Use Google to Promote Your Firm

by Daniel Kehrer, PBN.com - Providence Business News
Posted April 26, 2009

Type the word “dentists” into the Google search box and you’ll get about 35 million results. Something similar happens with lawyers, pizza or a wide range of other common products, services and professionals that people look for locally.

One solution is to make sure your business is listed in the yellow pages directory serving your area, as well as an online version such as DexKnows.com. These are still key places that many customers look.

But Google is the undisputed heavyweight champion, so it’s the place you most want to be seen. Until recently, the less-than-helpful list of results for topics related to local businesses included mentions from all corners of the globe that could easily crowd out local listings. But Google recently made changes to its search-function works that provide local businesses with greater opportunities to increase their ranking in search results.

Scott Wilson, a search-optimization expert and CEO of RankHigher.ca, says there are many ways a small, local business can leverage the Google changes in order to show up prominently in results when customers search for common products and services they normally buy locally.

Basically, says Wilson, Google’s technology recognizes the customer’s location through their computer’s IP address and automatically compiles and sends back the appropriate local results without the person searching having to enter a city or location.

And that’s good for you because more Internet traffic than ever before is being directed to local business listings. That provides local business owners with new opportunities to attract customers, generate leads and increase sales.

What’s more, getting a local business noticed in Google doesn’t take fancy search engine optimization (SEO) strategies or expensive search marketing campaigns. The basics are free, and just take a little time entering your information at the Google site. Wilson recommends these ways a local business can make its way to the top of local search results:

You should add or claim your business listing at the Google Local Business Center (www.google.com/local/add). You can use the Local Business Center to create your free listing. Then, when potential customers search on Google Maps for local information, they will find your business. You can include your address, hours of operation and photos of your products or store. You don’t even have to have a Web site of your own. Information on your business might already exist in the Google database, so you will have to claim the listing to change or expand it by following the steps on the site.