Google Places & Express
What is it?
This is becoming very important as a component of a web marketing strategy. Google has been expending a lot of effort improving their online marketing Local Business Listings where a map is displayed and local businesses are listed on the search results page when a query is entered with a city name. This service is called Google Places and it’s free from Google. A new feature of Google Places now allows you to create local ads to promote your business (called Google Express). Google Places and Express bring more visitors to your website; this is what I do as a Google Places consultant and specialist for small businesses.
How does it work?
Express ads are eligible to appear in the “Sponsored Links” section of Google.com and Google Maps search result pages. For example, if you’re a restaurant owner in San Francisco who has signed up for Express, your ad may show up when someone does a related search, indicating a cuisine and location that matches yours. Beyond the basics like your company name, address, phone number and website, your ad may also include the number of reviews you’ve received, an average star rating and a link to your website page to help potential customers find additional useful information about your business. When a map appears alongside the results, a blue pin will help folks quickly find your location on the map. Businesses using Google Tags will also see their yellow tag appear in the ad.