Google Maps Optimization --- Being Visible, Literally!

Being relevant to the context of the users’ geographical location is as important as the content in the page, or optimisation techniques used in websites. To a person sitting in China, a web page from Africa would mean very little, more so when it comes to very localised services as accommodation or transportation.

During the month of April 2010, Google launched its ‘Google Places’ service that boosts the visibility of local, small and medium sized businesses to a wide range of web users, more specifically to users within the proximity of the business. The relevant results are shown in a mapped interface that may have photos and definitely has phone numbers of the services.

Taking the global to the local

Finding a relevant service within geographical reach is mutually beneficial to the user and the service provider. Google does the trick by listing local businesses on their maps for practically nothing. All that is needed is an account with Google.

A local service provider gets 200 words to describe the scope of his service and Google does the rest. One can even upload photos to make the listing more visually appealing.

With about 82% of users using Google to search for almost everything under the sun, 20% of these searches are geographically localised, this service from Google makes the job easier for both the users and businesses at the same time.

Optimising Local Business Listing With Google Places

Previously known as Google Local Business Centre, Google Places has become a hub for all local businesses to be listed and surfed. Google charges $25 per month and promises to make the local businesses stand out among others.

Within a very short time, Google Places has registered 4 million local businesses and helps them communicate better with their intended customers and help them get an insight, which in turn, improves the quality of the service provided.

Local businesses can post real time updates and keep track of how popular their businesses are among the net users. Of every fifth search made, one is a local search, and Google Places intend to help businesses make informed decision and put their best foot forward.

Steps To Get Optimised with Google Maps Optimisation

The interface is intuitive and hardly requires any expertise. All you need to do is get all the facts right about your business and provide addresses and phone numbers. Google requires you to authenticate your business. An automated call from Google gives a PIN that needs to be verified on your account page, or you may receive a post card from Google with the PIN. Within 12 hours of verification, your site makes it to the local search results with maps to show it geographically.

With a service as easy and effective as that, Google Maps Optimization is definitely worth the try!