When you do a search for a business in Google, the business address and website information will often pop up in the search. It might pop up even if you use keywords related to the business, without knowing the name of a particular business. That was huge opportunity for brick and mortar businesses with a location. It was not a good idea for a home business owner to put their home address in Google. A recent change in this Google service has changed that slightly and opened the door to home business owners. USA Today reports:
“Google’s site for local business owners, formerly called the Local Business Center, is now Google Places.
Instead of just submitting an address, business owners can instead show a geographic area they serve. Additionally, home-based businesses can make their address private.
A new advertising feature, for $25 monthly, lets business owners tag their listing with special offers to stand out. Google is testing Tags in a few cities, including Austin, Atlanta and Washington D.C., before going national.”
If you’re a home business owner, you’ll want to take advantage of this opportunity. Let’s say you have a drop ship business selling organic baby food from your home in Wisconsin. If someone does a Google search, like “mens eco-friendly organic clothing,” your business may be one of the seven to 10 businesses that show up at the top of Google results, just because you listed your business with Google Places. You can keep your home business address private, whereas before, the physical address would show up in the search as well.
Google places is one more way to drive traffic to your website, and you should consider using it.
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