Since this ‘strategy’ has been going on, Google introduced service areas which helped alleviate a lot of the issues related to being a home-based business.  But there are still a lot of small businesses using UPS boxes to help rank in different local districts.

I’m not necessarily saying it’s the right way to do it, but there are definitely a lot of them still doing it, and it works in many cases still today.

I have a client that has a UPS box, and he informed me the other day that the US Post Office is now ‘cracking down’ on UPS boxes.  Particularly, they are cracking down on the use of the words ‘suite’, ‘office’ and ‘room’ on UPS-bound parcels.  An item mailed to ‘Suite 100′ at a UPS box is now being rejected by the USPS and returned to the sender as a non-existent address.  If the address is changed to ‘# 100′ it is delivered as it should be.

This, of course, affects affiliate marketers as well.  I’ve heard of a few instances now where affiliate payment checks were returned because of the word ‘suite’.

Since both of the business owners I’ve spoken to use the same UPS (and subsequently the same post office), I’m not sure if this is a US-wide change, or just a local postmaster on some sort of bent against UPS, but it’s definitely worth mentioning.

If you have a UPS box, and are using the word ‘Suite’ or something other than the number symbol, and you’re wondering where your mail is, I recommend checking with your local USPS to see if they are bouncing your mail back.

But by all means, take the time to do it right. You don’t want to look like an idiot because you ran through it so quickly. And it’s not something you can pay your twelve year old son Jimmy to do, neither. You don’t have to pay some business $299 to do it, either.  That’s just crazy.  Take the time on a Sunday night to get it right.  It’ll be worth it.

List Your Business Correctly

The first step to getting your business on Google Maps is to visit the Local Business Center (LBC) section on Google.  If you don’t have a Google account, you’ll need to sign up for one.  Once that’s out of the way, you’ll need to claim or add your business.  Chances are, they already know about your business, but have incorrect and very limited information about it.

Take the time to fill this out in detail, particularly the section labeled Description: This is a great place to put in some keywords about your business, list the things you sell or services you offer.  Don’t forget to add your website.

Pick the Right Categories

Last, enter as many valid categories for your business as they’ll let you.  All five, if they all fit.  but don’t just add categories because they’re there.

See that third listing? Hair of the Dog is a bar.  They don’t have pool supplies.  They don’t have a pool.  They have beer.  Unfortunately, they don’t have a beer pool, although that’d be pretty damn awesome if they did.

After listing your site, you’ll need to verify the information that you just entered.  In the past, Google always sent a postcard to the business address with a pin number for verification.  They also called the phone number and asked you for a pin number.  From what I understand, the postcard is no longer offered, or is only offered if other methods fail.  However they offer to verify your listing, make sure you follow through and verify your site!

For Yahoo, use http://listings.local.yahoo.com/csubmit/index.php

For Bing, use https://ssl.bing.com/listings/ListingCenter.aspx

Late last week Google announced a new feature for their mobile search where you can find businesses near you.  This little feature, which rolled out to all iPhone and Droid users can have a huge impact on your local foot traffic.

In order to be listed in what we call the 7 pack, you’ve got to have your businesses listed in the Google Local Business Listings (LBL).  Even if your business doesn’t have a website, you can still list it in there.

There are two main impacts by this simple change:

• Those businesses that are listed in the LBL are going to see an increase in walk-in traffic.  Over time as the service is rolled out to more and more smartphones, it will only increase this walk-in traffic.  Since smartphones continue to get cheaper, more and more people are going to have them.  It won’t be long before most cell phones are smart/data run.
• Not being listed in the LBL is only going to continue to hurt businesses that won’t get with the times.  It’s like ignoring the Yellow Pages 50 years ago.  It’s like saying the television fad will quietly pass.

Now, don’t forget that Google is already showing local/map results for generic queries.  That’s something they rolled out way back around March of 2009.  So it goes without saying that having a strong SEO presence in the search engines is becoming more and more mandatory.  Having your site verified in Google Webmaster tools is no longer an option.

Read other posts on Google Maps and local marketing

Oh – and once you’re listed, don’t forget to keep an eye on your listing.