Google Places is a simple and effective service provided by Google to help businesses make themselves visible and searchable on the internet, especially if it is a new or small business and is aiming to be noticed by a particular locality. This service allows you business to be listed in Google Maps, and it is free of cost, which makes it one of the most sought-after services provided by Google. According to Google, almost one out of every five searches made in Google is related to a location, and thus, adding your business to Google Places could become a huge way of growing it.

Getting a business listed in Google Places is easy, and free of cost. The steps involve setting up an account and providing all the basic information like address, phone number, mode of service, etc. Once this is done, a verification message with a PIN is sent, and on entering the PIN to the Google Places page, your setup is complete. Now, Google Places would find the location and list you on their web page.

Google Places has now replaced the age old traditional Yellow Pages, as almost all business are now getting listed with it. The advantage of Google Places is that the potential customers are able to view all the relevant information about a business like hours of operation, service provided, costs, menus, reviews, etc. without going to any website. Moreover, it is highly optimized, which means that while looking for some service in a particular region in a city, only the available places in that region would show up, and not in the entire city. In the probability that you do not have enough money or resources to develop your own website, Google Places helps you pull potential customers without any service fee.

Google-+-your-Business

Using relevant keywords and an appropriate business name is a must while using Google Places, if you want to reach a top rank and become visible to potential customers. However, avoid using too many keywords, as this may lead to your ranking going down drastically in the Google Places search. Google Places also allows up to 10 images and 5 videos being installed for free, which helps a potential client to identify you and also decide whether they want to come and visit or not.

In case you finally do get listed in Google Places, always ensure that your happy customers write a review and rank you well, as a good rank would always get pulled up during searches made by clients. This would help your business grow, and is extremely cost effective and reasonable, as you do not need advertisements on televisions and billboards to grow your business. Just a three step process of getting listed in Google Places could solve almost all your marketing needs and also make a small business really popular in the locality. Thus, Google Places has also become an excellent way of creating brand awareness, and as it is synced with Google Maps, helps customers to find the location with complete ease.