How To Get 100% Free Advertising On Google
Posted on 15'08 Oct
Did you know you can get ranked number 1 on Google for free using Google Local Business Center and Google Maps?
Google Local helps your advertisements show up in Google searches that are made in close proximity to your business which will help you get more traffic, leads and sales.
Let’s use Just Creative Design as an example; if someone who lives around Newcastle (where I freelance from) searches for ‘graphic designer newcastle’ my business comes up first in the local search results of which you can see in the image above and that position is 100% free through the use of Google Local.
In the image below you can see the free local google listing again but this time you can also see my paid advertising at the top (highlighted in yellow) which I have paid for through Google Adwords. I use Google Adwords to ensure that I get clicked first no matter what.
Anyway, keep reading to find out how to get to number 1 on google for free.
What You Need To Get Free Advertising On Google
Before you jump in and get your free advertising on Google you will need to have these things:
- An account with Google.
- A short description of your business for when a user clicks on your business name.
- The phone number(s), addresses and any other contact information you want to advertise. Remember that the phone number will show up on the results page.
- A logo and/or image(s) of your business and products.
How To Get Free Advertising On Google
- Go to www.google.com/local and search for your business to verify that it is not already listed.
- Go back to www.google.com/local and click “Put your business on Google Maps” found in the left side bar.
- Follow the simple steps provided by Google. You will be asked to verify your business by phone or SMS. A good tip is to to not put your full address into Google but rather the largest town in your area. For example I live about 20 minutes outside of Newcastle in suburbia and not as many people would search for ‘graphic designer cardiff’ as they would ‘graphic designer newcastle’. I also do not want to show my home address on Google Maps as I freelance from home so this is a good way around it.
- Come back in a few weeks and see if your listing is up. My listing took about 3 weeks to show up and started off in position D and somehow moved to position A… I am not sure how this is controlled but I won’t complain.
- Well there we have it, you can now get free advertising on Google. You can track and edit your listing by going back to the Google Local page.
Further Tips
- You can also offer coupon codes on your Google Local listing – use this to your advantage!
- You can also add your products to Google Base, the product search engine.
- If you live in Australia, submit your site for free to True Local, the leading local search engine.
- If you live outside of Australia and know of some local submission sites please leave them in the comments below.
- You can learn about Search Engine Optimisation here.
- You may also want to swap to Gmail for your email, here is 10 reasons why to swap to Gmail.
Well there you have it, you can now get free advertising on Google. Good luck!
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176 JUST™ Creative Comments
Very clever indeed Jacob, well done man, the tip about not putting your full address is a great one too. I’ll be doing this when I get a chance for sure.
Awesome tips, thanks.
Once I get my new site built I will be making use of your advice! Legend :)
Thanks Jacob! I never realised before how people got their listings next to the Google Map… or how easy it is to do! Just added my business to the area.
Unfortunately it isn’t policed at all and I’ve seen various situations where a business will use a fake address to appear top of the listings. Google need to address this.
Sweeet, appreciated ;)
Hi, great tips, allthough I knew them all. But what if the Local Business Center don’t show up in organic searches? Does it depend on how many businesses there are?
In my area (webdesign skien) there are three listings, they use to come up when searching, but not anymore…
Oh, people should also know that there may be a bit delay before the listings get accepted, at least a week or so.
The Google Local page is displaying 404 errors to some but it is the correct address, please return at a later time if it shows that for you.
Dave,
Yes that is true, I have seen that but it is also handy for people who work from home that don’t want to display their home address. I am not sure how it ranks what order to put the businesses in but I know there are plenty in my area that don’t make it in the rankings.
Robin,
I am not sure how many businesses it needs for it to show up in Google and the delay took about 3 weeks for me.
I didn’t know this feature on Google.
Thanks for sharing Jacob.
It seems like Google has to have your exact postal code, which as a freelancer working from home isn’t a good idea for me. any way around this?
Cerven,
Put the post code of your nearest large town / city.
The map results aren’t showing yet in the Netherlands (for as far as I’m aware of it), but I have added my mothers business (the major project I’m working on) to it.
I think it is also a good way to increase your site’s importance in google’s system.
Hi Jacob, this may be off-topic, but very related – how come your Google pagerank has slipped to just 3/10? Or is it just my browser :( (using Google PR bar in Firefox)
This is a quality site, and if you have slipped down a bit, do you know the reason?
