Have you checked your listing on Google Local Business Center (LBC) lately? In case you’re still not sure what Local Business Center is all about, let’s start at the end result and look at the search engine results page (SERP) for a business that’s taken the time to set one up. Notice the listings below, all adjacent to the map and at the top of page one for the keywords “hair salon neenah.” I think you’ll agree – these top listings are prime real estate.
Clicking on the map pin for any of these businesses will bring you to the Google Maps page for the same keywords. In the screen shot below, I’ve clicked on the top search result, which brings up a balloon with expanded information from the Local Business Center listing.
Alternatively, you could click on the “Directions and more” link in the first screen and go straight to the Local Business Center listing below. If this is old news to you … good for you! I hope you’re taking full advantage of this free listing. If not, I hope you can now see its value.
Either way, here’s where it gets interesting. Just this month Google added a new feature to their Local Business Center. Now you can post short snippets of information directly to your LBC listing as frequently as you like. Whatever you post will show up where the arrow is pointing, below. Wouldn’t that be a handy way to keep your listing fresh and updated with the latest information?
The “Post to your place page” box is in the upper right of your Google LBC dashboard. You’re limited to 160 characters, so you’ll have to be brief, but that’s plenty of space to post a note about a sale or an event.
Today’s Assignment:
If you don’t yet have a Google Local Business Center listing, log into your Google account and set one up. For detailed instructions on how to do that, please see Have You Claimed Your Google Local Business Listing. You’ll need to complete this quick and painless process before taking the next step.
If you DO have an existing Google Local Business Center listing, log in from your Google account, then post your first update. Add a reminder to your calendar to update it at least within the next 30 days.
This feature is not yet widely known about. I believe it has great potential, but only time will tell. What do you think? Do you agree that it’s worth a try?
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
That is a great feature for many small businesses. Still, I think there are a lot that don’t even know that they can register their business and location with Google. My guess is that a good percentage of those that have a website miss this (not to mention the large number without a website).
This is definitely worth a try, especially for a small business. I think more and more people use the web now than the phone book and this is like a free phone book ad.
Great find.
Shari – thanks so much for sharing this new tip on Local Business Center. I was unaware that this new feature had been added. Going to update mine this very instant!
[...] If you are already using Google Local Business Center click here to read a new feature that has recently been released that you should certainly take advantage [...]