All Things Related December 2011
Google Places How to use this Google tool to increase businesses online visibility?
What is Google Places? Millions of people use Google every day to find places in the real world, and Google Places allows businesses to better connect with the public and therefore gain online visibility.
Google Places allows business to update and manage their physical business location
information which can be used to update their business listing so that it appears correctly within Google Maps. Launched by Google in 2010 and offered for free, it is an extremely effective way for businesses to cement an online presence beyond a web site..
How does it look like?
What does Google Places bring to your business?
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More customers Enhanced brand image It helps people find you It tells the world what you do (with real time update) It lets people know what others think (reviews) It gives you the ability to see how many people are viewing your page/from where It is a way to interact with your customers, right on the page It increases your visibility (see next page)
Google Places Increases Your Visibility • SEO: taking advantage of Google Places can put your pages right on the first two pages of search results. • Being on Google Places increases your visibility online through mobile devices. (eg: with Google Places iPhone App)
For more information check out this article on Increasing Your Online Local Presence Using Google Places – Yahoo! Local – Bing Business Portal.
Do’s to maintain your Google Places visibility This if of course a non exhaustive list and there are many things to be done on a daily basis to maintain a good visibility (whether it is on Google Places or on the web in general)
• Check your Places page: make sure everything info on there is accurate (be careful, anyone can make edits to your Places page, even if it is owner-verified!) • Check up on your Google Places rankings for the search terms you want to be found for • Keep track/read your reviews: If there is a negative review you should write a polite response and “ask” more of your happy customers for Google reviews, so as to put the negative one in perspective for anyone who’s looking at your Places page for the first time.
• Look at all your competitors’ Google Places pages and keep an eye out for good ideas
So now, if you are a business and you did not claim yet your Google Places, hurry up and register here.
And if you feel it’s not enough, optimize your visibility and promote your business by using Google AdWords!