This is great technique to get exposed. Unfortunately, it is limited to certain number of countries. E.g. I live in Malta and Google does not offer the possibility to list businesses from a this beautiful island. So the only thing left for me and similar to me is to bring coals to Newcastle ;)
@dave ellis , you are right. Google does not police the local biz results enough at all. One major problem with it is that the main algo for choosing the top 10 to display is how close each one is to the center of the city. This is usually the case, unless there is highly ranked site located further away from the city, then this usually ranks higher up in the top 10.
I don’t think a large number of search users click on these local business results as much as you’d think.
For those interested in Google Maps, I published a fairly comprehensive study of the opinions of 20 Local SEOs about the factors that play into ranking well in Google Maps:
http://www.davidmihm.com/local-search-ranking-factors.shtml
Mike Blumenthal also has an excellent study of these factors:
http://blumenthals.com/blog/2008/08/04/ranking-factors-in-google-maps-cracking-the-code-smx-local/
I could kiss you for this excellent tip – thank you :)
Unlike Amanda I’m not going to kiss you:), but really great tip thanks Jacob! Most wouldn’t share this, its great that you have, cheers, Gareth.
Hey Jacob, what is the Google Organic that you referenced?
Andrew,
Not sure, was there a new Google PR update? I am not really fussed with the page rank… at one time I was PR5 but not sure what the reason behind it is.
Sasa,
That is unfortunate, but you’re welcome to Newcastle.
Brian,
That is another reason I should have noted, that the closer you are to what suburb you type, the higher you appear in the list.
In a few weeks there has been about 250 impressions for my google local listing, my listing had been viewed 3 times and far as my knowledge goes, I’ve had 2 calls from it.
Amanda, Gareth,
You are welcome!
Drew,
Google Organic means that my listings appear in the search results for free by organic means, ie. I have not paid for them. You may want to learn about SEO, here is an article for starters. 10 SEO Rules For Designers.
So what makes u rank above ur comps in local maps search? First in first serve or does it base it off the website u listed also?
I found this site actually by doing keyword research for newcastle graphic design ;)!
Somehow it moved to position A, this is your masterpiece to get the top listing, somehow? So anybody can register as a local business, your got from D to A by an unknown method and now your showing everybody else how to do it. Hmmm, the plot thickens and shows us nothing.
James, Warren
I really have no idea how I got to position A. When I first listed in Google Local I was on page 3 of the listings, then a week or so later I was in position D, then I got to position A a week later, all without doing anything. Maybe the order changes around every now and then and is based on your organic rankings which is my best guess. The plot does thicken but at least you know how to potentially get there.
Your work is awesome, further more, you are beautiful!
I’ve really dissected Google and I’ve added our address and updated GMaps before, but never even knew about this section… Thank you.
Jacob,
I wanted to let your readers know that it seems in the US, a full street address is required.
Google maps works. I had convinced a client to become listed and handled listing his business. He was so surprised at Google’s effectiveness, he kicked me a little extra after he had been paid for a sizeable contract resulting from his listing on Google maps.
The google.com/local link under point one above has a trailing slash – remove that and it will fix the 404
Krystal and John,
Thank you.
Charles,
Thanks for that, have you tried putting just the street name without the number? Nice to hear of you and your clients good fortune.
Andy,
Thanks for that, I have fixed it up now.
nice info mate. cheers
How to change positions has proved elusive, I tried a few things like changing our business name to include more/different keywords, which has resulted in shifts but not the A slot.
“One major problem with it is that the main algo for choosing the top 10 to display is how close each one is to the center of the city”
Has anyone tried using a city centre postcode to see if the listing moves higher?
WoW, now we all can have our listing on google for free. Thanks for the info.
Colin,
I suppose that it is no surprise that the business name changes your position… it makes logical sense.
Changing the postcode to the city center is a good tip however many people also have the city code as their post code… but it is definitely worth doing if you can.
Our business site has been showing in google maps for quite a while, existing customers with phones and Blackberrys appreciate the map when visiting first time (although we do have a map on the site) we have not done the same for our blog though, so big thanks for this.
Good strategy ;) Can you give us an idea of the statistic “click vs print” (stats you can find in the Google Local Business Center) ? I’m curious about the quantity of click a freelancer can have VS an hostel or other business of same type…
Nice post Jacob.
Another interesting statistic, if people see your business in both the natural search results and the AdWords results (as you have done) they are 1.8x more likely to click on your entry in the results page.
Wow, really smart trick!! And thanks for sharing!! Gonna try this! Bookmarked :)
I’ve added mine.. let’s see how long it takes to show up :)
Thank you, Jacob. Like the others have reported, you must enter a street address and zip code. You can omit the number. Plus, you can move the marker — which I did to the nearest major intersection.
Steve, Dainis, Mark, You are welcome.
