Put Your Business on the Map


Although Google Maps uses a variety of sources to collect and display business information like telephone directories and Web search results, it is possible that information about your business is missing, inaccurate, out of date, or incomplete. In fact, you may occasionally see an unverified listing- Report incorrect data link in a given address information balloon. On the left side of the Google Maps home page is a list of example searches, and beneath this is the Business Owners: Add/Edit Your Business link. Click this link and find links for the following:

  • Login to your Google Account

  • Create a Google Account

  • Local Business Center

  • Create, Edit, or Suspend your listing

  • Add a coupon to your Google Maps Listing

These services are free, but you must have a Google account or a Gmail account to use them. Setting up an account is free as well, although additional services, such as being listed as a sponsored link or creating local business ads have associated fees and require a Google account.

Note 

At time of this book’s printing, only businesses in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, China, and Japan can currently create local business ads.

Adding business information

Once you create an account and/or log in, you are rerouted to the Google Local Business Center. Follow these steps to include your business in Google maps:

  1. Type your business name and address in the appropriate text boxes (see Figure 12.6).

    image from book
    Figure 12.6: Enter your business information to create a listing.

  2. Click Continue to add more specific options such as a description of your business, telephone numbers, hours of operation, and more. Optional text boxes allow you to type your Web site URL or e-mail address.

  3. Click Continue again to select a category to aid Google in generating relevant search results for people who may try to find your business or one like it, or click Continue again for options to see a list of all available categories.

  4. Select a category or recommend one for consideration by Google. Select up to five categories by choosing them from the list of categories and clicking Add to List.

  5. Click the Continue button, taking you to a page where you can preview your business listing. You will then need to verify your listing. Select either to receive a phone call or a post card and click Continue, nearly completing the process.

Verifying your business listing

Once you add your business information, preview and accept your listing, Google provides you with a PIN. This number is used to verify your listing and to update it in the future. Next, Google calls your business number (either immediately or in five minutes) and an automated system asks you to enter the PIN on your phone keypad. You also have the option to verify your listing by mail, with a verification postcard being sent to your business address. Google seems to know if you list a cell phone number for your business phone and then requires verification by mail.

Caution 

If you choose the mail option or are required to verify by mail, your mailing address must be a physical location where you can receive mail. Post office boxes are not accepted.

Now that you have verified your listing, the automated voice system alerts you that your listing should appear in about four weeks.

Creating coupons

Once your business listing is approved, you can return to the Local Business Center (www.google.com/local/add/login) and, after signing in to your account, click the Coupons tab, create a coupon that will appear on the business details page of your listing in Google Maps. A list of editorial guidelines and recommendations, and disclaimers appears in Google Maps Help section such as:

 Please note that if you wish to limit coupon use to one per customer you must include this in your coupon text. We cannot restrict the number of times a customer can print your coupon.

About sponsored links

Sponsored links appear at the top of the search results listing. These sites pay a fee and then place a bid for certain keywords. Google uses a complicated algorithm to determine which of the sponsored links appear for a given search and in what order. While the process for obtaining a sponsored link is not terribly difficult, the fee structure gets a bit complex as the hosts of these links must bid in an auction for certain keywords (words that a Google user might type into a search box to find a particular product). Whoever bids the highest for a particular keyword gets, if not a higher position in the sponsored list ranking, at least a heavier weighting in the Google search algorithm. Sponsors pay only when their ads appear above a given search results list, and then only if their links are clicked. However, they don’t pay the amount they bid to use that particular keyword. They pay one cent higher than the next highest bidder committed for that same keyword, a figure the sponsor does not know in advance.

Because the number of possible clicks on a sponsored link in a given time period is potentially huge, and because the sponsor does not know precisely what rate a given keyword is going for on a particular day (one cent more than the next highest bid), the cost for these links might be staggering. To give the sponsors some degree of control over their advertising budgets Google provides a number of ways to control the cost, such as only paying for x number of clicks, or a certain dollar figure per day.



Google Power Tools Bible
Google Power Tools Bible
ISBN: 0470097124
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 353

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