Nowadays, if you own a business, it’s essential to have an online presence thus having a website. In fact, it can go further to creating more online presences on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter. One of the major reasons to have an online presence is because you need your business to be found. Personally, when I am looking for a business, I look it up on Google.

If you have noticed, when you search for a certain business on Google, chances are it would also return a map of the location of the business you’re looking for. It also lists some other related businesses, so chances are your business listing might also be viewed by the user but ONLY IF you have setup your business on Google Places.

Adding your business listing is fast and easy.

To get started, head to Google Places website and sign in with your Google account.

google places for business

If adding your business listing for the first time, you will be asked with your business’s telephone number to check if there is already an existing information.

google places listing

If no business found on the telephone number you entered from the previous page, you will be ask to list all the details about your business.

google places business information

Upon adding your business address, a map with a marker to your business address will be generated. You can move the marker on the map to properly point the marker on the map.

google places business map

You will need to add more details to complete the listing. Potential customers would love to know detailed information regarding your business. If you own a restaurant or a tailoring shop, it will be very useful for the viewers to know information that will be convenient for them. Your business service location, hours of operation and payment options are great additions to your listing. If you sell or create products, it would be good to add photos and videos too! Remember that some photos speaks countless words.

Once you have added all your business details, click Submit.

Verify your Google Place listing

Now that you have submitted your Google Place listing, you need to verify it. There are 2 ways to verify your Google Place listing.

1. Verification by phone – this method requires you to be near the telephone that you added into the business listing. If you choose this method, Google will give you a ring to provide you a pin you will use to verify your listing.

2. Verification by mail – in this method, Google will send a postcard to your business address. The postcard contains the pin to verify your listing.

Once you have added the verification pin, Google will process the verification. If all goes well, expect your listing to be up and verified within 2 weeks.