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3 instant ways to test your visiability in Google Places May 9, 2010

When someone in your area searches for something you offer, you want your business to be highly visible in Google’s local search results (which is the list of 10 businesses that appear next to the little map when you type in a search term).

If you’re not satisfied and don’t think enough customers see you, chances are you’re losing out because of some very common problems.

Spend 10 minutes every now and then to check 3 specific things:

Check-up Item #1: Make sure you’re on the 1st page of local results. It’s important because. When you type search for something locally by typing in a term like “Cleveland pizza” or “Tulsa dentist,” you’ll see a little map and 10 local businesses. Obviously, when people search for something you offer, you want to be one of those 10 businesses, and you want to be as high up as possible.

What’s not as obvious is if you click the link that says “More results…” underneath the map, you’ll usually see businesses that weren’t on that list of 10. All businesses ranked 11, 12, and so on are losing visibility by being found on buried pages most customers never see.

The bottom line is check to see if you’re on that list of 10 businesses, and if you’re not, to see where exactly you are. You’re likely getting no visibility because you’re not one of those 10 businesses next to the little map. The good news is it’s fairly easy to get on that first page of results.

Check-up Item #2: You need to check whether Google verified your listing. All that means is Google needs to make sure you are the owner of your business. Google has a simple process for getting you verified, which you go through when you first set up your listing. The only problem is many businesses never get verified, and Google places them near the bottom of the heap.

If you suspect you’re just not being seen, type local search terms into Google and try to find your business. If you find it and see the words “Unverified listing” underneath your address, the problem is easy to fix: Just type in “verify Google business listing” and the steps will be clear. If you get verified, you’ll get an instant boost in visibility.

Check-up Item #3: See if you show up in both the normal local search results (the ones next to the little map) and in the results you see once you click on that map. Here’s all you do: when you type in a local term (say, “Cleveland pizza”), you see 10 local pizza joints plus a small map. If you click on that map, you’ll be taken to a slightly different page, which usually shows a slightly different list of 10 pizza places.

When you’re looking to see where you rank for different terms, click on that map. Then you’ll know if you’re visible, nowhere to be found, or somewhere in between.

Maybe you’ve heard of the “80/20″ rule. Even if you haven’t, all it means here is eliminating 20% of your problems will get you 80% of the results you want. What it comes down to is there are a few very specific (often simple) problems that rob business owners of visibility.

Wall Printing can help you reach new customers through print, internet, and mobile marketing.