With Google’s current (over?) emphasis on personalised search, the time is ripe for SMEs, especially those which sell goods or services within their own locality, to leverage local search options.

Google even provides some excellent tools to enable them to do so, in the form of Google Places and Google Apps, the latter currently a very much under-subscribed product.

Google Places

Google Places could be described as the online update of the Yellow Pages phone book. It offers businesses a “shop window” for free, with many extras. There is the opportunity to add a business description, photos, a map and most importantly, customer reviews of the business.

There’s also Google Photos, which can create a panoramic “walkabout” inside of the premises for those who operate “brick and click” businesses.

A searcher looking for a particular type of business in a specific town is likely to find one nearby, providing that the business has addressed the concept of using keywords in their SEO that include a mention of their location.

E.g., it should not be just “Pam’s Pizzas;” the description should add “The BEST in……,” or something along those lines.

Google Apps

Perhaps wrongly named for what it offers, this Google product is well worth signing up for. Provided ownership of a domain name can be verified (even if it is not actually live), the free account version offers up to 10 free e-mail addresses associated with the domain: YourName@ pams-pizzas.co.uk.
(e.g.) which looks far more professional than other free e-mail tags.

Apart from the access to unique business Google Docs templates, opening a free account also offers a shareable calendar, cloud storage and the opportunity to create a website directly from the Google Apps dashboard and there are also more benefits to be found when a business grows and can afford a paid-for account.

The Social Side

Moving on to social networking, the opportunities are there to build some excellent advertorial business pages, which can be linked to a Google Apps account quite easily.

The free website building opportunity also allows the addition of sharing buttons (naturally Google+ and YouTube highest on the list) but with options to include the other main contenders. Social networking in 2012 offers so many opportunities to businesses, not just to sell or market, but also to interact with local customers and to deal with any customer service issues.

Other Considerations

Whether land-based or completely online, a business that is based locally should also look at local opportunities for promoting itself. Local business directories, trade-specific associations and the nearest Chamber of Commerce also offer on- and off-line advertising opportunities for a very small investment.

Uptake

Google Apps may seem somewhat amateurish for established businesses which already have an online presence, but not everybody has the time, knowledge or money to create a spectacular one. For a start-up, this is an excellent way to embark on a journey to bigger and better things.

Related articles
Tags: , , , , ,