Google Place Search is officially rolling out. Performing a local business search, you will soon see a local Google map with red pin pointers marking local businesses as well as displaying numerous rows of Place Page listings at the top of the page, this is Google’s new place search feature. Places listings have far more prominence and take up the majority of the results page, pushing organic listings further down the page. If you used to be on page one of Google for a search term that is local in nature, your business might be moved to page two with this change. Google Place search results can also be viewed by clicking on the Places button in the left sidebar in Google.
If you have not seen this feature in action yet, you can see how it is working for Summit New Jersey
For local businesses that are already optimized, this new search feature is great news. For those who aren’t, this is a wake up call to get your business optimized for Google Places.
Formerly known as Google’s Local Business Center, Google Places is a localized search feature displaying local businesses on Google Maps and in a listings format with each businesses relevant information including services, geographic coverage area, contacts, website, hours, photos, videos and customer reviews.
Vice President of Google John Hanke states “One out of five searches on Google are related to location, and we want to make sure that businesses are able to be found and put their best foot forward”. So, if you own a business that provides services or products to consumers in your local area, you need to be part of Google Places to gain more visibility. A Google Places listing will increase traffic to your site, possibly more so than organic listings.
Is your business on Google Places?
Before you rush to get listed, check to see if you might already be listed. Go to http://maps.google.com and search for your business name, also perform a search for your business street address and phone number, if you do not find your business you are probably not listed. If you do find your business, look in the upper right corner of the Place page and see if it say “Business owner?” or “Verified listing.” If it displays “Business owner?”, then nobody has claimed ownership of the page yet. However, if it reads “Verified listing”, then somebody claimed that listing. Not to worry, it could be someone in your office or even your webmaster, just ask around to find out. To get listed visit http://www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter
Every business listing must have a mailing address and is limited to one physical location. Since many businesses travel to service their customers, you can indicate on Google Maps which geographic areas are your Service Area. And if you run a business without a storefront or office location, you can now make your address private.
In a few select U.S. Cities, for $25 per month, local businesses can tag their listings to highlight certain information, such as special offers and coupons. Advertising With Tags will become more widely available in coming months. Tags will not affect your ranking in the search engines, but are an indicator to customers that you do have more information available that might prove to be beneficial to them.
Google Places comes with it’s own dashboard to track the performance of your business listing. Search engine marketers will appreciate its ability inform you how many times people have found your business on Google, who is searching for your business, how surfers are finding you and where they are coming from.
From the dashboard you can upload photos and business videos. In select cities, businesses can apply for a free photo shoot of the interior of your business by a Google photographer, especially nice for restaurants, hotels and retail stores.
Google Places includes a cutting edge feature called Custom QR Codes, which are available for download from the dashboard. These codes can be added to business cards, brochures and other promotional materials and when scanned by cell phones will take customers to your Google Places page.
Tips to Optimize your Google Places:
- Put keywords in the title next to your business name
ex. Starr, Gern, Davison & Rubin NJ Law Firm - Encourage your customers to post positive reviews
- Upload some photos and videos
- Complete all offered categories
- Use local phone # not an 800 number.
This is certainly an exciting advancement for the presentation of local listings. If you have not added your business to Google Places, now is the time to do it. To take advantage of this invaluable local internet marketing feature give us a call at your convenience, we will gladly setup your account.
