To all freelancer building websites for small businesses. For you it's easy to add them to Google Places, so offer it as a service to your clients. The benefits to them will be in the long run. It's not just for mobile usage - Google Places results are shown on the desktop as well and is easy SEO.

#smb #clientservice #seo

Reshared post from +Sam Denton

Making Your Small Business Known to Google

The other night I posted some photographs from a Halloween party at the home of some friends of my family. They run a small business from their home and, as a favor, I thought that I'd check in at that business, but they did not show up on Google's list of places where I could check in.

Then over the weekend, my friend +Philip Newell noted that he had visited the August A. Busch Memorial Conservation Area. While there, he wanted to check in at a local outfitter but they, too, did not show up on the list of places, and he was wondering, "Why not?"

So I decided to investigate. Google has three programs for businesses wishing to advertise themselves. The simplest one is also free, registration with Google Places. However, it is the business owner's responsibility to register. Below, I have copied instructions for how to do so from the Google Places website. Once registered, it should show up as a place where Google+ users can check in.

http://www.google.com/support/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=143059&rd=1 If you own a business, you probably know the basics. You can add extras like photos and descriptions if you have them handy, or come back to add them later. At the end of the sign-up, we'll ask you to verify your submission by phone or postcard. We do this to make sure that only the right people are able to change any public data about your business.

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