Google is one of the most popular search engines. It is used by 70% of internet users all over the world and users usually look for various business establishments or places of interests. Google Places are a separate listing provided by Google to cater for businesses and establishments in a specific “local” area. If you have a business which you want to be found on the internet when people search for it, you want to include your business or establishment on Google Places.

Adding a specific company or establishment to Google Places is free and you get to display a link to your website in the Google maps screen. This will most likely increase your traffic as more and more people search your vicinity in Google maps. Google Places helps to narrow down the search to specific places and get better results on the user’s queries.

Set Up a Google Account

If you are interested in registering your business to Google Places, a Google account comes as a prerequisite.  Acquiring a Google account will enable you to enlist your business to Google Places for free.  If you do not have a Google account, you should go to Google.com and register an account first. It is recommended to use a domain based email address that you will not mind giving others access to in the future.

Claim or Create Your Places Account

Once a Google account is created, you can then create an entry to Google Places. Go to the Google Places website and proceed with log in with your Google username and password. Google Place entry can be done by any user, thus, you should first check if your business is already included in Google Places.  You can check the listing by providing the phone number of your establishment. If your business is still not included in the listing, you can then proceed by setting up for a Google Place entry by providing your business information.

Verify Your Google Places Account

After providing all the necessary business information, you can then proceed in confirming your entry on Google Places. The verification is usually done through phone calls or using post cards that are sent to the address indicated in the Google Places listing. This will verify if you are really the owner of the establishment stated in the listing. The verification process usually takes a week or a couple of weeks, once the establishment or the business has been verified, the Google Place listing is then activated.

You can maximize your Google Places listing by doing the following.

• Provide the most recent and updated company information on Google Places as this will be the information that is searchable to the users.

• Provide detailed company information in your Google Places listing as this will increase the chances of finding your establishment using essential company information.

• Provide a name for your business in which you are widely known for. This will make it easier for the users to specifically find you in the internet.

• Promote your Google Place listing to your existing customers and focus on getting positive comments and rating. A bunch of positive rating from satisfied customers will eventually help improve your Google Place ranking.

 

Google Places service is a free service, which can help you make your business visible in the internet and eventually help you increase your customers and drive sales.
But it can be an extremely time consuming and complicated task! Be sure to follow the quality guidelines  given by Google, and read them often as they do change.