Do I own my Google My Business (GMB) profile? Does is matter? How do I claim my GMB? Great questions and ones you need to ask. Let\'s answer these questions and a few more surrounding this important SEO item. 

Do I own my Google My Business Profile?

The first thing to do is check if you own your GMB profile. To do this, open a browser window and search for your business name. In the right hand panel, you should see something like what you see in the above image. If you see nothing, then it's possible you don\'t have a GMB at all - this is bad from an online visibility standpoint, and something you need to address immediately. We'll deal with that later in this post.

For now, we'll assume you have a GMB and you see a panel like the above one. What you need to look for is "Own this business?". If you don't see this, then you already own (or put another way, you\'ve already claimed) your business. Hopefully... There's always a possibility that someone else has claimed it. That\'s bad, and something we'll also deal with later. If you DO see this, then the

main name renewal scams Questions... Where was your domain name registered, when is it due for renewal, and about how much should you pay for a 1 year renewal (generally)? If you don't know you're a prime candidate for a domain renewal scam.

I'd hoped this may have died and gone away on its own, but it seems that "Melanie" (or whoever she or he really is) is a persistent little scammer that's working hard to screw you over. I've seen this email appear in various clients' inboxes. Always exactly the same format with the site URL changed and he/she uses slightly different names, but the scam is always the same. Get some poor sucker to click on a link to "check out a document listing supposed links to images which are copyrighted". There's a linking to a Google Site. I don't know what's at the end of that, and, frankly, I don't care nor have the time to bother finding out. But you can guarantee it is NOT a list of copyrighted image you are using illegally.

Shock! My site is using copyrighted images illegally!

Don't get me wrong, using copyrighted image without permission is WRONG! 100%. And it CAN cost you money if you do it and get caught. That's why we are carefully about where we source images to ensure they're legit.

But back to the email...

It starts off legitimately sounding. Some poor, hard-working photographer is upset that YOU used