Google Places

We added our school to Google Maps a little while ago using their Places feature as it seemed like a good way to help people find us. You can register your school as a place on maps by visiting this link.

Adding your details is very easy, and at the end of the process they ask you to verify who you are. We did this by postcard- they sent a card to us, we proved we got it, all good. In addition to basic details you can also add web links, photos, youtube videos, pretty much any other data you think is relevant.

Google Places also has a nice admin interface that runs behind it. I can keep track of how many people have searched for us, how many searched for related terms and got us, and what they did once they found the listing. For example, I know that in the last month nearly 7000 users saw us in a local search, and of that number 4000 then clicked on to visit our website. Interesting stuff, and justifies being on there I think.

Ah, and it’s free.