I recently had someone ask me how to get Google to show that little plus sign for the map drop-down beside your listing. While I am not going to say with 100% certainty that this will get you the mini map, I can say that it has worked for some of my previous clients and is also good for SEO and online marketing in general anyway. For one thing, it allows you to write your own description. You can even include a CTA and keywords.

MYTH BUSTER: As you will see in the image below, getting an indented listing AND/OR a Google Map on under your result does NOT require you to be in the first position for that search term! However, if you do have a #2 listing and a #8 listing on the same page, the #8 will automatically get bumped up to an indented #3. And yes, there are ways to increase the odds of this happening, but that’s another blog entry.

Before we get started, the image below is a Google listing for a previous client of mine. He was doing much better SEO-wise when First Page Fitness was working with the account, but that’s besides the point. What I want to show you is the Mini Google Map beside this listing:

Step 1
Make sure your full business name and address are easily found (in text) on your website in the following format:
Business Name
Street Address
City State Zip
Phone Number

NOTE: If you have already verified your google Local account (recieved a PIN in the mail or by phone, logged in and entered it) skip to step 7.

Step 2
Go to Google Maps (formerly Google Local) and click on the link that says “Add/Edit Your Business” in the bottom left corner.

Step 3
You will need to verify that you are the owner of this business and that it does indeed have a physical location at the address listed in Google Local. You will need to log into Google Maps in order to do this. Go ahead and sign-up if you do not already have an account with Google.

Step 4
You will then have the option of filling in your business name, location, etc. Fill in your info and click continue.

Step 5
If your business is already listed in Google Maps you should check the radio button next to the listing (if there are more than one, click the most appropriate) and hit continue to edit the information (be sure to add a description and your website address). If you do not see your business, click the radio button next to “My business doesn’t appear here.” and move on to add your business.

Step 6
Once you have completed the process you will be given a choice of getting a phone call or receiving the PIN by mail. Either way, you are verifying that you are the owner of this business and that the phone number and/or address is accurate by logging into your account again and entering the PIN to activate the new listing, which will include your customized description and website URL.

Step 7
Verifying your Google Maps listing is the most important step to getting the map to show under your site in the SERPS. The second part involves Geo-targeting the site itself, especially the home page. Although I have verified my own business listing on Google Maps, there is a reason why the map does not show under our listing on a search for First Page Fitness - even if you search for First Page Fitness Denver. That is because this site is not geo-targeted. From my experience so far, I would expect that the map would show up if I were to put the word “Denver” in my title, meta tags, and body a few times.

However, nothing is guaranteed and if Google is good at anything it’s Keeping Us Guessing. So do what you can in hopes of getting the nifty map, but realize that the effort it takes to do so is actually helping your rank for important geo-targeted keywords, allowing you to customize a message in your listing, AND - probably most important of all - gaining a little bit more trust in the eyes of Google now that they know you are a “legitimate” business. Does that help your rankings? You tell me…