One of the first tasks which digital marketing experts perform for new clients is to verify their listing on Google Places. No matter what industry the company is in, or its size, it is very important for companies to be listed in Google Places, from a digital marketing perspective. This includes babysitting businesses, local restaurants, soda manufacturers as well as Fortune 500 companies. The main reason why digital marketing professionals care so much about a Google Places listing is because Google does.

In fact, Google has developed a new digital marketing product called Place Search. According to Google, Place Search is a ‘new kind of local search result that organizes the world’s information around places’. Google has clustered search results around particular locations, so that searchers find it easier to make comparisons and decide where there want to go. In Google Place Search, the locations of various companies that have claimed their listing are marked with red pins on a map.

In addition to this, there is a new link for ‘Places’ in the left-hand panel of the search results page, so that interested users can switch to these results, whenever they wish. Moreover, you will also be able to view a map on the far right of this page, which moves down the page, as you scroll through the search results. According to various digital marketing predictions, local search will account for a large part of Google’s revenue over the coming years. This is the main reason why Google is creating new innovations like Google Places to promote local search.

Google is incredibly focused on their local search product. They want Google Places to be the place which searchers would visit to find local businesses. In fact, Google has hired more than 300 employees to find bugs in its Google Maps product.

Some reasons why companies should consider verifying their listing are to:

• Upload digital marketing photos and video about their business.
• Create coupons and other discount offers.
• View statistics about how many people have viewed their digital marketing listing.

• Post information about events or specials.
• Unverified businesses can be modified or even closed down, by almost anyone in any part of the world, through the Internet.
• Anyone can edit unverified listings, including competitors or dissatisfied customers.

Qudos Digital is a leading digital marketing agency, and can be contacted on 0845 388 5583 or info@qudosdigital.co.uk.