subject: Making the Most Out of Google Places [print this page] Making the Most Out of Google Places Making the Most Out of Google Places
Recently I have been very impressed with the new Google Places aka Local Business Center. They have been continuing to add new features to your Local Business Listing that allow you really make the listing a viable marketing tool. As you probably have noticed, search is becoming much more targeted and focused, so utilizing not only Google but the other search engine local business centers is imperative for local business owners.
Getting Started With Google Places
Google Places is where you can create a free local business listing that will allow you to drive local traffic to your website, through the local business results that are shown in Google when someone searches for what you do in the area. This can be an effective way to put your business in front of potentially thousands of local customers who are searching for exactly what you do. However just creating a listing is not enough, you need to optimize that listing to encourage users to want to contact you.
Here is a brief intro on Google Places
Create a Complete and Verified Listing
In order for your listing to have the best opportunity of ranking in the local business results, you need to make sure you have a completely filled out listing. That means filling out every field that they offer you, including adding images and video.
On top of having a complete listing, probably the most important aspect of your listing is to verify it with Google. This means that the information you listed in verified with Google is the correct information. Usually this means they either call the number you submitted and provide you with a pin # to enter, or they will send a postcard in the mail with the verification pin on it.
Using Google Tags
With Google Tags you can make it easier to highlight aspects of your Local Business Listing that you want your customers to see. Highlight things like coupons, your website URL, a video, images, or even a link to your menu. So depending on the business you have, you can tailor it to promote the features that are most important to you. This makes your local listing stand out from the rest of the listings that are displayed in the local 7 pack.
Benefits to Google Tags
Extremely easy to setup
A flat monthly fee of $25/month
Promote important info within your local listing
Track your Tags within the local analytics dashboard
Your tags start showing up within an hour
Watch the "What are Google Tags" Video
Watch the Getting Started with Google Tags
Encourage Customer Reviews
Recently I went to optisonstions for a normal checkup. Everything went very well and I was in and out of there in 45 minutes. About a week later I received a letter in the mail from my eye doctor thanking me for coming in and requesting that I go to a URL to leave a review about my experience on their Google Local Business Listing. I went on and saw all of the other great reviews that people had left, saying how great their experience was..and I did the same.
If you can encourage your customers to leave a positive review on your listing it can tremendously help the effective. Sending a letter in the mail, e-mail or even calling them are all great ways of following up on their experience and to remind them to share their experience by leaving a review.
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We've been developing and optimising websites for over ten years and between them our team has decades of experience working in new media. So we really know where the internet has come from and where it's going.
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