These days people prefer to search for your business online rather than spending time wading through hundreds of yellow page ads. One of the easiest and fastest ways to get your web site listed locally in Google is to create a Google Maps account. This allows people to quickly find services available in their local area.

Google Maps listings now appear above all other listings for organic search results so its imperative to get a listed there if you want to get local traffic to your web site.

Here are the steps for how to set up an account:

1. Sign up for a Google Maps account

Fill in these areas:

Basic information – this refers to the contact information of your business. If you don’t have a current address or don’t want to use your home address, get a P.O. Box address from your local UPS store.

Categories – insert the category of your business and/or create a new one

Hours of Operations – specify the hours you are open. You can also leave this blank.

Payment Options – indicating the type of credit cards you accept allows customers to quickly see what kid of payments you accept.

Photos – this option allows you to browse to a photo of your business on your computer and upload it to your local listing. You are allowed up to 10 photos.

Videos – create a video about your business and upload it to You Tube. You can enter up to 5 URLS of your You Tube videos.

Additional details – you may want to include extra information about your business ie if parking available, or what brands you carry.

2. Submit your listing

After clicking the submit button you will need to verify your listing by providing your telephone number of address. When entering your telephone number you’ll immediately receive an automatic phone call from Google. Enter the pin number provided to you and you will be confirmed right away.

3. Check your listing

Your listing will appear within 24 hours. Check your listing by doing a search on the title of your business.

Getting listed locally with Google Maps is far easier than getting good rankings on a national or world wide scale so take action and sign up for an account right away.

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Herman Drost is the Certified Internet Webmaster (CIW)
owner and author of Web Design, Web Hosting, SEO