Instead of the phone book, people go to their computer or their cell phones and search for what ever needed online. If you want to do business with them, you have to put yourself on the results page of that search. You actually need to know how to get on Google maps.

Now there are a number of challenges in doing that. Not the least of which is learning which keywords or inquiry your customer would actually use in their search for you. If you're a plumber and only appear when people search for the word "plumber" you're going to miss people searching for help to fix their "water heater," or "leaky pipes."

Probably the biggest mistake made by less experienced web marketers is a tendency to not spend sufficient time doing keyword research. This is especially important for national campaigns, but also is applicable to local businesses as well. Eventually, when you establish your Google Places listing, you can claim up to five categories for your company.

For some that will be enough, for others it won't begin to include the diversity of their product options. You know your business better than anyone. At times this can be a handicap when it comes to identifying the keywords your potential new customer might use to get you. They don't know your business as well and may find some pretty roundabout means of finding you.

There are numerous paid keyword tools that SEO experts will use to help in this approach. But I normally use a free tool that Google provides to do keyword research. It sometimes comes up with useful insights that amaze business owners, so I will describe how I use it in a moment. But first I would like to make a point about a significant distinction about advertising online as opposed to the old yellow pages days.

Yellow page advertising was often a bit expensive and while you might get your business listed in various categories doing so also multiplied the cost. As a result many businesses restricted their listings to one or two categories at the most. It is not needed to do so online.

For organic search you can and must have a separate web page for each major line of product or category. For Google Places you are allowed to list five categories. You need to do your best to make use of all five. This is part of the answer to how to get on Google maps when your potential customers search for any one of these categories.

If you are a divorce lawyer and nothing else that you do, you should take note of the major different key phrases people might use when they search for a divorce lawyer. If you also do criminal work, or property planning, or adoption work, you will need to choose which five topics are most essential to you and your practice.

If you are a plumber as in my previous example you need to look at the major different purposes a new customer could be looking for your services. If sump pump repair is a prosperous portion of your business you may well have to include that over say leaky pipes if they are less profitable or less desirable line of business

These are just some of the main ideas you need to understand when learning how to get on Google maps.

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