Update: Google Local Business Center is now known as Google Places

Google has a free tool called Google Local Business Center. We have been evaluating it and believe this will be beneficial for location based businesses as this site allows you to create a free business listing to help your customers find you more easily.

As we understand it, Google Local Business is designed to give more specific, relevant search results for people in their geographic area. When someone performs a search, information about where they are located is transmitted by way of their IP address and their Internet Service Provider (ISP). Google wants to use this location identifying information to return better results about the businesses in the area.

For example, if you search for "charitable organization Chicago" through Google, you will notice a Local Business Result. Through the Google Local Business Center you can register your business as a charitable organization in Chicago so that your organization can too be listed under the local business Center. You can add up to 5 categories for your business.

If you choose to sign up, the website requires verification by either the phone number provided or by mail. If you choose to verify the listing by phone, you will immediately receive a phone call after submitting your request and receive a pin number. You then need to enter the pin number into the website so be sure to be by the phone when filling out the form. If you choose to verify the listing by mail, it will take 2-3 weeks.

If you have a Gmail account, we recommend registering your business when you are logged into Google. This way you can fully take advantage of the dashboard where you can view impressions, actions and top search queries. To read more about the dashboard, please click here.