One of the unexpected results of the internet revolution has been the effective roll out of smart phones, tablets and other mobile internet devices. The first part of the internet explosion meant that many homes and businesses were connected to the World Wide Web through modems and telephone lines.
We don’t have to go into the details of the move away from office bound desktop machines, from the huge clunky machines, to the first laptops, to the modern laptops and mini laptops. These were all fine but essentially they all had limited battery life and to be used effectively they needed a table or counter top.
The mobile phones had already happened and more and more phones over the last 5 years started to become “Smart”. Realizing that the majority of computers were never used to anything like their capacity and in fact a lot less processing power but a longer battery life and good graphics would suffice for most people’s needs the roll out of tablets began.
And they have exploded. Suddenly released from the need to be tied to a desk the internet is now effectively mobile with many people capable of being on line wherever they are, on a bus, in a train, in a car or walking their devices are capable of receiving internet signals and consequently being targeted for internet advertising.
Google Places is just that. An effective device for advertising and attracting visitors to your physical site by displaying your location on their tablet or smart phone. And of course it works just as well on any internet device so if one is planning a journey from one’s home or office on your laptop or desktop PC these ads will display with all the advantages of a normal web page but without the need to compete for page ranking on the search engine.
If you go to Google and type in the search term “clothing stores in (Name of a target location near you) the results page will display a page divided into 3 sections. The top left hand section, with a pale pink background, below that are the search results, probably upward of 25,000,000 and on the right hand side there is a strip map centered on the named area with a number of pins giving the precise locations of your search term.
These are the businesses that have listed themselves on Google Places. If you then click on one of those a more detailed page will emerge with a very precise map, a street picture and the address as well as a link to the website of the business.
The advantages are plain to see. Not only does it bypass many of the hassles of getting page ranking through traditional means, although that still is a requirement, but it give the local visitor a specific address to visit.
Furthermore the mobile device user has a moving display of businesses, places to visit, museums and churches and so on while he is in the area.
Discuss the advantages with Softline Solutions and see how they can assist you boost your web presence with Google Places.
