We were looking for an Italian Restaurant the other day that was recommended by a friend. As we could not remember the name of the restaurant, we ended up searching on Google for ‘Italian Restaurants Crows Nest’.

To our surprise, the restaurant did not appear on any of the listings that appeared on Google Places (Maps), even though there were only a handful of them.

This made us realise that many businesses have yet to claim their free listing with Google Places. And also make sure they have the right categories so that they at least stand a chance to appear in the maps when their prospects are conducting a local search for their service.

Here is what you can do.

Step 1: Register your email account with Google

(skip to Step 2 if you have registered your business email with Google already)

• Go to www.google.com/placesforbusiness

• Click on ‘Sign up for a new Google Account’

• Sign up using your business email address

Step 2: Find your business listing

• Sign in to your Google Account via www.google.com/placesforbusiness

• Entry country (eg: Australia)

• Enter your company business number

• Click on ‘Find business information’

Step 3: Complete information if you have an existing listing already (if not, go to Step 4)

• If your listing has been listed before (example by YellowPages, TrueLocal etc), you will see details of your business (business name and address)

• Click on ‘Edit’

• Complete as much information as you can

Step 4: Complete information if you have no listing at all with Google

• Complete as much information as you can

o Tip 1: include your main keyword as your category (example: cosmetic dentist if that’s the main service you provide), and add up to 5 categories (based on other secondary services you provide)

o Tip 2: upload as many photos/ images as you can (up to 10), and also videos (up to 5). Look to add your logo first, or an image with your contact number

o Tip 3: be as consistent as you can with all your business details on other directory websites (example if you registered your address with Yellow Pages as ‘George St’, then don’t use ‘George Street’ in your Google Places listing)

o Tip 4: Under ‘Description’, write from a ‘what benefits can I offer to my ideal clients?’ perspective to make your business stand out

Step 5: Validate your listing

• Preferably opt to validate using the phone, as you can validate it immediately

• Otherwise you can validate by postcard, which is a lot slower (a few weeks), and you might only have this option if your listing has not been added before via other sources

Once you have validated your listing, you will be able to find your listing on Google Places!

The next step is to get your best clients to go to your Google Places listing to write a review.