Mathieu,
Well I have had about 280 impressions with 3 clicks onto my actual business name and 2 calls that I know about from the listing within 30days.
Don,
Thanks for the stats, I guess it is worth it then.
Meryl,
Ah ok, well I didn’t even put a street address into mine when I filled it out, I just put the suburb but good to know you can move the marker.
Sir,
Im trying this Google Local, unfortunately, it seems like it was not applicable here in Philippines? Our country doesnt appear on the list!
Correct me if im wrong!
Great advice! Thanks!
Google local is not applicable in my country (Albania) too. Eh!
Nice ;) Thank you again !
I am not exactly sure what countries qualify for Google Local so the best way is to check from your own country… thanks!
thanks!!!
Awesome sweet man…
Thanks for the Interesting read.
Will bookmark.
That is a nice way to get a good ranking.
This is a great way to advertise your business. Great!
Nice!! Thanks so much for the tip! I’ll be implementing your advice right away.
SWEEEET!!
I just checked. I seem to have position A for ‘Sutton Coldfield Graphic Designer’
I’m also no sure what decides your position, but it’s probably the same factors that decide your position in their general page results.
More kisses….
xx
Lisa, Justin, Mrcabi, Rosanna, James, Amanda,
You are all welcome. All the best.
Yes it is a good technique but many browsers don’t list Google maps anymore and although local is getting better, people still predominantly search for generic terms and they really have to figure out the “Local” aspect by adding a city address.
The listings certainly don’t hurt thats for sure but it’s just a piece of the puzzle to great page rankings…
Rich
hey jake.
how come my listing doesn’t appear at google.com but only at google/local?
Maxibon,
What is your domain? So you appear in Google Local but not actually in Google organic search results?
FYI, for the United States users, it does work if you just put the street name and no house number. Thanks, Jacob. :)
Thank u dude.
Thanks Jacob,you’ve done a great job. I’m using Google Adwords now and trying hard to get the best position on the page (the top left on the first search result page). Now I got the ideas from you and it’s really helpful. Thank you very much.
Hi Clayton,
Please be aware that the local search results do change around regularly. For example I am in position J now rather than position A. All the best.
MORE KISSES FOR SUCH GREAT TIPS. WILL GIVE IT A TRY.http://tinyurl.com/5a4cdf
It’s a great way to promote your business online, unfortunately not all countries listed, mine is not listed :-(
Thank you very much for your tip!
What an excellent tip. I have noticed Google local and maps, but never had a clue how it works. Seems easy too…Thanks.
I put mine in Chicago. I just get calls from abroad – mostly India offering their services to me for $15 an hour. (This is not comedy here. I’m serious. I really do get a lot of calls from India. Perhaps you get them too?)
Hey Jacob. Very informative read. I added my business on Local maps. I’m using CPC right now to get on the top page for my relative search that I need to be on. So far that is working. Thanks again.
hi i want my car web site free to ad on google thanks
Interesting, ive seen numerous companies doing this, will be interesting to see if google start to penalise people for doing this!
thank for information because i have new blog, i wish my can show no 1 in google or other search engine.
Thanks for the tips, I just added my blog.
Thanks for the info. Can’t wait to get started!
Hi there,
In Google Local Ads, when you create one, you are also allowed to put a description in the Description box of course. What I am wondering is if it is better to put:
94123 dentist, San Francisco Dentist, offers Veneers, Dental Implants
vs.
A dental practice that offers Veneers, Dental Implants in San Francisco.
Wouldn’t the first one give off better keywords, so that you will be more searchable say when you type 94123 Dental Implants? Or is it better to have the second one, and if you have in your address as San Francisco, California, it would key off of any of those words in the San Francisco area?
Thanks!
Hi Nanneth,
I suppose it depends on your business but I am not SEO expert so I wouldn’t want to give you the wrong advice however what you’ve suggested makes sense.
I have probably been looking around online for like the last 20 minutes for a site like yours. So i just want to give you a big thank you and tell you too keep up the hard work. Have a great weeken! =) Thank you!
Sweet! Nice tip man, cheers
Hi Jacob,
I tried your tip to be listed on google map in Toronto, Canada. I had to enter a postal code and I can only be listed for my neighborhood.
Just letting you know. thanks
how can I submit my page information for Local Business Center list if my country not listed in country list at google local business???
help me please.
by email will be better.
Thanks
I do not believe Google Local is available in all countries yet so just have to wait it out I guess.
excellent tips. however, do take note not all countries are listed there.
google staff should add/update the list of countries. such information is at their fingertips.
