Getting up to speed with Google Places
Date: December 23, 2013Category: Author: David Hall
For our office Christmas party, we had several who wanted to go bowling and eat at the bowling alley. But there were those who objected, saying that they didn’t like bowling alley food. I chimed in that I had been to an upscale bowling alley in Tempe that I thought had delicious food. I remembered roughly where it was, but a search on Google Maps for bowling alleys failed to turn it up.
A week later, when the discussion came up again, someone else had learned about it and we tracked it down. It’s an establishment called “The Main Event.” The reason we couldn’t find it on Google maps? They listed themselves as an “entertainment center” and apparently hadn’t thought to categorize themselves also as a bowling alley.
This has happened to me before. There was a restaurant I remembered in east Mesa that served delicious steaks. My wife and I had been there a couple of years ago, and I was looking for it on Google Maps but couldn’t find it. I finally found it by remembering where it was. The problem? The place is Midwestern Meats. They’re both a restaurant and a shop for meats and bakery goods. And in their Google business listing they listed themselves as a butcher shop and bakery. They also sell fresh meat and bakery goods. When we went there, I was able to track down the owner and told him that he needed to fix his Google business listing. He did, adding the category “restaurant,” and now you can find them.
The world has changed. No one uses Yellow Pages any more. They’re searching for you online. Business owners, it’s important to pay attention, learn the new rules for getting found, and apply them.
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