Add Your Business to the Google Maps “Service Area” in Two Easy Steps!

Small businesses are often turned off to adding their business to the Google map, because they don’t actually have a physical address. Logically, this makes sense. You probably don’t want to show your home address or PO Box number to the public, and Google has accounted for this by allowing you to include a “service area.”

On Tuesday, I hosted a “Grow Your Business Online” workshop to 50 working professionals, on behalf of Big Cat Advertising. I presented on the topic of leveraging your local search presence using Google My Business, website SEO 101, and an overview of Google Adwords and best practices. The response to the event was great as we sold out a week ahead. Judging from the feedback and the reactions during the event, the topic generated a lot of engagement from small business owners; as it should, because it’s a powerful tool. I’ve released my presentation notes with links and expanded topics over on the Big Cat Advertising website. I’m enclosing the full presentation slides here to this post.

Claiming ownership of your social profiles is one of my four covered topics (Local Search). Claiming your Yelp for business page is an easy way to control your branding and manage your reviews. Luckily, it’s easy enough that the average business owner or manager can take do it. In this article, I’ll go over the benefits and how to.

When I speak at events, I always leave the audience with this to-do: Claim your business locations on Google Maps and Bing Places. It’s low hanging fruit that’s free and important.