Back in the day, a great big neon sign over your business was as technical as business owners could get when it came to the equivalent of “near me” searches at the time. Things have certainly changed. The rise of the “(business type) near me” searches using voice assistants and mobile are up over 900% since 2015, with “near me” local searches expected to generate $1.4 trillion in local sales by 2021. Every business owner likely has their Google Business page set up, which helps with people who use Google Maps. But it doesn’t capture every user, because not every search is done on Google Maps.
This is where Apple Connect comes in.
Why You Need an Apple Connect Profile for Your Business
When Apple Maps first came out in 2012, it didn’t go all that well. But over the intervening eight years, the functionality has improved mightily, and Apple Maps now has over 23 million monthly active users. Apple has a full 45.5% market share in the mobile phone market in Q2 2020, which means almost half of domestic consumers have Apple Maps on their phones.
That’s a whole bunch of words to say that if your business isn’t showing up on Apple Maps when consumers are searching for businesses like yours, you’re most definitely missing out on business.
How Apple Connect Works and How to Sign Up
Registering for Apple Maps is done through Apple Connect. The sign-up process is very similar to Google My Business. You’ll need to register (on an Apple device, of course) and supply information about your business.
- Be sure to fill out as much information as possible; store hours, categories, a description, and add some pictures as well.
- Once you’re done, you’ll verify your ownership of the business by getting an automated call from Apple on your business’s phone line.
- It might take a few days or even a week, but then your business will be displayed on Apple Maps and start being considered in the results for relevant searches.
It’s a really easy process, so do it. It’s an opportunity to gain some phone calls and foot traffic that you may have been missing out on. If you have any problems getting registered, give me a shout and I’ll be happy to help out.
Thanks for reading and happy marketing!
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