by Rob Patton
Google Local Results appear on a search engine results page, usually situated near a map
with markers on it. Because these results are almost always near the top of the results page, and because they contain direct links to websites, they are highly desired. The Google Local Results are designed for “brick and mortar” businesses, but other types of business will clearly benefit from a listing there. Google requires that you list a “real” address (i.e. no PO Box,) and a phone number. Google uses a couple of methods to verify that the address and phone number are both real.
How do you get posted? First, you will need a Google account. If you have a Gmail account, then you have a Google account, so you may simply log in to your Gmail account and skip down to the next paragraph. If you need a Gmail account, go to www.gmail.com and fill out the information to set one up. Some people are not too crazy about setting up another email address to go with the many they might already have. One of the nice things about Gmail is that you can set it to forward to a different email and therefore be relieved of needing to remember to check it all the time.
Now that you are logged in to your Google account, go to www.Google.com to be sure. In the upper right side you should see your Google account email address followed by some links like: Web History | Sign Out…. Go to www.google.com/local. You will see a large map of the United States, a search bar and a lot of links. In the middle of the page on the left side, click on the link that says Add or Edit Your Business: Learn More. This will take you to the Local Business Center, where you should start filling out the information about your business. The right side has a cool feature that shows you how your listing will look. Notice that if you are not satisfied with where Google places the map marker for your address, you can change it.
Click Next. Google then brings up some businesses that are close to you to make sure your business is not already listed. This is to make sure they do not get more than one listing per business. If your business is there, click it and then you are done. If it is not already there, click “My Business Does Not Appear Here” and then Next. – Now comes the fun part of choosing up to five categories for your business. Be sure to choose wisely because this will determine where Google places your result. You choose the main category on the left drop down menu and the more specific category on the right drop down menu. Click “Add Another Category” to assign up to five categories to your business. You can also suggest a new category to Google, but don’t hold your breath on your suggestion getting accepted.
Click Next. Now you fill in your hours and payment options. Pretty easy.
Click Next. You can upload photos to be a part of your listing.
Click Next. You can add extra information to your listing. Google makes some standard fields and also allows you to create your own.
Next is the validation process. Google wants to make sure that only “real” businesses are listed in the local results. I prefer the “by phone” method of validation because it is the quickest. Of course, they will only call the number you list in the listing result. – If you click the “by phone” validation method, you are taken to a page that asks if you want to have Google call you immediately or in five minutes. After you click, an automated system calls your number and asks you to enter the validation code that appears on the web page. – Once that is all done, Google claims it could be as much as four weeks before your listing appears. It probably won’t take that long; mine appeared immediately. – Get your customers to write reviews for you. This helps you get better placement among the local results. I’ll post an article later about ways to get more reviews. For now..just get listed!
