Google Places

Google Places allows business owners to claim their business and customize their listing on Google Maps. Updated business details appear on Google Maps, Google.com search and mobile results, and GOOG-411. Advanced features, including coupons and impression statistics, enable business owners to improve and monitor their online presence.

What is Google Places?

Google Places is Google's list of local business search results. Google Places appears at the top of Google search results when a user searches for local information.

It works by displaying the locations of businesses registered with Google Places and relevant to the user's search on a small map. Links to websites belonging to these businesses appear next to the map.

Registration for Google Places is free. In addition to location and website address, businesses can also include opening hours and photos of their business or products. Google Places is particularly important for businesses that primarily serve a local clientele or whose customers search for something in a specific location (e.g., hotels, theme parks, etc.).

Who is entitled to Google Maps and who is not?

Not all businesses are suitable for Google Business Profiles. A quick rule of thumb? Your business must interact with customers in person. This interaction can take place at your business location or at your customer's location (e.g., their home), but it must be in person during the stated business hours.

There are some exceptions:

1. ATMs, video rental kiosks, and express mailboxes are permitted. If you add these locations, you must provide contact information for customers so they can receive assistance.
2. Seasonal businesses, such as an ice rink that is only open during the winter months, are permitted. These businesses must display permanent signage at their location year-round.
3. Food-only delivery services are allowed under certain conditions.

The following companies are not eligible for a business profile:

• Properties that are rented or for sale, such as holiday homes, model homes, or empty apartments.
• However, sales or rental offices are permitted for verification.

An ongoing service, class, or event at a location you do not own or are not authorized to represent. Lead generation agencies or companies.

A short guide to a good business profile

The published content should highlight what makes your company unique.

Company description

Use the "Company Description" field to provide useful information about the services and products offered, as well as your company's mission and history.

You should be open and honest about the information you provide and focus on content that is relevant and useful to your customers in understanding your business. Content that is irrelevant to your business or has no clear connection to it is not permitted.

Name

To make it easier for customers to find your business online, you should accurately represent your business name. Your name should reflect the actual name of your business as it is consistently used on your store sign, website, letterhead, and as it is known to customers.

Add additional details such as address, service area, business hours and category.

For example, if you are creating a business profile for a 24-hour coffee shop in downtown San Francisco called Shelly's Coffee, you would enter this business information as follows:

Business name: Shelly's Coffee Address: 3247 Poppy Street, San Francisco, CA 94102 Opening hours: Open 24 hours Category: Cafe

Adding unnecessary information to your business name is not permitted and may result in the suspension of your business profile. Refer to the specific examples below to determine what you can and cannot include in your business name.

Address

Your address on your Google Business Profile must accurately and precisely reflect your company's location. Thinking of using a business email address or virtual office for your list? Think again. Google does not accept P.O. boxes or mailboxes in remote locations as addresses.

Co-working spaces are very popular with small businesses, but there are some limitations to what is acceptable as an address for your business listing. Unless you maintain an office within that space with official, clearly marked signage, which is visited by clients and staffed by your employees during your listed business hours, your co-working space or virtual office is not eligible to be used as a business address.

When adding your address to your list, it should reflect where you serve your customers. If your business is located in an office building or has a suite/unit, include this information to accurately represent your location and avoid duplicate listing issues. Use the street address for "Address Line 1" on your list and the suite or unit number for "Address Line 2." You should also adjust your map pin accordingly so Google Maps can easily guide users to your location.

Website & Phone

Provide a phone number associated with your single business location, or provide a website that represents your single business location.

If possible, use a local phone number instead of a central hotline number.

Do not provide phone numbers or URLs that redirect or refer users to landing pages or phone numbers that are not the company's actual numbers, including pages on social media sites.

The telephone number must be under the direct control of the company.

Additional phone numbers can be used on Google Business Profile websites and other local interfaces.

Premium-rate phone numbers are not allowed. These phone numbers charge callers high fees.

Business hours

Your business hours are your way of showing customers that you're open in your business listings. Google clearly indicates whether a business is open or closed based on these times. Therefore, your business hours must accurately reflect your customer service hours.

• Public holidays & special opening hours: Are you closed on holidays or do you have adjusted hours for an event? Use Google's Special Hours to confirm your adjusted hours to everyone who sees your business profile. Use the "More Hours" feature if you have specific hours based on service, such as pickup, drive-thru, or senior hours. You cannot give these hours a custom title; you must choose from the options available from Google. "More Hours" should be used as a subset of your primary hours.
• Seasonal opening hours & By appointment only: If your business has seasonal opening hours, set them accordingly. You can either adjust your hours during other seasons or mark your business as temporarily closed. If you are only available by appointment, Google currently has no way to display this. Instead, Google recommends not including any opening hours in your listing.

Categories

• Choosing the right categories helps to easily classify businesses. You should select as few categories as possible to describe your company as a whole. The more specific you can be with the selected category, the better. If broader categories are unnecessary for your areas of expertise, you don't need to add them to your profile.
• If no category specifically reflects your business, choose a more general category. You cannot create your own category. Check your category occasionally, as Google is constantly adding new categories to its list.
• Your categories should describe your business as a whole. Google provides great guidance with the sentence: "Choose categories that complete the sentence: 'This business'" IS "One" and not "this company HAS one."
• The accuracy of your categories is important, as it also influences which features are available to you. For example, restaurants can add menus and hotels can add check-in times, etc. Google continues to update these features.