Local Search: Google Maps vs Website

I had an email yesterday from a fellow small business online marketing specialist with a question. He has some business owners saying that as they have a Google Maps entry they don’t see why they should bother to have a website as well. His question was what would I say in answer to them?

All small businesses need a Google Maps entry

A Google Maps entry is really important and as it’s free there is really no excuse – all small businesses should have one. It is especially important for local businesses to have a Google Maps entry as Google develops more and more tools for enabling local search; Google Maps is one of them and provides a link to some of the other new products. Many of these new initiatives are for the US market only at the moment but as with most internet developments they will get to us eventually (if not sooner!). But do you need a website too?

What happens when you do ‘local’ searches with no geograpic identifier?

One of the aforementioned new initiatives is here already and actually gives one of my reasons for why a small business owner definitely needs a website too. If I type ‘electrician’ into Google without a geographic identifier Google returns, amongst other entries, a load of Google Maps entries for electricians in London. Now, I don’t live that close to London but my IP address presumably shows that I am fairly close to London and that’s why I get those results.

As Google’s Tools get more sophisticated I would expect to see better, more local, results appearing for my search. Now, imagine I had searched for ‘house rewire’ and didn’t put a geographic locator in there. You might imagine that I would get some Google Maps entries for London electricians again. Wrong – I get a list of websites with useful content about getting your house rewired, and three of them happen to be electricians/electrical companies who offer that service. One in London and two in a county north of London. Now, I’m guessing that it’s probably no coincidence that the entries I’ve got are local to London, after all Google knows where I’m searching from. But as my search wasn’t interpreted as being for a local business / service there are no Google Maps entries listed even though the top listed website www.majorelectrical.com/rewire.php does have a Google Maps entry (which I found by searching within Google Maps). If they were just relying on their Google Maps entry I wouldn’t have found them.

A well-optimised website is also essential to enhance & support your Google Maps entry

So, what does that tell us? Google Maps is a must for all businesses and I would say that a website with fresh, relevant content is also essential. Marketing a small business for me is all about taking many potentially diverse, yet targeted, actions to make up ‘a whole’, which is the presence of the business. So, online that means Google Maps, a website, a Facebook Fan Page, a Twitter profile and even a YouTube channel (all searchable by Google) at the very least. Now I realise that not everyone has the time or the inclination to do this but as more and more of our local business search goes online (when was the last time you looked at an online directory?), those businesses who don’t use this opportunity will lose out big time to those business owners who take the time and make the investment to participate in this increasingly online business world.

Some other reasons to have a website as well as a Google Maps entry:

Regular, fresh content

As mentioned above (and many times before on this website!) Google likes fresh, relevant content. You have much more oportunity to create this to help your Google ranking using a blog website than by just using the functionality you get on Google Maps.

A website gives a more professional impression of your business. You can make your Google Maps entry look great but you are reliant on their format, with your own website you can create the presence that you want. Visitors may also feel more confident about doing business with you once they have been introduced to your own website, bought and paid for as it were, rather than just a free entry on Google Maps. And, of course, you can publish reams of information about your business on your own website that will always belong to you.

Two results returned (or even three if you include PPC/sponsored listings)

If you have an organic result on the Google page that is returned as well as your Google Maps entry that gives you a really strong presence on that page, with more chance of getting the click through. And if you have a Pay Per Click / Sponsored Entry that can be even better (although let’s hope your potential customers clicks through on one of the free entries, not the one where you’re paying!)

Keep in with Google

Lastly, I can’t help thinking – with no evidence mind you – that having a strong website presence in Google searches may help in getting your Google Maps entry to appear nearer the top. No one (outside of Google) knows how Google works out which order to list the Maps entries in – I’ve heard that including a coupon can be helpful and so can reviews, possibly – but I just wonder if also having a strong presence on Google with your own website stands you in good stead all round!

What do others think?