I tried not listing my full address, however the street address is a required field. I cannot just list a city. Is there another workaround?
Hi Jacob. I live in NZ but my business [holiday apartment] is in the Gold Coast. Because of this it will not accept the format of my NZ phone number, so i can not get a verification by Google, do have have any suggestions?
woow…nice trick..i will try it to put my ad to google.thanks :)
Thanx Jacob. Just set mine up and it’s come on straight away. Thanx for the info.
Great job done Jacob.
Thnks a lot Mr. Jacob,Very usefull….
Hi Jacob, thanks for info, will give it a try.
Steve
Thanks that was so helpful.
Excellent web marketing help. Thanx
Excellent suggestions :)
I’ve been helping my friend’s bakery build a website (soon to launch) and after searching “bread bakery tavares, fl” it comes up #1 :)
Even though it’s only out of 13k searches, it’s still really nice to see it at the top of the list :)
Thanx Jacob. Just set mine up
International Long Distance Calling Cards Online. Canada, Mexico, South Korea etc.
Those are some great tips, I used the google local for my own business and it shot my earnings up through the roof. I have a cleaning business that was getting around 40 visitors per day, but once my site hit the business search my visitors went up to 200 per day. It was great, so I suggest doing that first even if you don’t have a local business.
This is really very nice post…….
Great tips i have done same thing with my site my site rank from search engine optimization Chandigarh …
Thanks for tips
Davinder
Working on this website make the product my self, will help as these things alot of us dont know.
All information in 1 place great advice thanks.
jason metalistik
Hi Jacob,
Thanks for the great tips and we are adding our details now to Google local thanks!
Why do you advertise for “graphic designers newcaste”, when you are pretty much the first result anyway?
Does it make a difference/do you get more hits?
I am thinking of whether or not it would be economical for me to do the same! I run computing courses in England by the way – so im not a competitor!
I’d be really grateful if you could get back to me! I know your busy!
By the way, I love your site!
Kind regards,
James
James,
I no longer advertise using this keyword or any for that matter. After I used my first $100 worth of Google AdWords I found it really wasn’t worth the cost to continue. The organic search results were working just fine. Hope this helps!
great tip :)
Rank A thats awesome :)
Really good tips…
thanks
Hey, thanks a lot for valuable tips. I have a question about google place. Can i add multiple pages with same address on google place
Great article! I think every one should do this especially if ur business is in the suburbs
Great tips and thank you very much for sharing your idea with others.
wow great tips. Just added my site in google.com/local
Hope my listing will up soon
Great article!. I have done exactly what you said for Upscale Luxury Car rental- an Exotic Luxury Rental car company in Houston, Texas and it works. We are showing up number 3 for now
Awesome tips, thanks.
Google local listing is free to get traffic and branding. One must get his site listed in Google local listing
One of the best tips about SEo I have read. It works!
Great SEO info, definitely works, even in industries you might not expect. It has in L.A.
Google local really makes it easier for my clients to rank well without having to do a ton of SEO… not so sure the competitors who were ranking #1 organically are exactly happy about it though.
Hi Jacob,
Thank you for your article regarding the Google Local Listing we have tried adding ours but had problems with verifying the listing it will not verify a mobile phone number in the the UK for some reason do you know why at all?
Thanks
Money Supermarket Car Insurance
Sorry Rob, I can’t help you, however try a forum for some help.
You might try getting a google phone number with a US area code I don’t know if it will work or not but it might be worth a try.
Hi Thanks for the tips I’m going to try them straight the way. great posts as well.
This trick is virtually undiscovered and will not only give you a front page link on google, it will be local to your town. Great for small companies but not as good for big businesses.
COSTS NOTHING!!!
AWESOME WORK. THANK YOU
What you need to keep in mind, though, is that Google recognizes your IP address… so if you continually input your business or the same keyword phrases from the same computer at the same location it is going to “move up the page” for YOU because you’ve searched it before… where as someone else looking for your business at a different location may still see other businesses ahead of yours… just some insight so you fully understand how the relevance works. :)
Great post mate. It’s a good way to get ranking
Thanks for sharing this with us! Very useful post
Nice Thanks a lot!!
your suggestion is so powerfull man…thanks a lot….
Great article and posts. Thanks. Very useful tips for beginners.
Great advice. Question: After doing this, doesn’t this allow people/customers to post feedback and rank your business?
