One of the things that is taking off today is the use of Google Maps to market and advertise a business. With the coming updates on Google Maps, both the business owner and user will have a much better experience. The owner of the business can market and advertise in a more direct way to those within the locality and users will be able to find the business with ease in order to take advantage of the deals. An increase in the number of local searches has led to several updates and this is how your business can position itself to take advantage of the said updates: 
Make use of promoted pins – These are advertisements that are linked to the pin located with the intent of increasing business to the store. Local searches on Google via mobile device grew by 50% necessitating this update. A promoted pin basically makes use of your company logo in order to mark where you are located on the map. Whereas regular pins on Google Maps are red, promoted pins will be purple and will show up first during organic searches. You need to be eligible in order to get a promoted pin so check Google’s criteria to see if you qualify. Have a Business Page – If you will be advertising using promoted pins, you will need to create a customizable page for your business. Here, you will give information about any specials or deals that you have currently, what you carry at the store and further details that will bring business right at your doorstep. Of course, you will also be expected to provide your contact information. It is important that this page be optimized properly since you want to drive traffic to it. Since mobile searches are growing quite significantly, this may end up being one very important page for you. Local Search Advertisements – These allow you to target people within your locality who may be interested in what you have to offer. The searches can be done via mobile device or via desktop. With more than 1 billion downloads on Google Maps, having this platform as an advertising gateway may just be the best way to advertise to the locals. This will also boost your overall rankings on Google. Even though these updates have not been implemented fully yet, they are something to consider and to begin to strategize around. The first step is to ensure that you are set up on ‘Google My Business” first so that you can have that local search optimization. Feel free to contact us for any further information.
