Understanding Google My Business & Local Search
Google Local Business Center Categories – The Complete List
Update 02/11/10: These Google LBC categories have now been placed in a searchable database too located on the Google LBC Categories page of my website.
Picking the right category with the Local Business Center is one of the keys to success in Google Maps. Categories are critical to being considered relevant on any given search and should be chosen carefully to meet your short and long tail priorities. Since a business may only enter 5 they become very important.
Given the way that they are presented, it is difficult to plan ahead which categories might be the most appropriated for you or your client’s listing.
Here is a complete list of every category and synonym that Google currently provides within the Local Business Center. At some point in the future, I will provide the information in a searchable database to make it more useful for planning purposes:
Google Local Business Center Complete Category and Synonym List
On the list you will find 2239 categories which includes plurals ie lawyer and lawyers as well as certain geographic place categories like “estuary” and other geographic phrases. The fact that the categories include both singular and plural should reinforce the sense that you need to pick the ones you need for your listing carefully.
When the Local Business Center was first released Google only offered a choice 450 categories and no custom categories. At the time if you used any of the limited categories offered in the LBC, Google would use those to supplant any that had been provided by the Superpages. So the upshot during that timeframe, was that you had to remove ALL categories from the LBC to get into a given Superpages category in Google maps results.
In March of 2008, Google subsequently went to a more free form, expanded categorization structure, initially not requiring the use of any of their categories. This summer, Google started requiring that a user select one preset category and then allowing for 4 additional preset or custom categories.
I would love to hear how you use this list.
© Copyright 2024 - MIKE BLUMENTHAL, ALL RIGHT RESERVED.
Comments
64 Comments
Your list is terrific but …….
I have a laser cutting and engraving business, for which Google does not have a category for either Laser Cutting or Laser Engraving.
I had a scan through your Google Category List and low and behold there is the primary category that would do “Laser Cutting Service”. Unfortunately Google does not acknowledge its existence.
Is this entry in error or is it something to do with the high and mighty dictator? Can you shed any light?
Ours being something of a niche service business, although there are plenty of us here in the UK and in the States, so Manufacturing really doesn’t do the job and it is nigh on impossible to find a realistic substitute. I would very much appreciate any pointers that you may be able to offer.
When I look at the categories for the UK in the tool I do not see a category for Laser Cutting or Laser Engraving
Hello Mike, thanks for that. After some further digging, I also discovered that, according to Google, the UK does nothave any use for laser equipment other than for those three entries.
I managed to speak to a real, and helpful, human at Google today. He was as surprised as I was at this situation. Even more surprising is that, although my dashboard indicates that Laser Cutting Service is an invalid category, the Tamar Laser Craft public listing page is showing that this category is live and valid. Unfortunately, because it is deemed invalid in the dashboard, I cannot add secondary categories. Not very consistent.
@john
Google used to allow custom categories under the old dashboard. They do not allow them with the new dashboard. Most but not all listings have migrated but a few still have the old dashboard and custom categories.
I’m having issues choosing a category for my company.
I own and operate my own company. As a movie critic, it should be easy to find a category. Unfortunately, it is not… Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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