Google Places is a service that allows you to be listed on Google Maps, so that your clients or customers can easily locate you. Business owners, who are listed with Google, can use Google Places to manage the information regarding the physical location of their business. This means when a potential customer searches for the service or product you offer, your business would be listed under the organic web listings as well as in Places. Considering the fact that Google usually blends the Google Places' page and Maps along with the organic results for location specific searches, listing yourself in Google Places can be an excellent way to create brand awareness.

What should you do?

Local marketing involves local SEO, which also means getting your business in Google Local business directory. For this, you should have a valid business address for precise Google Local business listing. You will have to sign up for Google account before signing up for local business center. Then you should enter correct company information.

Optimization is possible through keywords on your listing titles and they must also contain your exact location. It is important to target your audience in local marketing. Your potential customers may be looking for the kind of services or products you are offering. So, the main question is-how they will find you? What words they'd type in the search box?

What are the Benefits?

€ Low cost.
€ High search engine results.
€ Increased reputation on and offline.
€ Improved customer satisfaction.
€ Excellent opportunities to extend branding online.
€ Integrates superbly with other online marketing efforts.
€ Extremely mobile phone friendly.
€ All your accurate, up to date information readily available.
€ Allows you to show up in Google Maps.
€ Can include special offers and printable coupons.
€ Photographs and images of your business lead to increased trust from a potential customer's perspective.
€ Streamlined analytics allow you to see who has been searching for you and where they have previously been online. This enables you to adjust your marketing plans accordingly.
€ If you don't have a website this is an easy way to maintain an online presence.
€ More people search for businesses online than anywhere else and Google Places is a superb way to put your business in front of them.
€ Google Places beats any offline marketing method for your business in terms of ROI.
€ You can surge past more established websites within your market with a Google Places listing so that a first page listing on Google is far more easily achievable.
€ Google Places listings beat organic results hands down when it comes to search results.
€ If you are running a business in a major city, Google may well offer you a free professional photo shoot of your business as this helps them both verify your listing and enhance the quality of their offer.
€ You will be far more visible to the vast majority of users of both Android and iPhones who are searching for businesses within a 5km radius.
€ Provided your listing is set up properly, you can achieve all of the above within an impressively short period of time.

Promote your business in your local areas

Most search engines have understood today that localization is an important factor for offering relevant results to their online searchers. This is one of the reasons why Google focuses on delivering relevant local listings first, giving them priority over organic rankings. With Google Places you can have it integrated to form Google+ pages, which is an excellent search engine optimization opportunity for your business. You can promote your business in your community and get placed higher in search results easily by publicizing in business directories, which we offer free for Hounslow and Uxbridge customers.