Google Places: How to Set Up Your Google Places Business Listing

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google places for businesses

As a small business owner, you are well aware of the important role marketing and advertising play in attracting new customers. As head of your company’s advertising department, it’s up to you to decide how much to allocate to advertising and how to best utilize that budget to receive the best return on investment. If your focus is on a business that caters to a mobile clientele, it’s essential that your message is able to reach customers who are on the go. Perhaps the best way to do that is through a service provided by Google called Google Places for Business.

Google Places for Business?

As you probably know, search engine giant Google is at the top of the game when it comes to both advertising reach and mapping. Google Places for Business combines these to offer an integrated approach to marketing. Once you register your business and verify it, people using Google Maps and Google Search will be able to find it based on search terms and location. For someone looking for the nearest car wash on their smartphone, Google Places will likely be the service that is used.

Reasons to Use Google Places for Business

  1. Drive traffic to your webpage – A business listing is a great way to beef up your rank in Google searches
  2. Your business will be shown on Google Maps – This makes it more likely for customers to visit.
  3. Google is the most popular online business directory – If you want more customers, it’s essential to be listed.
  4. It’s free –  any car wash marketing strategy should take advantage of free advertising!

How to Get Started

  • In order to get your business listed on Google Places for Business, you’ll first need to register is and provide some basic information. The first step is to go to Places pageand click the “Get Started” button. You’ll need to log into a Google account, which can be a personal account or one setup just for the business.
  • Once logged in, you’ll find yourself on your personal Places for Business page. Click the “Add a Listing” button.
  • Enter the business name and Google will attempt to locate it. If you see a listing that matches, click it. If not, click “None of these match” to add a new listing.
  • Enter the business name and its geographical information. You can also add some tags to categorize the business. In the case of car wash marketing, car wash would be a good category. Click “Submit.”

The Google map will appear showing your location, as well as a popup showing the address. Check the box in the popup to verify that you are authorized to manage the business and click “Continue.” Google will create a Google+ entry for your business.

When complete, a screen will appear to let you verify the mailing address so Google can mail you a verification code. The postcard should arrive with two weeks. This step is one of the features that sets Google Places for Business apart from other services. Customers are assured that your business is legitimate.

Once you receive the postcard, you will be able to log in to your account and verify your listing and add more detailed information such as:

  • Business hours
  • Parking
  • Special services

Conclusion

In the day of mobile computing, mobile advertising is king. Google Places for Business is the undisputed king of mobile advertising. Don’t miss this opportunity to incorporate this free service into your car wash marketing plan and reap the rewards.