There’s an old saying that when you are well-known, you are “on the map” Often it was used to describe a business that was prospering. Well, today we could use the same saying to describe companies that are shown prominently on Google maps. Today it has been reported that over 85% of consumers use the Internet, the majority using Google, to find their desired item to purchase. So those businesses that listed at the top of the Google search page where the map listings are shown are receiving the majority of the sales and thus are indeed prospering by being “on the map”.

This map that appears on the search result page of Google is an actual subsection of the engine called Google Local or Google Places. They offer this service, free of charge, to all businesses with physical locations. Google does this so that potential customers who are searching for these types of products and services can easily find those businesses, near their location, which can sell them with these goods. However, even though these pages are free from Google, many of my clients were not listed either at the top or all! Not being often listed happens because they have not followed the principles and actions detailed below on how to get their business listed on the Google Map search.

I offer this information to help businesses succeed. If you have any questions, or I can help your business, please call me at 631-838-3076 or email me at [email protected]

Why Your Company Is Not Listed In Google Local Places Maps

1. Your Page is not CLAIMED
To quote another corny saying, “you have to be in it to win it” like Lotto says, so first you must actually “Claim” your business page from Google to be listed correctly in these local searches. Find out if your business page is claimed by going to Google.com and putting in your full business name and finding yourself on the Google map. Once you locate your listing, double-click it, and you should see in the middle of the pop-up a question “Is this your business? Click that text and follow directions to claim your Google My Business page.

2. Listing Not Verified
Another reason pages are not listed correctly is that they have not been “Verified” with Google. The process is as follows after you enter your business information such as address, phone number, email and hours of operation you will be given an opportunity to VERIFY your business. Most companies will be offered a US mail postcard with a PIN number. Nowadays Google’s offering some companies phone verification. They will call you and give you a code to enter into your Google My Business listings for verification.

3. Google Page is Incomplete
Some businesses are not aware that they can add more information to these listings. As such, many listings are bare-bones and have no details nor photograph. Completing your listing with these details and adding multiple photos of your storefront and your business your logo tells Google that your business is open and ready for new customers.

4. Research Competitors
Go and take a look at what other businesses like yours are doing with their Google pages. Begin by searching using a keyword term such as “dentists in Long Island New York.” Then review all the listings on the map and see which exact words that are used, i.e. dentists or dental, and the types of photos included. This will give you many good ideas to make your page the best representation of your business as possible.

5. Reviews Quantity
One of the big advantages of having a Google my business page is that you can accept and display reviews from your satisfied customers. All of your reviews are aggregated, combined into one, score plus the appropriate number of gold stars are shown next to your business name. Once you have claimed and verified your map listings, then you can ask customers to review your business on Google. Know that for every four requests you make of customers you may receive one review. As such, I implement an ongoing system for obtaining customers reviews for all my Internet marketing clients.

6. Consistent Business Information
Google is very picky about your specific company information that is included, and this data MUST be consistent throughout all your Internet listings and social media profiles. This is what we refer to as NAP – name, address, phone. You must follow directions exactly for your best results. For example, if your address is 1234 Main St. – be sure to consistently use either the abbreviation or full word spelled out for “street.” Yes, these little things DO make a difference for search engines rankings.

7. Social Media
Today’s internet is all codependents upon each other. Which means that Google knows about your activity on other social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and YouTube, etc. In fact, it will display links to your other social media accounts pages within your map listings in the “knowledge graph” page section. This will usually only happen if your website is built correctly using schema coding.

8. List of Indexed URL’s
Google will also display other places on the World Wide Web where Internet searchers can read more about your company. Often these will be pages from your website. Also, other types of listing pages can be included such as Yellow Pages, Angie’s list, and Yelp.

9. Follow Googles Rules
Thankfully, Google does not ask us to guess what it is looking for in its map listings, in fact, it gives us a very detailed set of instructions here on the support page. Follow along https://www.google.com/business/

10. DIY Do it Yourself SEO or Get Professional Help
DIY SEO is a bit like do-it-yourself carpentry; some people can do a great job others end up cutting off their thumb like me – ouch! So actually judge your time and talents to be able to make these necessary updates to your Google listings. If you can do this search engine optimization work – great. But if you cannot or don’t have the time, call us at Long Island SEO company at (631) 838- 3076.

Every day we help businesses like yours get listed at the top of the Google search maps listings.