Social Media for Local Businesses Update
Bing Local Maps and
Google Places listings are very
important ways for companies and potential customers to
connect. People use these sites to find information on
products and services and driving directions. When you're
looking for a local service, like pizza delivery, you'll
type into a search engine something like this: pizza +city
name delivery. By the top of the page under the search box
and above the usual results, you'll see a
Google Maps
picture, with business listings right beside it marked in
flags on the map. Market research has shown that people
will click on these links first, so your goal is to get up
in this box at the top of the internet marketing rankings.
How do I get to the top?
First, you need to sign up to get listed. Even if you
don't have a website of your own yet, that's okay!
Internet marketing can seem intimidating, but it doesn't
have to be. Here we'll explain how to get listed with
Google Places, it's quick and easy and you'll reap the
benefits in no time. Get the following information ready:
Your business street address, the city, state and zip and
your business phone number. It's also good to include
your email address and the address of your website, and a
small description of the products and/or services you
provide. This is what people will see when they look at
your Google Places listing, so be sure everything is
correct! Once you've filled in this form, Google will
need to verify your information. You have two options:
Google will call your
business phone to verify that it's
your
business, or they can mail you your authentication
pin to your business and you can enter this is online.
Once you've been verified, you just need to pick out a
good picture to catch your potential customer's attention
and your map listing is finished!
