If you have a Google listing, please check it.

[Robert Armerding]

If you have a Google My Business listing, check to make sure Google has not marked you as "Closed."
Why do I bring this up? I have looked at several in the last few days and for some reason Google has marked the sign shop closed when I knew if was not closed.
If you need help with this, let's team-up and get it done.

 

[Bobby H]

Heck, one thing that is very important is for any business to check and see if there is already a Google business page set up for their business already, but being controlled by some unknown person or organization. That kind of cyber-squatting is actually pretty common. The upshot is Google is usually pretty pro-active at transferring control of a Google business page to the actual legit business once the legit business reaches out to them.

FYI, when you do have admin control of a Google Business Page, the folks at Google will send you email messages asking for you to update your business hours when certain holidays are approaching. And there's a lot of the usual "here's a $150 ad credit to spend" messages.

 

[Robert Armerding]

Heck, one thing that is very important is for any business to check and see if there is already a Google business page set up for their business already, but being controlled by some unknown person or organization. That kind of cyber-squatting is actually pretty common. The upshot is Google is usually pretty pro-active at transferring control of a Google business page to the actual legit business once the legit business reaches out to them.

FYI, when you do have admin control of a Google Business Page, the folks at Google will send you email messages asking for you to update your business hours when certain holidays are approaching. And there's a lot of the usual "here's a $150 ad credit to spend" messages.

Bobby H Thank you for this reply. And, thank you for pointing out different things that sign makers can do with their Google business page.

 

[Jester1167]

Learned my lesson.

Most of us probably have a direct link to our website and don't use google to get there. Google recently changed their policy and apparently they won't link to your site if you don't have ssl. Then someone hacked the server and put multiple google redirects to a Viagra site. They put several scripts in every folder, and it was really fun and time-consuming to find all of them...

There is a bit of good news. Somehow the connections to the Viagra site has raised the value of my site.

Thanks to whoever notified me of these issues, and I would suggest everyone check their google listing monthly.

 

[Gino]

Good idea jester....... ya just never know what might 'pop up'.

 

[rjssigns]

No Google listing that I know of. S'pose it wouldn't hurt to check. No website either at this point. Pulled it down for a refresh...whenever we get to it.
Actually have a new brand to release for a target market. Again, when I get to it.

Lazy? Perhaps, but I'm not that far away from having six Saturdays and one Sunday every week.

 

[Robert Armerding]

Learned my lesson.

Most of us probably have a direct link to our website and don't use google to get there. Google recently changed their policy and apparently they won't link to your site if you don't have ssl. Then someone hacked the server and put multiple google redirects to a Viagra site. They put several scripts in every folder, and it was really fun and time-consuming to find all of them...

There is a bit of good news. Somehow the connections to the Viagra site has raised the value of my site.

Thanks to whoever notified me of these issues, and I would suggest every check their google listing monthly.

Jester1167 Thank you for your reply. Your suggestion to check every month is so important.

 

[FireSprint.com]

Anyone use a service like Moz Local? https://moz.com/products/local/pricing

For a larger shop, this might be worth it. They help you track your business listing across dozens of places and help you manage it all.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Anyone use a service like Moz Local? https://moz.com/products/local/pricing

For a larger shop, this might be worth it. They help you track your business listing across dozens of places and help you manage it all.

Years ago I used their free tool and learned a lot and fixed a alot of what they found wrong. Valuable resource

 

[Robert Armerding]

Anyone use a service like Moz Local? https://moz.com/products/local/pricing

For a larger shop, this might be worth it. They help you track your business listing across dozens of places and help you manage it all.

FireSprint.com Thank you for the link to Moz Local. I checked their pricing. It seems to be fair and reasonable.
Yes, it is a very good tactic to have someone like Moz monitor the reviews.
I reached out to Moz Local with some questions. And, I subscribed to their twice a month newsletter. We shall see. I am a strong advocate for responding to every review, good or bad.

 

[Linsn LED]

Very nice post.