Google My Business Success Stories: Aladin Foods
Lift Conversions Spans the Globe to Help. One of the challenges facing online advertising across the globe is the inability of some companies, both large and small; to get themselves properly listed across the relevant search engines. Ask any small business owner what it means to have accurate hours and days of operation easily discoverable by potential customers and they’ll all tell you the same thing – it’s everything. So, what happens when those listings go wrong?
Well, in many cases, a bad listing is easily fixed by simply following the processes outlined in the terms of service for that particular listing. Each engine has a process in place that covers this exact kind of thing, and, in most cases, these systems work out just fine. Yet, there are occasions when the steps simply don’t work.Aladin Foods, Bulgaria’s largest fast food chain, has 56 locations scattered all across the country. They do a very brisk business and are akin to McDonald’s here in the US. Now, imagine having all of those stores across the entire nation and not even one of them is listed correctly. At least half are unverified and the others, those with verified status, have errors throughout their listed information. Imagine what would happen to a McDonald’s franchise that listed inaccurate hours or, even worse, the wrong address.
That business potentially loses thousands and thousands of dollars a day in revenue and all because of a listing many don’t really understand. There’s no denying the fact that many businesses spent years relying on print listings to inform customers of their goods and services. These listings were usually updated yearly by a call from a listing company, so the owner had very little active responsibility for disseminating the listing once it was complete.
Now, with the rise of search engines, and their associated business listings, business owners are being asked to play a much more active role in their listing. Or, and this happens all the time, they pass on the responsibility to an employee to handle. While that’s completely understandable delegation, it can potentially be disastrous down the road.
The disaster strikes when that employee, who has the listings under a personal email, leaves the company for whatever reason. Now, the business has no access to the listing and no way to gain access through the departed employee. Now, extrapolate that problem out to 56 locations and you get an idea of what Aladin Foods was facing.
As a Product Expert in Google’s Product Forums, Lift Conversions’ founder Spencer Wade, has years of experience dealing with just this type of issue and has shared his knowledge with the entire team so that we may better assist clients with issues just like Aladin Foods. Krassi, a member of the Aladin Foods team, approached Mr. Wade in the Google Product Forums about the issues Aladin was facing and thus began our year-long odyssey into Google My Business across the globe.
From our initial discussions with Krassi, we understood the financial losses the listing issues represented and learned some valuable insights into the differences between cultures – specifically when it comes to the term “fast food”. Once we had an understanding of the overarching problems, and their widespread nature, we began our work in earnest.
Our first step, gaining manager status for the listing from Aladin, was easily completed and we were hopeful it was an omen of good things to come. We would be disappointed – at least initially, but I digress. We began with a thorough investigation of each listing – its information, its errors, its verified status. That gave us a laundry list of items to discuss with Google My Business, so we placed a call on the second day we worked the problem.
We began discussions with Google My Business with an aim to starting an expedited bulk verification process for all of the unverified listings. With our inside access to their locations via Krassi, we were quickly able to get this settled for a number of these locations, but some were far more difficult due to an inability to identify the listing’s owner.
In a situation like that, we begin the process of requesting ownership access through a complicated series of communications and informational exchanges between Google and Lift Conversions on behalf of Aladin Foods. These exchanges, and their associated time requirements, represent a large percentage of the time we spent working this issue. It’s no one’s fault – just the way the system functions. That’s not to say it can’t be frustrating which is where a great many of the Google My Business problems we solve come from – people simply giving up.
Lift Conversions was built on consistency and persistence, so interactions and processes that require patience are where we excel. During the next year, working closely with Krassi and the corporate team at Aladin Foods, Lift Conversions was able to get all 56 of their locations verified and each and every listing corrected. That’s right. No more errors. No more inconsistent information. No more false ownership. No more red flags. Now, Aladin Foods is primed to do in Europe what it’s done in Bulgaria – become the preeminent fast food chain.
Business owners have come to learn the importance of accurate listings. They’ve come to understand the value of giving search engines useful, actionable data. They’ve come to trust in the web to deliver the customers they need, and that’s a win for everyone in our book. It’s why everything we did for Aladin Foods, from first day to last, was done completely pro bono. We asked for nothing but a truthful review of the service we provided. You can see that review for yourself here.
At the end of the day, helping companies is what we’re all about. Whether it’s a small business looking for a new web presence, or a massive chain looking for search advertising, we offer the same level of personalized service and attention to detail. Our aim, our true mission, is to retire right alongside our clients – as trusted friends. After all, any agency can cash a check, but only those like Lift Conversions can fund them.
