A Greensboro plumber walked into our office last week complaining that his Yellow Pages bill was up to $1,400 a month and the phone was getting quieter every quarter. The first thing we did was look him up on Google Maps. He was not there. His three biggest competitors were. That free listing was driving more calls to them than his $1,400 ad was driving to him.
What the Google Local Business Center Actually Is
The Google Local Business Center is the free dashboard Google offers business owners to control how their company appears on Google Maps and in the seven-pack of local results that now shows above the regular blue links. When someone in Winston-Salem searches "roof repair winston salem" or "family lawyer near me," Google pulls from these listings to decide who to show.
The Step-by-Step Setup
- →Search your business name on Google Maps first. Google often auto-creates a listing from data scraped from the Yellow Pages or InfoUSA. Claim that listing rather than create a duplicate.
- →Verify by postcard. Google mails a PIN to your physical address. It takes two to three weeks to arrive in the Triad. Until you enter that PIN, your listing will not rank.
- →Pick the most specific category available. "Personal Injury Attorney" beats "Lawyer." "Pediatric Dentist" beats "Dentist." Specificity wins in local rankings.
- →Upload at least 10 photos. Storefront, team, work in progress, finished projects. Listings with photos get roughly twice the click-through of listings without.
- →Write a complete business description. Mention your services and the Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and High Point areas you cover. Do not stuff keywords. Write for humans.
The Mistakes Triad Businesses Make
- →Using a PO Box. Google requires a real street address. PO Boxes are filtered out of local results.
- →Listing multiple categories that do not fit. Listing your law firm as "Plumber" because plumbers get more searches will get the listing suspended.
- →Ignoring the listing after setup. Update hours during holidays. Add new photos every month. Active listings outrank dormant ones.
Within 60 days of claiming, optimizing, and adding photos to his listing, the Greensboro plumber above was getting 40 to 60 calls a month directly from his Google Maps listing. He cancelled the Yellow Pages contract at renewal.
Read the companion pieces on Yelp for service businesses and NAP consistency across the web, or have our digital marketing agency claim and optimize your local listings for you.