Part way through 2010, Google were once again making significant changes to the algorithms which generate their search results. One of the most significant changes appeared with the launch of Google Places.

What is the concept? As stated on the Official Google Blog, "millions of people use Google every day to find places in the real world, and we want to better connect Place Pages — the way that businesses are being found today — with the tool that enables business owners to manage their presence on Google".

To boil it all down, Google Places enables businesses to create a free listing for themselves, including a description of the business, areas serviced, opening hours, inclusion of photo and/or video content and, of course, essential contact details such as address, contact number and email address.

With all the means available to promote and link to a website these days, including of course links from social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Linked In, it could be questioned why also list a business with Google Places. Simple - it can be an easy means of escalating your business to the top of organic search results. You may have noticed a Google Map and business names list appearing at the top of your search results in some cases. This is the result of having a Google Places listing.

And even better (and it's worth repeating) - it is free.

Several businesses we have worked with local to the Newcastle area have reported significant increases in website visitors sourced from search results, since listing themselves on Google Places.

So if you haven't yet taken this easy step for your business, what are you waiting for?

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