Using Google Local Business Center

Does your business have a physical address? Do you care about getting people to come and visit you?

Trite the last question may be, but if you answered yes to both of the above, then you should be using Google Local Business Center.

Local Business Center is a mash-up of Google Maps and Search.  You may have noticed its results popping up from time to time, where you get presented with a map with a list of sites down the side:

Now, this is great for helping your customers find you, but the benefits of Local Search are much greater than just that.

Probably the most powerful aspect of Local Search is that your map listing appears above the normal organic search results. You therefore have a chance at being one of the first results that a potential customer sees.

Your phone number is also featured on the listing. This gives the searcher two ways of getting in touch with you from the get go.

Finally, you may have noticed that there is a link to reviews.  This leads to a page with, yes you guessed it, reviews of you business. Moreover, the searcher is presented with this:

Again there is a link to your site, your contact details (including email), and a short description of your offering which you can enter. Effectively you get a nice piece of real estate on Google’s own pages. This can be very powerful as long as your reviews are good!

Added to this, the control panel that you access can give you some very good data on  impressions, clicks and even what postcodes your visitors came from.

So, if you are not already using this, take the time, its well worth it.  Here are instructions on how to set Local Business Center up in 5 easy steps.

You can also check out Google’s nice glossy ad for the service:

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