Have you ever noticed that if you Google something and add a Location keyword, such as ‘Bournemouth’ or ‘Poole’ then a bunch of listings appear with a map at the top of the search results? These are Google Local Listings. As they appear above the natural listings if your target market is local then you NEED one of these and they’re free!
Getting one is pretty simple, but there are a couple of things you need to bear in mind. To add your business profile simply search ‘Google Local Listing’ or you can click here.
You’ll need to either login to or set up a Google Account. Next Google will lead you through a fairly simple set of questions; Business Name, your address (quite important even if you don’t see customers at your address because you can’t verify your listing without an address), the areas you service (be as specific as possible), category of business, phone number and website. You’ll click finish and your profile will be set up.
Now comes the important bit once your profile is active (it will be pending to start with and takes up to 3 days to activate) you need to login and Verify your listing. Click here for details of how to do this, but basically you login and click ‘Verify Now’, Google send you a postcard with a code and then you login and enter it – simples!
Now it’s time to finalise your listing. It is important to get as close to 100% complete as you can. As you will see from the image of the Google Local Listings they come up in an order. Profiles with more complete information and more positive reviews come at the top of the list.
Things you can do to complete your profile include
- Adding your opening hours
- Adding a description of your business (use your keywords if you know them)
- Adding your logo
- Adding photos
You can even add virtual tours (at a price).
Finally get your customers to review you on Google, it will improve you Local Listing ranking position and customers love to read what other happy clients have said.