Local Business Marketing: Get Noticed with Google Ads and Maps

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Go to Google on either your phone, computer or tablet. Enter only your business category such as divorce attorney, tax accountant, residential contractor, dentist, etc. – not your business name, not your name and click enter. If your business doesn’t come up on page one it’s likely you’re in a competitive field with thousands of other businesses. All of you are trying to be on page one of Google, but Google has space for only 10 of you on page one! AdWords will allow you to publish your ad on page one for any budget you’re comfortable with, and you don’t pay for the ad unless someone shows interest and clicks on it taking them to your website.

Has anyone seen the Nickelodeon cartoon show “Dora the Explorer?” If you have seen it, with your children of course, then you know the song:

“If there’s a place you got to go
I’m the one you need to know
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
I’m the Map
If there’s a place you got to get
I can get you there I bet
I’m the Map” (12 times)

When it comes to Google maps and local places for business – there’s tons of confusion out there and unfortunately the Google map won’t sing you a song about how to get on the map! Recently Google local places for business changed its interface and stopped allowing verification of business addresses for the map by phone call PIN because of abuses. So now everyone has to get a U.S. mailed postcard from Google to the street address of your business and it takes 2 to 3 weeks. Even then if you don’t know what you’re doing you can easily create or fail to correctly remove duplicate listings. Google will not allow the same business to be verified more than once at the same address so you don’t get on the map!

Jim Bilello is the President of US Marketing, Inc. and has 20 years of experience in segment marketing, social media marketing, PPC, SEM and social media engagement strategy. For questions about Google AdWords and Maps, and for a free assessment, contact Jim at (847) 574-6940 or via email at [email protected]