The Google Maps team will be offering a brief 45 minute webinar about the basics of the Local Business Center with a focus on Local Business Center for small businesses. It will cover:
- adding and verifying your local business listing to Google
- creating a great listing
- frequently asked questions
You will need to sign up on this form so that Google can send you an email invitation. Sign-ups close Friday, April 9, 2010.
Since last year with the rollout of the Favorite Places campaign, their Favorite Places Poster Campaign & sponsorship of GetList.org Local U, Google Maps has been involved in more efforts to reach out to SMBs and educate them about the Local Business Center and its potential. Its a welcome communication strategy that can only increase SMB participation and understanding of Local.*
Full Disclosure – Google Maps is one of the primary sponsors of GetListed Local Univeristy of which I am participating instructor and organizer.
Mike,
This is a big step for Google. Any sense how many seats or when the actual event will be?
Will
Comment by Will Scott (83 comments) — April 6, 2010 @ 7:13 am
@Will
There is little to no concrete information at this point. Hoping to learn more myself.
Comment by Mike (2500 comments) — April 6, 2010 @ 8:04 am
Do we have any idea of when the webinar will actually be? Either way, i signed up – can’t get too much info about google local.
Comment by Nick LeRoy (1 comments) — April 6, 2010 @ 8:19 am
@Nick
Other than what was mentioned in the pre-signup form mentioned above, we don’t really know.
Comment by Mike (2500 comments) — April 6, 2010 @ 8:45 am
Other than what was mentioned on the “pre-sign up” form, we don’t really know.
Comment by Mike (2500 comments) — April 6, 2010 @ 8:50 am
@Nick
Other than what was mentioned in the pre-signup form above, we don’t really know.
Comment by Mike (2500 comments) — April 6, 2010 @ 8:51 am
[...] Google to Offer Local Business Center Webinar to SMBs, Mike Blumenthal [...]
Pingback by SearchCap: The Day In Search, April 6, 2010 — April 6, 2010 @ 5:02 pm
Isn’t GetListed.org just an effort to create leads for online marketing companies? Why would Google have you fill out a registration form that is not attached to them directly? Google maps already has direct access to and markets to countless SMBs so this seems odd.
Comment by Gem (1 comments) — April 6, 2010 @ 5:50 pm
@Gem
Getlisted.org Local U (which is what I presume you are referring to) is first and foremost an educational platform. There is no lead referral as part of its activities. Google and Bing are sponsors of the event so that they can meet and interact with SMBs and better understand the marketplace.
The registration form mentioned above in the article is Google’s alone and reflects their sole direct effort at SMB education around the Local Business Center
Comment by Mike (2500 comments) — April 6, 2010 @ 6:49 pm
[...] Google to Offer Local Business Center Webinar to SMBs (blumenthals.com) [...]
Pingback by Is It Really Possible To Achieve Number One In Google? : Article Marketing Content, Tips and Information — April 7, 2010 @ 4:06 am
I think it’s great that Google are encouraging SMBs to get listed in the LBC – maybe that means Google will spend a bit more time fixing the problems with it.
I have been adding businesses to the LBC for a while now, but for some reason I’m experiencing some real issues with it at the moment, like Google merging two listings into one so it uses the title of one branch but the address of another!
I hope they will have a support team ready, I can’t imagine I’m the only one needing someone to sort out technical issues.
Comment by attacat_han (2 comments) — April 7, 2010 @ 5:23 am
Yeah Google local business listing probably doesn’t require a great deal of attention on their part to fix flaws because people will use it regardless.
Comment by Maciej (2 comments) — April 7, 2010 @ 3:59 pm
[...] Google to Offer Local Business Center Webinar to SMBs – Mike Blumenthal [...]
Pingback by Weekly Search & Social News: 04/13/2010 | Search Engine Journal — April 13, 2010 @ 10:24 am
[...] outreach to SMBs. These efforts included the Favorite Places campaign, the Favorite Places Decal, Webinars and outreach like GetListed Local University (full disclosure: I help organize this event). This is [...]
Pingback by Does the Separation of Google Maps and Google Local Portend a Divorce from infoUSA? | Understanding Google Maps & Local Search — May 27, 2010 @ 9:27 am