Google launched a localised version of its Google Maps for Malaysia in mid-May 2009. The majority of the mainstream press highlighted many of the cool services that is now available on Google Maps Malaysia, but business owners and marketers should be more interested in the Local Business Centre (LBC).
Example Google LBC listing (click to enlarge)
Why you need to get listed on Google Maps right now
The Google Local Business Centre allows Malaysian organisations to list information about their office or retail outlets onto Google Maps. This means potential customers can find the retail outlets easier on all devices that Google Maps is supported on—from desktops to mobile.
Adding your business listings to the LBC is one of the simplest SEO activities you can do. Best of all, it’s free. Besides a website address and description, you can also add opening hours, images, phone number and email addresses into a listing. Your listing may even appear in universal search results if you’re lucky.Bonus: your competitors probably don’t know about this yet so you can outrank them in the map search results for now.
How to get listed in Google Maps
Step 1: Sign into the Google Local Business Centre with your Google Account. If you have a Gmail account, you already have a Google Account. If not, sign up for one here.
Step 2: Create a new listing by clicking on the Add new business button. Fill out your business details and Google will try to locate your business on their maps. You can change the marker location if it’s not accurate.
Enter as much details about your business into the LBC as you can. You can even upload photos and add links to YouTube videos of your business.
Step 3: Next you need to validate your listing. This prevents shady characters from falsely claiming your business name with wrong details.
All LBC listings need to be verified (click to enlarge)
You can either validate your listing by an automated phone call from Google (a weird feeling) or with a SMS. Both these methods will give you a 5 digit PIN which you need to type into the LBC. Once this step is complete, your listing should show up on Google Maps shortly.
Now that you’ve done all the hard work, people looking for your products and services can now figure out exactly where you’re located and even get directions to your retail outlets.
Make it even easier for customers to find you:
- Embed the Google Map into your website contact page
- Link to your LBC listing from your website or newsletter
- Create a redirect as a shortcut e.g. example.com/go/googlemap for print or SMS campaigns
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