Create your own Google Map

Everyone has heard of Google maps. Do you have one? Would you like one? Did you know they are FREE to set up?
 Yes!it is a FREE service from google. We have put together an easy to follow guide on how to set up your own Google
map which will take you around 15 minutes.

Millions of people search Google Maps every day. You will be surprised to find out that setting up a Google Map is FREE. The only thing you need to do is invest about half an hour of your time.
I recommend you set up your own Google Map. It enables you to provide a wealth of information about your business to prospective client’s. You have the ability to add or change text, upload or change photos and video as and when you need to. Remember to always keep your Google map up to date.

If your company relies on organic search for business, I would make sure your company has registered for a free Google maps listing. The process takes about 15 - 30 minutes since you have to carefully identify your business.

How do you set up a Google map?

First you need to setting up your Google Places Account, this used to be called “Google Local Business Center”. You can access this by going to http://maps.google.co.uk/
There are 5 sections of information that Google will ask you to input. Input as much of the information they ask from you as this will help you. You will be able to see a preview of your listing on the right side of the page.

The 5 sections are:
Section1. Required Information
This is your basic company information - phone numbers, address, email addresses, website URL, and the company description.

Section 2. Category
Enter the various categories that your business falls under. Take time to input the right categories here.

Section3. Business Hours and Payment Method
This is where you can add your hours of business Mon-Sun. You can also enter the payment types you accept at your business.

4. Photos and Video
You can upload up to 10 photos for your business, this may include previous work, your premises or even your staff. You can also add up to 5 YouTube videos for your business. I would highly recommend that you try to use both photos and video.

5. Custom Attributes
In this section Google enables you to add custom attributes for information that doesn’t fall into one of the other tabs they provide. You can create your own attributes to fit your business.

Once You Submit Your Google Maps Listing...
You will need to verify that you are the owner of the business. You can do this in 2 ways. Google can either mail out a postcard to your business address or you can verify via phone, I would suggest the phone option as it is much quicker. As soon as you submit this form your phone will ring and you will be given a code, make a note of this and insert on the online form where indicated.

Once you are verified, your listing will be submitted and it will take a few weeks to show up in the Google Local results, even if Google says it can take up to 48 hours to show up after verification. After your listing is live, any updates you make to your information can take between 4 to 6 weeks.

How are the results ranked in Google Local?
Google isn’t going to give you the exact formula, but the listings are ranked by a combination of both relevance to the search terms entered and proximity to the location searched for. Google’s algorithm determines which businesses rank highly for local searches (in their one box results and in Google Maps), so it’s not as simple as distance from the location searched for.