You may have recently received an email from Google informing you that they are about to update your business listing. I think this is a genius idea on the part of Google and quite frankly, I’m surprised they didn’t think of this earlier. It encourages business owners who have not visited their Place Page in some time to re-visit it while directing others who have never visited their Place Page to claim it.

Where Does Google Get Your Business Information?

Many business owners, maybe even you, are not aware of how Google gathers the information they show on your Place Page. As they mention in their email, they use many sources to determine the accuracy of your listing. This is why optimizing and publishing your business listing on sites like Universal Business Listing is so important. The more sources Google finds with accurate information about your business, the better they feel about promoting your business listing to the front page of results.

If Google finds discrepancies with your business listing (business name, business address, business phone number) on multiple sites, they will be reluctant to show you in their results. You can do a quick search to see what Google and the other search engines see by doing a search for:

  • Just your business name
  • Just your business address
  • Just your telephone number

You may be surprised to see what comes up. If you do see a discrepancy, fix it quickly.

What Google Really Wants From You However Is …

What Google is really hoping however is that while you’re making the changes to your listing or checking for its accuracy, they will be able to redirect your attention to their Google Adwords Express service. This is great for Google, but not so great for you.

There is no doubt that the Google Adwords Express service will generate new business for you, but getting your business listing to the front page of results and making it the most compelling listing on the page and generating all of your new leads for free is much better.

Before you invest a dime, (or a couple hundred dollars a month) in Google Adwords Express, do everything in your power to optimize and publicize your business listing. This site is filled with tips and ideas as to how you can do just that. Just keep in mind that the three most important factors necessary to get front page placement include:

  • Distance
  • Promenance
  • Relevance

You can learn a lot more about all three components by reading my article entitled: Local Search Ranking by Google Maps

Kick It Up A Notch

If you really want to kick it up a notch, invest in our DIY Local Search Marketing System. The System will provide you with the step-by-step process necessary to take full advantage of Local Search on Google, Yahoo, Bing and dozens of other highly search sites.

If you don’t want to pay a local search marketing expert hundreds of dollars an hour to optimize, publicize and trouble shoot your local search marketing program, then this system is exactly what you’re looking for. It is comprised of a Fill-In-The-Form PDF Manual and our Local Search Marketing Training Website that will walk you through the entire process.

If you’re not afraid to do a little work on your own marketing, you can look forward to seeing some wonderful results, and by results I mean free leads from the Internet.

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