Get on the (Google) Map!

As an AdWords advertiser, you're likely focused on making sure your paid advertising campaigns are performing well and delivering positive results - but have you also thought about taking advantage of the free ways you can promote your physical business location on Google and Google Maps as well? In this post, we'll show you how to ensure your business locations can be found on Google, and then we'll show you how to go a step further by promoting your locations with AdWords location extensions.

Free promotion

If your business already appears as a search result on Google.com and Google Maps, you can use Local Business Center to claim your listing and add additional information, such as photos, videos, business hours and more. It's completely free. If your business doesn't currently show at all, you can create a new listing, which is also free. Local Business Center recently launched a dashboard that lets you see how many users saw your listing, how many clicked on various links in your listing, and which search queries caused your listing to appear. To get you started with Local Business Center, we've put together some helpful tips on the kind of information you can and should include in your listing.

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Drive even more sales with paid promotion

In addition to ensuring your organic listings are up-to-date, you can use AdWords ads for additional promotion. Both location-targeted text ads and location extensions can appear on Google Search and Google Maps result pages. When you create location extensions, you'll be able to show your business addresses within your text ads. If you're a primary business owner, you can link your Local Business Center account with AdWords to ensure the most up-to-date information about your business is appearing within your ad. When you use extensions, you'll also be able to upload a custom icon that will appear when your ads show on Google Maps. This allows you to take a more active role in ensuring your business locations stand out when users look for businesses like yours in your area.

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So what are you waiting for? Take the first step and get yourself on the (Google) map by claiming or listing your business in Local Business Center.

Posted by Emel Mutlu, Inside AdWords crew