Friday, March 9, 2007

New features for Local Business Center

Google's Local Business Center is the place to go to add or edit your business listing in Google Maps. Yesterday, we launched a number of new features that can help you improve your listing, and Daniel Z. from the Google Maps team is here to tell us more:

The Local business center helps your business stand out on Google Maps. With these new features, you can create richer listings and include more information about your business:

Add photos to your listing
Google Maps now includes images in local search results. Suppose you own a restaurant in San Francisco that specializes in pastries. A potential customer, craving something sweet, searches Google Maps for "dessert in san francisco." In addition to the business name and location, she will now also find photos of your double chocolate cheesecake with raspberry glaze when looking at your full listing.

Describe your business with custom attributes
Details matter. In addition to common pieces of information like store hours and accepted payment types, you can include custom information specific to your business. For example, a gelateria could include a list of all the flavors it offers.

Track your stats
When it comes to knowing how your listing is working for you, there's nothing like statistics. And now, when you login to Local Business Center you can see the number of impressions your listing has received over the last 30 days.

Place your map marker with precision
If you find that your location on the map isn't exactly right, you can now fix it. When creating or editing your listing, click "Fix incorrect marker location," and simply drag your map marker to your business's exact location.

If you'd like to list your business on Google Maps, you can sign up for Local Business Center by visiting this page. It's completely free.

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