Google, the number 1 search engine in the world, recently opened their Google Places service, which is a free business listing service similar to the Yellow Pages. They created 50 million listings, and there’s a good chance that your business is already listed with information compiled from third party sources. There’s also a chance that someone has already claimed your site. So even if you aren’t involved with Google Places, Google Places might be involved with you.
Search for your business by going to Google Maps, typing in your business name and zip code. If it appears, your listing is live and you can set about customizing it with photos and correct information.
It’s estimated that almost three quarters of internet search is related to local businesses, so don’t take this lightly. Putting updated coupons on your Google Places site will convince people to stop by, and they can also post reviews on the site. In fact, so few of the Google Places sites have been taken that you might be able to secure your place in the ranking by merely updating information. Have your competitors claimed their sites? Check. The answer might surprise you.
You can even get backlinks from Google Places. Well, not quite backlinks: “citations”. Citations can be gotten by posting contact information on other sites. Between citations and reviews, which can also be posted on the Google Places listing, you have an excellent chance of ranking better in search results.
Google Places Marketing isn’t the only search engine with this kind of setup: Bing, Yahoo!, and a few others have local business service directories that assist people in finding local solutions to their problems. For more ways to get the most out of Google Places and sites like it, Click Here
David Carleton is a San Diego Local Business Marketing Consultant who specializes in showing small business owners how to spend less and get more from their marketing and advertising using low cost strategies in local business marketing, lead generation and conversion, Internet marketing and social media. To download a copy of the free report, “7 Steps to Website Success”, go to http://LocalBusinessMarketingSuccess.com
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