Own Your Google Local Business Listing

September 2nd, 2010

Google Local Business Centre

What is it? How can it help your business? How can you own your listing?

Carl Ebanks, Online Consultant at Reflection Marketing takes us through the process.

Google Local Business Centre is a FREE service that integrates with Google Maps, allowing you to add your business to the search engines map listings, along with associated information such as; opening hours, business category, website link etc. Google Local Business Centre can help your business by improving itʼs local search engine rankings.

Google Local Business Centre Listing, Google Search Results

Searching for “Golf Course Birmingham” in Google.co.uk

For example, if you live in Birmingham and are looking for a golf course, you may type “golf course birmingham” into Google.co.uk. Above the standard results, Google displays local results tied to a map, as the search engine understands that you are likely to be looking to visit your preferred golf course.

By having a Google Local Business Centre listing you can provide Google with additional information about your business that is specific to your location.

How to add your Google Local Business Listing

Adding your listing is easy, but it helps if you get some information close to hand before proceeding. You should have the following info:

Company name
Company address
Telephone number
Website address (optional – you can have a listing even if you do not have a website)
Short description (200 characters)
Methods of payment your business accepts
Business opening times
Your company logo (in jpeg, gif or PNG format)

In addition to this information, you should also add your business to categories (up to 5) to help Google decided where your business should appear in searches. When you type into the category text box, Google will supply example keyword phrases close to what you enter. You need to enter at least one of these terms to continue with your listing. Beyond this suggestion, you can choose an additional 4 terms that relate to your business.

To start adding your local listing visit:
www.google.com/local/add/businessCenter
Simply follow the steps, entering the required information.

We have put together some screen shots in this PDF document of how we added our own business listing – own-your-google-local-business-centre-listing.pdf.

Finally, you should also be close to your office phone. Once you submit your listing, Google will automatically call your listing number, and give you a number to confirm that you are the owner of the business, so you need to be ready to answer that call.

How to Make Your Listing Better

Your can optimise your listing further and improve your chances of ranking higher in the local search results by performing the following additional actions:

Ask people to review your business, the more reviews that are relevant to your business listing the better you can list.
Ensure your description and categories contain some of the keywords you wish to be found for.
Add more photoʼs, either of your business or products. If possible, add any videos that are relevant to your business.

By making use of the tools that Google provides for free, such as Google Local Business Listing, you can improve your websites online presence and, hopefully, improve your business online.