By Tim Patrick

To provide more relevant results for its users, Google has included local business listings within the main section of the search-engine results page. Not only does this benefit users looking for services in geographic areas, its huge for businesses who dont know a whole lot about search engine optimization (SEO). By following the basic guidelines below, any self-storage owner with a listing on Google Places can rank his company high in Google searches for his location.

Location. The first important element to ranking your company high in Googles local results is the physical location of the business. Storage companies are a great business to have listed because the address will almost never change. Once a storage building, always a storage building.

Google Places Listing. When searching for your business, if Google has already listed it in Google Places or Google Maps, then the first thing you want to do is verify youre the owner of the business. When verifying the listing, Google will send out a postcard with a PIN number to the actual address to verify the location does in fact exist there.

Make sure you have the address correct the first time because every time you try to change it, youll need to verify with the PIN. This usually takes around 10 days. If your business isnt listed, you can easily create a listing within your Google account and then verify it.

Details. When adding information to your listing, its critical to add as many details as possible. A more robust listing with correct information about your self-storage facility is key to having it rank well. Somewhere in your Google Places account it will tell you the percentage of completion. Aim to get this up to 100 percent. Be sure to add a few pictures as well.

NAP Consistency. NAP, which stands for name, place and address, should be consistent for better rankings. Having the same address on your own website is the most important place to have this consistency. You also want to have the exact information everywhere your business is listed.

Citations. A citation is a reference to your business on another website. The more citations you have, the more Google trusts that your business is located there and people are listing it. The best websites to be listed on are ones in similar categories as your own. You should also have a listing on sites such as:

Its important to get listed on all of these sites, and there are tons more like these. You can easily search for sites like these on Google. Most will ask you to upgrade for a premium listing, but this is not necessary.
Reviews. These are not as important as they used to be, but adding a few to your Google listing can only be a good thing. It used to be the more reviews you had the better the rank. Now its more about quality, relevant citations. To get reviews, its best to provide some incentives for your tenants to review your facility, such as coupons.

Backlinks. Although its not the most important part of becoming listed, you do want a few quality backlinks to your website and Google Places or Google Maps page.

Since many business owners do not know a whole lot about SEO, Google has provided a great tool for them to rank well on their site. With no knowledge of SEO or how Google works, you can become more noticed across the Web. By following these simple steps and treating each one of these with importance, your self-storage business should start to move to the top in your customers Google searches.

Timothy Patrick is the owner of Movers-Moving.NET, an online moving-quotes provider. By completing a simple form, consumers looking to move can receive moving quotes from local, long-distance and international movers, and auto-transport companies. For more information, visit www.movers-moving.net, or follow the company at Facebook.com/MoversMovingNET.