Web Design Tip, Getting on Google Maps

Script From The Video Blog

James: Welcome, Last week we did a video on ‘how to integrate Google maps’ onto your webpage and Google’s direction gadget.

Nick: If you missed last weeks video please click here.

James: This week we are going to show you how to add your business to Google maps if its not already there or if it is there we will show you how to claim a listing and edit the information that is one there.

James: So in order to add your business in Google maps or to claim a listing, all you need to do is go to www.google.co.uk/maps.

You can see over here on the left ‘put your business on Google maps’, so all you have to do is click that. You will also need to have a Google account, you can see I am already logged in on mine, Its fairly straight forward to do if you have an existing email address.

As you can see I already have Creare Design in my local business centre account, which is where you manage Google maps. If your starting out there won’t be any listings here. It will purely say add new listings.

So whether your claiming a listings or adding a new one click the link. For this demonstration as Creare is already on Google maps we will just make up a business called ‘James cake shop’.

Nick: I didn’t know you baked james.

James: We will use one of our office in Lutterworth as an example,  so 16a  church street, Lutterworth, Le17 4at. Also it is very important to add a phone number which you have access too and it will appear on Google maps.

Add all the details, email, phone and URL of your company.

Next add a category in this case ‘cake makers and decorators’.

Also what is quite important is to make sure that the maker is in the correct place on the map in the exact location. When you have people walking around in  large cities they often use their mobiles to navigate directly to your building.

Switch to satellite view and zoom in and pin point exactly the right building. So that the basis of your listing.

Even if you are claiming a listing you still have to go through this process. It will then check to see if we have an existing listing.

If it doesn’t find a previous listing such as ‘James cake shop’ then it will take you through to add the business listing.  So what you would have seen there is a little marker called ‘claim this listing’ if you clicked that it would go through a similar process bringing you details into your account.

You can then add further information, opening hours etc, along with Videos pictures and details on brands and parking etc.

Once your listing is correct click submit, you then have to authorize your listing or update, The best way to do it is via telephone. They then call you and provide you with a pin number, if you don’t have access to a phone you can use a postcard which usually takes 2-3 weeks.

Click by telephone and finish, what’s important is you need to have access to the number entered or if you are doing this on behalf of someone else then you will need to make them aware they will be receiving a call from Google.

It will be a robotic voice; they need to write down the pin number. Once you have the pin number enter it into the box called ‘enter pin’.

If that fails you can use a different verification technique such as postcard. It usually takes around 24 hours to get listed. Once listed you can edit accordingly and that’s how you add your business to Google maps.