Hi Jacob, Your advice is awesome, can you please tell me how much would a person need to pay monthly approx, to get some good business and alot of traffic on the website. If you know any good companies, please refer me asap. I will appreciate it…
Thank You, Jack
Man u r Awessome king of Kings
Great tip – I’ve just created my entry in Google Local. However it does insist on entering an exact address (Street Name and number) so you have to give this. Also there’s no option to confirm identity by SMS, only by card send to postal address. I guess they have tightened up their identity checks. Anyway still worth a shot.
Thanks for the great tips.
nice … thankyou so much.
Hi, I thought this tip was great, however,
I too work from home and don’t want to give my address out. I could not find a way to get listed without giving street and post code.
Anyone have any tips?
Best
Simone
Thanks for the tips Jacob. I am currently looking into SEO for my site and will give these tips a try.
Thank’s for information, nice!!!
Thank you very much for the tip. This certainly help.
Further to the comment re working from home from simone does anyone have anyways around this problem?
Very clever indeed Jacob. I never realised before how people got their listings next to the Google Map. Has anyone tried using a city centre postcode to see if the listing moves higher?
I have not more trafic by google. what is my web site problem
Thanks for those great tips
I never really thought of ways like that but I don’t suppose that Google Local technique would work if you have a website aimed at the world, such as a rock music blog delivering news.
This is great reading for anyone looking to read up more about seo and also anyone who wants further ideas whilst running a campaign right now. Its also interesting to get an idea of things in Australia.
Thanks for the information! I’m getting started on it now.
Cool part of this article is that it ranks #1 for “quickest way to get ranked #1″
I have listed my business on Google maps and it started listing in google search results but unfortunately it disappears after few weeks???
Thanks for sharing!
Is there any option for personal sites? I don’t run a business so I don’t want people to get confused with the apartment I live in.
This method is very effective if one want to rank a business. i will save this method for when i get brick and motor store. For now all my business is online site. check out my favorite blog when you have time .
Hi Jacob,
Question: To verify my business, it’s says that a postcard will be mailed to the address that I provided. However, I did not provide my complete address since I work from home office. It did not give an option for phone verification. What can I do?
yes ! thankyou —Google does now confirm the legitimate address & business owner by mailing PIN code to the submitted address. so it takes about 3weeks and you need to submit your actual address.
Great tips. I noticed this was written a few years ago so do you have any further tips? I can use these for my business.
thanks Jacob Cass..
I have listed my business on Google maps and it started listing in Google search results but unfortunately it appears after few weeks approximate 8 to 9 page .
sir i want to fastly grow with my business for to do my site on the top of Google page
http://www.creativemlm.com
thanks sir…
Thank you for your info, people forget about the basics. This is a good reminder to do our homeworks before to tackle the harder stuff.
Great tips, Also very interesting.
On my way to effect it.
Thanks.
i did your tip and add my business to google local.
how long it take to get the first rank from google?
Mybe it was working in the past, now they send you a postcard with a pin at the address specified when you register and you have to confirm your listing with that pin.
Mybe it was working in the past, now they send you a postcard with a pin at the address specified when you register and you have to confirm your listing with that pin.
Anyway the idea is fantastic
Help !!!
I submited my listing to google places and i got the pin, entered it and after it told me the misting will be online in one day, after one day and even more i go to my account on google places and when i click “see your listing on google maps ” i get the message “We currently do not support the location” which can’t be because there are many other listings on that locations. Anybody has any idea of whats happening?
Andreea
Hi Jacob,
Nice logo, nice website. In my continual quest to study and learn what others are saying about how to rank a website, I found you. This appears to be an old post, but it’s still going strong! I know about Google Maps, but haven’t utilized the local google business center. Does the Google maps still work for people that have a home office and don’t want people to just drop in? In other words, home office, but not office “do drop in” location. Appreciate your answers whenever you get to it. Also, what programs do you work in for your designs?
Jayme Proctor, ReachUpMarketing.com
Thanks for info,,, join http://fiverbook.com/
How can we put the wrong address. I mean I stay near Mumbai but not exactly in Mumbai. And btw to verify the listing when I put the phone number I cannot very by sms or phone because there are no operators listed, so my only option is to very by pin which would be sent through post. In that case I cannot put wrong address :(
Any suggestion would help.
Thanks
Thanx for sharing this Jacob.
hi
how can i promote my website can’t able to post it in google maps ?
I have completed the task through your advice. Just tell me how much time need to add on google map???
This is Really Good Tips!!
I really thanks for this post. This is good for those who don’t know about the Free Google Advertising. If you want to advertise your Business then try to us.
The biggest ongoing problem that we all have is promotion, especially when you are in freelance!
A forum where we can show our skills, and this is a very good way to go about it!
Thank you very much for your post, I intend to look into this.
Thanks again
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