In our last post on how Joomla can be used by doctors, we briefly discussed that doctors, as well as any other small businesses, should list their Joomla website on Google Places in order for their business to get more exposure. In this post we are going to elaborate on how to do this. Below is a full, step-by-step guide:
- The first thing that you need to do is to create a Google account. You can create a Google account here. Once you create your Google account, you need to login to Google with this Google account. If you already have an account with Google, then you can safely skip the account creation step and login directly to your Google account.
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The second thing that you need to do is to go to Google places. Once you’re there click on the Get Started below.
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Now you need to fill in your information in the country field and the phone number (for example, “United States” for country, and “212 221 2221” in your phone number). Make sure you enter the right phone number. Click on “Find Business Information” once you filled in both the country and the phone number fields.
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Now you need to enter all the information about your business, including the business name, the full address, your email address, your website address, a description about your business, the categories that match your business, your opening hours, your payment options, and some photos about your business. Once you have filled in all the information, click on “Submit”. Some important things that you need to be aware of:
- Fill in all the 5 categories (don’t just fill one). The more categories you fill, the more exposure your business has. Make sure you don’t enter categories that are not relevant to your business.
- The address of your business must be accurate and full, because Google will mail you a verification PIN to that address.
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That’s it! Now you will receive a mail from Google within 4 weeks containing a PIN number and a link where you should enter that PIN number. Once you enter the right PIN number, your listing will show on Google searches as part of the Google places.
If you need help adding your Joomla website to Google places, then feel free to Contact us. We’ll only charge you for an hour’s work, and our fees are very reasonable!