What four things do people always want to know about your location-based business?
- Where are you located? (are you close to me?)
- When are you open for business? (your hours)
- What do you do/sell?
- How do I contact you? (phone number/email address/website address)
A company’s website will (should) certainly have all these answers. But people are impatient! Their initial Google search should deliver these basic answers — before they even visit your wonderful website!
Location-based businesses are a perfect fit for the newly renamed Google Places — formerly known as Google’s Local Business Center. Any company that gets its customers from a specific geographic area should spend the time to create their own place on Google. Examples:
- restaurant, coffee house, bar
- barber shop, beauty salon
- movie theater, dry cleaner
- bank, ATM machine
- grocery store, shopping mall, book store
- gas station, auto repair, auto dealer
- doctor, dentist, eye doctor, chiropractor, attorney, accountant, plumber
- hospital, urgent care center
- apartment, hotel
- church
- day care center
- nursing home, assisted living facility
- golf course, fitness center
- school, community college, university
- funeral home
Here’s an example:
Normal Google search result:
Google Places enhanced search result. Notice all the critical information available without clicking-through to their website.
Remember, Google Places does not replace your company’s website. It adds to it by delivering answers to these four critical questions — fast.
Combining expertise in creative design, technical skills, and information systems architecture, Beato Enterprises is uniquely qualified to create innovative digital solutions for your business.
