Do you ever wonder how you can be included in the top search results next to the map on Google? The secret is a little gem called Google Places. If you don’t know about Google Places, this blog is for you!

The mapped search results appear whenever somebody enters a local keyword (i.e. Fort Lauderdale framing, any search that includes a city or location). As you can see from the screen shot above my client The Frame Studio is listed next to the map and is also the first natural search result below the map results.  These mapped search results are pulled from Google Maps and Google Places allows people to place their business on Google Maps and manage the information provided about the business. It takes about an hour to set up (unless you have a lot of locations and then it can be much more tedious) and the best part is that it is free!

There are some internet marketing opportunities that are just emerging with Google Places that are very affordable. For $25 a month you can make your listing stand out with a tag. A Google Places tag is a little yellow callout which you can use to promote a coupon for your business, pics of your business, or your website.

I create Google Places accounts for all of my clients as part of their search engine marketing retainers but if you don’t have the budget to hire your own internet marketing professional right now, this is definitely something you can do on your own.

Visit www.Google.com/Places to get started today!