Setting Up Google Places for Your Business
Sites like Google have changed and will continue to change the way we do business. Setting your business up on Google Places (Google’s local directory listings) will undoubtedly open up many new doors for your services. By setting up your business listing with Google will get your business listed on Google Places, Google Maps as well as Google search results to improve your web presence – you can watch this video to get a good overview.
A Few Steps to Get Started
Step 1 – Check if You’re Already Listed:
Check to see if you are already listed with Google! Just search for yourself first in Google Maps. Search using your name and/or company name (not your brokerage name) or your business phone number. Avoid accidentally duplicating your business listing, or you’ll have problems with the new local business listing you create.
Step 2 – Claim or Create Your Page:
If you show up in the Google Maps search results, click “more info”. This will take you to your Google Places Page. Then click the link “Business Owner?” to claim your business listing. If you do not show up in the search, then you can create a new listing. Go to Google Places and click on “Get Started”.
Step 3 – Add Your Business Info:
Follow the steps to add more information about your company, upload pictures, add your hours of operation, and all the important details (don’t worry, these can be changed later if needed).
We strongly recommend that you follow the quality guidelines published by Google and use “YOUR NAME (YOUR BROKER COMPANY + LOCATION)” as your business name. Make sure you check the latest quality guidelines when you are setting the listing up. If you only use “YOUR COMPANY” e.g. “HomeLife Benchmark”, people may confuse it with your brokerage office and you’ll become the new receptionist for your office – yikes!
Even worse, once Google flags your listing for not following the guidelines, it may be difficult to get back on Google’s good side. We strongly recommend using your own direct phone number. Be sure to include at least one category that Google has already defined; certainly include “Real Estate”, “Real Estate Agent”, and “Realtor” in your categories.
Step 4 – Verify Your Business:
Verify your Google Places. Google will provide you with a choice to verify your listing by phone, SMS, or postcard. By phone seems to be the easiest and fastest. An automated service will call right away and give you the code to verify you are a legitimate listing.
Congratulations! You have just started the process to open up your business to even more potential clients online. Once the updates have propagated through the Google system, you will be able to find your own business listing on Google and Google Maps. You can sign into your account and look at the Google Places statistics report to show you how many people saw your Google Places listing, how many clicked on it, and for what keywords they found it (very similar to Google Analytics for your website). Take some time to explore all the functions of Google Places, and take advantage of this powerful marketing tool.
Want to take your online business reputation to the next level? Get your FREE Online Business Presence Audit!
