There are many benefits of using Google Places for business, and if you don’t actively manage your listing, you should be. Why you ask? Well, the listing are “free” and will typically come up first in a Google search before the organic listings, and since most people don’t go past the first page or two when doing a search this is important. As Google notes, “More people search for businesses online than anywhere else, so it’s important to make sure your local business listing can be easily found on Google.com and Google Maps.”
What many don’t realize is that your business probably already shows up on Google Places, but you should still verify your listing and make sure its details are accurate and thorough. Many of my clients have listings with incorrect information, and most never edit the listings so there are few images if any and their services information is generally lacking.
As for the listing itself, the features offered rival those of the top pay-for-inclusion options, and I assure you that Google Places has more value in the search than those that charge you. The listing options include adding photos, videos, customer reviews, map, coupons, hours of operation, and of course a business description.
Getting Started:
The first thing you need to do is go to: https://www.google.com/places/
You will see two options, the one on the left reads “Choose the right places with Google+ and Zagat” and the one on the right reads “Claim your business listing on Google – for free”. What I suggest is that you search for your listing first to see what comes up. You can search the listing at: https://plus.google.com/local
I always start with a general search, and since I am a website designer I would type in “web design company” and select the location at “Sacramento, CA”. I then make a note of where my listing is and look to see if there are any “duplicates”. After this is done I then go to the other “claim your business listing” link.
If you already have a Google account, and are signed in, you will be automatically redirected to your listing (this works for Gmail, Google Plus, and Google AdWords). If you don’t have a Google Account, click Sign-up for an account now, or go straight to the sign-up page. On Google Places homepage, click “Add new business”.
Note that Google suggests that you find your business by searching by phone number. Select the country of your business, and enter the business phone number. If none of the results are related to your business you will be prompted to add your business information on the Edit Details page. From here you select “Add a new listing” wherein you will fill out the information about your business: company, address, phone number, website, categories that relate to your business, hours of operation, payment options, photos, videos, and description details.
When this is completed you can preview your listing as it will appear in Maps. When you are satisfied click “submit”. Finally you select how you want to verify your listing, by phone or by mail postcard. Once your listing has been verified you will be able to log-in and edit the listing to correct any outdated or incorrect content, and of course update it to keep it current.
Removing Duplicates and other problems:
Ok, so say you have a listing but you have duplicates? Duplicates need to be removed since they can be confusing for customers, and they can lower your SEO ranking. Duplicates are a problem of many of my clients which is in fact why I am writing this post in the first place. What you need to do is visit the Google Places for Business Help section at https://support.google.com/places/?hl=en
Google has a way of hiding help content so I have provided the direct links to these pages:
Ways to correct local business listing:
https://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=176504&topic=1657097&ctx=topic
Your listing on Google has changed:
https://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=1318197&topic=1657097&ctx=topic
Duplicate business listings:
https://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=183009&topic=1656742&ctx=topic
Two business listings merged together:
https://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=175290&topic=1656742&ctx=topic
Transfer your listing between Google Places accounts:
https://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=17104&topic=1656742&ctx=topic
Remove a listing or mark a place as closed:
https://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=154102&topic=1656742&ctx=topic
Wrong street view image:
https://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=176511&topic=1656743&ctx=topic
Fix a Location Marker:
https://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=22299&topic=1657097&ctx=topic
Fields that cannot be edited:
https://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=176516&topic=1657097&ctx=topic
Problems verifying a listing:
https://support.google.com/places/bin/static.py?hl=en&ts=1399021&page=ts.cs
Personal contact information appearing:
https://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=173102&topic=1656742&ctx=topic
* Note that many computer’s have cache settings that will not show the new page in a timely manner, so while your page may have been updated you will only see the older page (the one saved in cache). In this regard you will need to clear your cache settngs, and ensure that cookies are enabled since Google use these.
Clearing Cache and Cookies:
https://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=32050&topic=1656742&ctx=topic
If you’ve tried to resolve your problem with the above options and have yet to find a solution Google requests that you select the option “report a problem” on the listing, and if after a few days you haven’t received a response then to go to the page https://support.google.com/places/bin/static.py?hl=en&ts=1386120&page=ts.cs and select the option that relates to your problem. The options include:
- Listing data, including title, address, phone, URL, “at a glance” terms, categories, hours, description, or coupons
- Pin location
- Photos
- Reviews
- The business no longer exists.
- There is a duplicate listing that I would like to have removed.
- My listing no longer appears on Google Maps or is incorrectly marked as closed.
Finally, if none of the above help then I encourage you to visit the Google for Business Forum: https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!forum/business
