The first step in creating a listing on Google Places is to check whether or not your business is already listed in the Google Places directory. Google has been having some issues with its Phonelookup function which makes it impossible to get past the “Find business information” page. The problem is specific to Internet Explorer and therefore the solution is to start creating your Google Places listing in an alternative browser – curiously it works extremely well in Chrome.
There is a lot of debate about the value of Social Media in terms of engaging with customers, building brand awareness etc. but as a brand I represent has just started to get active in Social Media, I have started to monitor its contribution to the lead generation aspect of the site.
As I have set up the Google Analytics for the site to have two profiles – one with Lead Generation Goals i.e. brochure requests, customer contact goals and the other one with Social Goals i.e. clicking on the follow buttons – the first step was to set up an advanced segment that separates out the Social Media traffic in both profiles.
When a location is input as part of a search phrase on Google a collection of local businesses appear in the search results. The data for these listings is feed from the Google Places directory. How do you get your business listed in those results? How to make moves to improve your present position within these types of results? Follow these tips on how to create and promote your business listing on Google Places.
Step 1 – Plan / research key elements of your business listing
- Think of a clickable business name
Your natural instinct will be to input your business name. Hold fire because it pays to be more descriptive and to add additional elements to your business name. If you are a butcher, it might pay to add elements like ‘halal’, ‘kosher’ or ‘wholesale’ to attract customers looking for these specialised services.
Time to push your website on the search engines? Or have you just received a £50 voucher to spend on Google Adwords? Whatever your reason to start a pay-per-click (PPC) campaign on Google, or other platforms, you need to be in a position to be able to manage the process. You need to be able to see what works and what doesn’t. You need to understand the sales process for your business – otherwise you are likely to piss your money and lose market share.
From managing PPC campaigns across various industries I have found the following issues need to be resolved before setting your PPC campaign in motion:
