Getting your business on the (Google) map

13. Jan, 2009 3 Comments

This article is taken from the second issue of the monthly VDP Websites newsletter. 

If you can be found on just one map, make it this one

A lot of effort goes into search engine optimisation. As you will have seen in my 3 part series “Reach the top in local search“, it’s a long process that takes continued effort.

The same, however, can NOT be said about showing up on the Google Map.

Before I go into how it’s done, let’s see what it is.

Say that you’re a pizza shop in shepparton. A traveller comes to Shepparton and searches for “pizza shepparton” in Google. 

Firstly they are given a few search results, and then this is what they’re presented with:

Pizza Shepparton

If only 200 people do a search for “pizza shepparton” a month, La Porchetta (the best pizza place if you ask me!) is missing out on maybe $150 sales/month, $1800 sales/year, and of course, all the flow on business that goes with it (worth thousands more).

Now I will let you in on a little secret that not many people know. Many web designers and online marketers don’t even know this. 

Google Local is free to sign up to! Anyone can do it, and it only takes 15 minutes.

Here’s how.

  1. Go to Google Local, click this link
  2. Sign in with your Google account (or create one if you don’t already have one)
  3. Click “Add a new listing”
  4. Enter your business’ details in the form
  5. Place your marker on the map
  6. Validate your listing (either by phone or by mail)
  7. Done!

Pretty simple, but very powerful.

I prefer to validate by phone, because it means the listing goes live instantly. Validating by mail takes 30 days.

Once you’ve created the account, you’ll notice a few features.

Firstly, you can check how many impressions and views your ad has had.

Secondly, you can edit your business details.

Thirdly, and most awesomely (is that a word?), you can add a coupon.

Let’s go back to our Pizza example. Imagine La Porchetta again. Instead of not being listed – within 30 minutes, they could setup a listing, and also a free ad that says “Use this coupon and get free delivery!”.

That is how to stand out.

Summary

There are a lot of ways of going about online marketing. 

Most of them take time or money or both.

In my opinion, Google local offers the best bang for buck.

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3 Responses to “Getting your business on the (Google) map”

  1. Doug Werk 15. Sep, 2009 at 10:04 am

    What if you already tried doing that but you still do not show up on the local maps?

  2. Luke 15. Sep, 2009 at 10:41 am

    Hey Doug,

    Here’s a few things to try.

    1. Google is notoriously slow with it’s updates for Google local. Can take 1-2 months.

    2. Make sure your address and phone number are all listed on your website. Try putting them in your footer if you’re still not getting results.

    3. Get listed in local directories and make sure it has your address and phone number on them. Hotfrog is one example, Truelocal is another. (I think Truelocal is Australia only)

    4. Get people to write a review on your Google Local listing

    Cheers,

    Luke

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. How to beat the big guys on the web | Lukevdp - 30. May, 2009

    [...] area is always going to show up higher (provided it’s optimised properly. See my articles on getting on the google map and my 3 part series – optimising for local [...]