Since a local business listing (on Google Map) is free, why not make the most of this page and update it with as much information as you can. You will find plenty of people are searching for your services/products in your surrounding area.

First of all, claim your listing if you haven’t already. You can do this in one of two ways.

The first is by searching for your business in Google Maps. Go to Google Maps, type in your business name and click on the “more info” link next to your result on the left hand side. The next screen you’ll see is the page created by Google just for your business. These days the business info is being sourced from Yellow Pages. To edit this page, click the “business owner?” (edit listing) link.

There is another way to make changes. The next time you sign into your Gmail, select “Account Settings”, find “Additional Services”, click on “Local Business Centre”, and click “Set Up” (or edit for existing accounts).

Filling Out Your Details in Full

Firstly, ensure all the information about your business is correct. Similar to Yellow Pages, use the best category for your business services. You can add more refined information in “additional information” section – which can be any product or service or goods you have that people might search for.

The Company/Organisation field is one of the most important pieces of real estate, as it becomes the actual listing title (next to the map) in the Google results. If you can make this slightly more keyword rich, this will give you more chance of a rank in the Google results. Perhaps add your suburb or city here.

But don’t go overboard: Google’s quality guidelines are fairly clear about not being spammy with your company name title. Our writer can help you with this, along with the right words to put under “Description” and “additional information”.

We recommend adding as much information about your business as possible – upload your logo or other pictures, any videos you have, and product or service variations.

Once submitted, you’ll need to verify your listing or listing changes, which Google provides by SMS, phone or mail.

When you have your Google Business Listing up and running, log in. On the reporting page you will see an activity graph, which highlights how many people have been shown your local ad (impressions) and how many have clicked on it. It’s like a mini-analysis tool… so why not use it to judge visitor numbers from local search every month.

Google also lets you create ‘quick coupons’ that people can see when they’re looking at your result on a Google Map, and choose to print out. Offering a 10% off coupon might convince people to choose you over a competitor.

Having used Google Local Business Listings in our home based businesses, we believe it is a boon to any local or regional business owner.