The Google Maps guide for Herbalife distributors

Every day, people search "herbalife near me". They want the products, and they would rather buy from someone local than from a stranger online. Google answers with a map of local businesses. Look at that map in most towns and you'll find almost no Herbalife distributors on it, even where dozens live and work.

Herbal Nutrition has helped independent Herbalife distributors get found online since 1999. Here is why so few show up on Google Maps, and why it's worth an afternoon to fix.

Why distributors aren't being found

• Your herbalife.com shop isn't in Google. Herbalife's distributor sites ask search engines not to list them. Your shop is where customers order, but Google won't show it to someone searching.
• Social media doesn't reach the map. Posts on Facebook and Instagram reach people who already follow you. Someone searching for Herbalife in your town never sees them.
• Most distributors have never claimed a Google Business Profile. Without one, Google has nothing to put on the map, however long you've been in business.

Why Google Maps is worth your time

Google Maps is where people look when they are ready to buy from someone nearby. A Google Business Profile is free, and it works for you around the clock. It puts your name, your photo and your phone number in front of someone who searched for exactly what you offer, a few streets away. Customers can call you, message you or visit your website straight from the map. Over time, the reviews from happy customers do your introductions for you.

A Herbalife distributor is a small business owner. Google Maps is how most small businesses in your town are found, from the coffee shop to the hair salon. Yours belongs there too.

Why it's good for the people nearby

A customer who finds you on the map gets more than a product:

• someone local who knows the products and uses them;
• help choosing, and someone to ask later;
• products straight from Herbalife, not an unknown seller on a marketplace site;
• the chance to support a neighbor's small business instead of a faceless one.

Buying local means the money and the friendship stay in the neighborhood. Your friendly neighborhood Herbalife distributor is about as local as it gets.

Why Google looks at other websites

Anyone can type a business name into Google, so Google doesn't take a listing at its word. It checks whether the business is real and really where it says it is. Part of that check is looking across the web for the same name, phone number and town on websites it already trusts. Those mentions are called citations. Each one that matches makes Google more confident, and a confident Google shows a listing to more people.

That is where your Herbal Nutrition website comes in. HerbalNutrition.com has been known to Google for over 25 years, and your page there (herbalnutrition.com/yourname) is a website Google can read and trust. Use it as the website on your Google profile. It tells customers who you are, it links to your herbalife.com shop for ordering, and it vouches for you with Google.

Getting on the map, in brief

1. Fill in your Herbal Nutrition website: your photo, a few lines about how you help people, your city, your phone and the link to your herbalife.com shop.
2. Create your Google Business Profile at business.google.com with your real name. Most distributors who work from home set a service area (the towns they serve), so their home address stays private.
3. Use your Herbal Nutrition website as the website, and verify the profile when Google asks.
4. Keep your name, phone and town the same everywhere you appear online, then add photos and ask happy customers for reviews.

Our members get the full Google Maps guide free, with every step in detail and the mistakes that get listings suspended.