When I launched this specialized website focusing on local marketing, I was fully prepared to talk about how businesses could improve their presence in local search — how their listing could get a higher ranking on Google search results and better placement on the map driven by the results. What I wasn’t prepared for is that many local businesses don’t realize how critical the Google business listing is, where to find it and how to claim it.

Not claiming and populating your Google business listing is akin to having the latest technology and swank furniture in your office and not having a telephone. For almost any local business it’s absolutely essential and building an effective listing is easy to do, as a matter of fact a lot easier than it used to be:

• Step one: If you haven’t already done so, claim your business listing. The easiest way to do that is to search for your business in Google, click on your business on the map results, and when the details show click claim this business. You’ll have to verify that you own the business and Google will usually do this by sending a postcard to your business with a PIN.
• Once you verify your listing, make sure all information is accurate, including address, phone number, hours and so on. Choose a category that best fits your business and write a description that succinctly describes what your business has to offer.
• Upload photos, they help to make your business look interesting.
• Get reviews, reviews and more reviews. They are the most important factor in how your listing gets ranked in local search results. Did I mention get reviews?
• Make sure that the information on your business (phone number and address) is the same in other places like your website, Facebook, Yelp and Yahoo (we can help with that).

That’s all there is to it. You can post to your Google My Business page like other social media pages and include things like video, but posting no longer appears to have much effect on your local rankings as it used to as far as I can tell.

Have questions? Give me a call at 904-744-8877. The advice is free.