If you check out the recent post on the Google Lat Long Blog, you will see that Google Maps is rolling out their Google Tags feature across the United States shortly. What the heck are “Google Tags”? Of course if it is something from Google, you can assume it’s another way for you to advertise with them. This specific way is targeted at local businesses.  Google’s goal with Google Tags is to make it simple for the “mom and pop” shop to advertise with them; even more simple than using Google AdWords.  With the trouble that Google Places (formerly Google Local Business Listings) has had in the past in getting business owners correctly listed on the map, I’m not sure it will be that easy out of the gate but it’s good to see the opportunity offered.

Details:

• Cost = $25/month/listing (need a credit card)
• You must have claimed your Google Places listing
• What can you advertise via a Tag? Coupon, video, website, photos, custom message (via the Post feature), or your menu/reservation listing (if applicable to your business)
• At the time of this writing, Google Tag advertising is only available in California, Atlanta, Austin, Boulder, Chicago, Houston, Seattle, and Washington DC
  • The first states after these will be Texas, Illinois, Georgia, Washington, and Colorado
  • All other states are expected to come online shortly
  • Where do I find out if I can use Tags? Go into your business listings dashboards and look for the feature.

Also announced with Google Tags is the ability to advertise locally with its Post feature within your Google Places listing. Your message can be changed whenever you want and are a good way to tell your community about new products, specials, or other recent news about your business. The post will show up only on your Google Places page but as mentioned above, you can advertise your posts via Google Tags. If you elect to do so, your post will also show up in Google search results when your listing appears there.

We would love to hear your feedback on your use of Google Tags for your business.

It looks like Google Places made a couple minor changes today to their dashboard interface. Besides a slight design change incorporating good use of background contrast, the big modifications were:

1) Showing some statistics right in the dashboard

2) An alert bar and status messages for individual business listings

Subtle but decent improvements nonetheless.  Google also updated their help document to reflect these changes. As I mentioned when the new dashboard first came out, I still wish they would integrate your Google Places pre-click data with your Google Analytics account (similar to AdWords and AdSense).  Fingers crossed.

With the rebranding of the Google Local Business Center to Google Places, several new features have been put in place. In my last post I talked about specifying your business’s service area. In this post I want to talk about placing custom links within the details section of your listing.  This is a very simple thing to do but can be extremely beneficial for various types of businesses.  Many examples I have seen across the web use restaurants to show their menu or to book reservations.  Good idea and those are likely the most common but really anyone can use them.  Advertise your specials or deals or promote your social media pages. Whatever direct links…you choose.

Below is an example of what I mean from our client, Grappone Honda. Here we placed direct links to their pre-owned inventory, schedule service page, and several of their specials pages.

In our second example from another client, Air Conditioning by Jay, you can see their custom links promote their Facebook and Twitter initiatives along with a quick link to scheduling service ASAP (very appreciative this time of year in Phoenix).

Setup is simple (assuming you have claimed your Google Places listing…you have, right?). First, locate the Additional Details section at the bottom of your Google Places listing.  Next, enter what the anchor text should say (aka words that will be displayed) in the first column and enter your link in the second column.  Click submit and verify the change was made.  Anyone have any good custom link examples they are using? Please share in the comments.

Did anyone notice that you can specify a service area in your Google Places Listing? Google Maps began rolling out this feature in late March with little publicity. This is quite a feature for businesses that want to publicize the different locations they serve; a great feature for businesses that will come to a home or for businesses that are actually based out of a home.  Service areas listings give access to areas on the map where you may not have a physical address.  For example, your business address may be in Tempe, Arizona, but in reality you can service any location within the Phoenix metro area.

Anyone can change their business service area by logging into their Google Places account and editing your business listing.  Look for the section labeled “Service Areas and Location Settings”.   Below we are using an example from a WebShare client that sells custom doors and windows in the Orange County area.  As you can see, you can choose between specifying a radial distance from your location or simply listing the locations you want to show that you serve.  If you have multiple business locations, be sure to edit all of them.

Distance from one location view:

List of areas served view:

Below you can see an example of what a listing will look like in Google Maps.  This client has four showroom locations but obviously they install door and windows anywhere within Orange County. Now customers can clearly see what areas Renaissance services if they are shopping for a door and window contractor.