Using Coupons to Enhance Your Local Business Listing

There is no way around it, people are looking for bargains so they can get the most bang for their buck. Online coupons are growing in popularity so what better place to jump in the mix then with your listing on Google’s Local Business Center (LBC)?

There are listings like this one from Red E. Kleen Carpet Cleaning Professionals in Everett, WA who have added a coupon to their listing.

Local Business Listing Coupon Selection

They have added a 15% off coupon for first time customers to get them to choose their company over the 9 others that are listed on the same page on Google search. So how do you create a coupon and what do they look like? Coupons on Google are easy to create via their easy to use templates. The hard part is selecting the right keywords to use to add to your listing’s overall search mojo! Coupons, if you have not added one to your LBC listing, are a powerful tool in your local search arsenal for attracting first time customers. They are a largely ignored feature that has huge potential for promoting your business and featuring what you do best!
To get started adding a coupon to your site go to Google LBC landing page where you will see two tabs at the top: Dashboard and Coupons.

Adding Your Coupon

Select the coupon tab where you will be directed to select your business listing to which you want to attach a coupon (if you have more than one business listing present). Select “add new coupon” and you will then be led to a fresh page with form fields.
Create something valuable to your client. Perhaps a 30 minute free initial consult or a 15 minute free consultation with a dentist? What do you already do for your clients that adds value to the services performed?

Your Finished Coupon

After you craft the coupon and add a photo, you now can access the additional piece that creates more power to the entire thing…the link! This Google generated link is going to be something to watch going forward. It appears that Google will use this link as a destination URL in the really near future. It is plausible that they are positioning these links to add a coupon widget which will display the coupon on your business website as well. This will increase not only your visibility on the web but will also generate some more powerful links for your site as well. This should drastically improve click through rates!