Many small businesses do not know that you can get some free advertising on Google, using Google Local or Google Maps, this will basically allow you to advertise on Google for free with, and potentially outrank organic results without doing the hard work. Google is looking to increase the value of their local search and mapping applications. This will help your advertisement show up in searches as well as help you get more traffic, leads, and consumers.

For example, Baron Mortgage a client 220 Marketing works with is currently listed at the top of the Google results page for the phrase “Miami Mortgage Company”, this particular phrase yields 9,260,000 results, yet Baron Mortgage remains number one.

Things You Need Before Starting Your Free Advertisement

• A description of your business
• Your phone number, address, and any other contact info you want to advertise
• A logo or image that represents your business (some people use a picture of their office, store, or restaurant)
• A coupon or special offer you want to advertise (Google also lets you add a coupon for FREE if you want)

Step-by-Step Guide to Free Google Advertisement

1. Go to www.google.com/local and search for your business to verify it is not yet listed with an advertisement.
2. Go back to www.google.com/local and click on Add/Edit Your Business at the bottom left part of the page (see image below.)
3. Follow the steps provided by Google. They are pretty simple and straightforward. As part of the process, you will need to verify your business either by phone or mail.
4. Check back in a few weeks with Google and verify your listing. If you want to update it, you can use the same process outlined here to update your listing. See image below of the advertisement for the Boston Scholars Program including details and logo.