Why Maps Are Important to Small Business

Introduction: Your customers are using maps on their home computers and on their mobile phones. Internet mapping and the social internet have converged and this creates a huge opportunity for small business. Have you checked to see if Google has mapped your business? It probably has. These days, when someone is deciding whether or not to become your customer, where they are in relation to where you are is more likely to influence their decision than ever before. Two big opportunities stem from this – Search and Social. Each uses maps in a different way, and the way that will work best for you will depend on the type of business you have.

Using Google maps for Search: These days, someone driving through a town would search for a cafe using Google Maps on their smart phone. Smartphones can show them a Google map of where they are and all the cafes near them. Of all the cafes on the screen, those that haven’t completed their Google Place page are unlikely to appear first. Most people click on one of the first few search results, so being at the top of the list is important if you want your business to be found.

Using Facebook Places for Social: Another way customers can find you is through their Facebook friends. When a customer can check-in to a cafe using Facebook Places they automatically share their location with all of their Facebook friends. If their friends are close by, they might meet up!

Your customers are using internet maps to search for you, so you need to be sure that you can be found where they are looking. Businesses that traditionally would have been found using the Yellow Pages now need to have a Google Maps presence. Hospitality businesses need to be active on the social internet as well as being on Google Maps.