If you want your company to turn out as a Big Fish in your niche for the local market, there is need to generate free exposure on the top search engines. In fact, you cannot do without exposure on renowned search engines. Google Places is speedily translating to the role that Yellow Pages played in the recent past years, particularly now that smart mobile devices are all over the place.

Google Places is largely hinged upon location. Most of the searches carried out involve location. For instance, instead of searching for ‘BMW auto dealership’, we search for ‘BMW auto dealership Houston’ or Houston BMW auto dealership’. Your business can generate massive exposure by just taking advantage of this fact. The best part of it is that the exposure is directly relevant to your market niche; in essence, the prospective client carrying out the search is immensely motivated.

Setting Up Your Google Places Page for Success

It is easy to set up your Google Places page just the normal way you sign up for online accounts. The next step is to click the link for ‘Google Places’. You will be presented with a form to fill out. The field that reads ‘Category’ is where you start filling in details for the kind of business that you do – you will eventually generate a list. You may need to add another category (if needful) by clicking on the ‘Add another category’ link. You can add up to 5 categories. For instance, if your business is all about ‘auto repairs’, it may be sensible to put up different aspects or categories of the business such as ‘tires’, ‘brake services’ etc. Just ponder on the key areas of your business and use them as your sub categories.

Keep on loading the form with pertinent details of your business. Ensure that you use your primary business phone contact when filling your business contact info.

Verifying Your Account

When you are done with the signing up process, request that Google verify your registration by phone. Without any delay, Google Places will make the call with a PIN number; this is the number you will use to verify your account.

Verify Your Listing for Accuracy

Specifically, ensure that certain Google Maps have proper location of your business. While signed-in to your account, the map is located on the right hand side. If there is incorrect Google’s mapping, this means that your business will not display well when it is running live. A link has been placed on the right hand side just below the map to help you change the map location. Simply click on the link and drag to the right location.

Alongside with Google, other search engines and directories such as Yahoo, CitySlick, Bing and Yellow Pages provide listing service for local businesses. All of them share similar features in their modes of operation. However, Google Places is the biggest among them. As smart phones are becoming increasingly popular, it is highly important for every business to have a presence on Google Places.