard didn’t arrive
5.d) Press email and then fill out all the required information. Try to include as much proof as possible at this step. You may be given a few options such as a video or phone call, which google will then request via a google meet once they have received your verification ticket.
5.d) You will receive a confirmation once the process is complete. From here, one of Googles specialists will give you a ring or set up an appointment to verify your listing.
7) Setting up through Google search console: In order to do this make sure that your Google email is linked up for both accounts. Once you are setup on GSC then you will hopefully see an option to verify on your GMB. If you haven’t already got an account signed up and you are unsure what Google search console is, then you can head over to this link or get in touch with us at Digital Rainmaker to help you out.
8) Finally, getting in touch with Google through their community, twitter or facebook might be the last resort, but not a bad option. These groups and contact teams are reasonably responsive, and usually people on there would have experienced these issues themselves before.
Let us sort it out
We have gone through this verfication process, time and time again. So get in touch if you need is to sort the issue out for you, or if you want to have a chat about anything else relating to your SEO.
