You’ve got a local business and you want more customers. Don’t we all. Here are your options:
1. You can get under the covers and have a little cry about it, or
2. You can start expanding your online presence to reach the 97% of consumers who search online to buy locally.
Crying is good for you, don’t get me wrong, but it’s a bit of a downer, so let’s talk about number 2. Claiming your Google Places listing is one of the easiest ways to expand your online presence and make it really easy for people to find you online. It’s also one of the most underused channels for businesses. Most local business owners either aren’t aware of it or they don’t recognise the power of it, so if you set up the basics then you’ll probably be hitting the big leagues while the other guys are still mopping up their tears! There is greater awareness in some industries (e.g. hotels, bars and restaurants) but even then the listings are often unoptimised and underused.
There are multiple local listings you can claim for your business but the biggie is your Google Places page. Google Places, used to be called Google Local and it is essentially an online business directory with the results displayed in Google Maps. If you search on Google with a local keyword, something like ‘Accountants Derry’ or ‘restaurant in Camden’, then you’ll see a Google map in the search results with different business listings in the results. As local searches account for a bigger and bigger percentage of online searches, Google are changing how they display results, placing a greater emphasis on local results. These days you’ll see that even if you search for a local service but without a location in the search term, Google will still display Google Places results. E.g. If you search for ‘solicitor’ in Google, it will automatically detect your location and give you local Google Places results.
With a well optimised Google Places page it’s possible to appear at the top of Google, for search terms that normal websites can’t even compete for any more because the Google Places results take precedence over the regular, organic results.
How To Claim Your Google Places Page
So how do you claim your Google Places page and take advantage of this sweet candy? Here’s a step by step guide:
1. Go to Google.co.uk and search for your business name and location, e.g. ‘Claremount Accountants Derry’
2. You should see a listing for your business next to a map, click the link next to your business name that says ‘Place page’
3. This is your Google Places page; near the top of the page it says ‘Edit this page’ – ‘Business Owner?’. Click on the ‘Business Owner?’ link. (Note: If your page has already been claimed the link will say ‘Owner-verified listing’ instead)
4. You must now sign in to your Google account, or create one if you don’t already have one
5. Choose the ‘Edit my business information’ option and click continue
6. Fill out your business information (address, phone number, website address and up to 5 categories that best describe your business)
7. Fill out your location details
8. Select your opening hours and payment methods
9. You can add photos and videos if you have some (you can come back and add them later if you don’t have them to hand)
10. Click the submit button
11. Choose your verification method; phone tends to be the most straight-forward. As soon as you click the ‘Finish’ button you will receive an automated phone call from Google that will tell you a PIN code you can enter on the next screen to verify your listing. Note that the phone call will be made to your registered business phone number; this is to ensure that only the business owner can claim the places page. If you’re not in your premises you can choose to have a PIN code sent in the post. If you chose this option, your places page won’t be updated until the PIN arrives and you enter it to verify the account.