I thought this was worth remarking on for a couple of reasons:

1. The novelty of getting a letter from Google telling you you’re one of their favorite places makes for a neat moment and a nice picture.
2. Google has been pretty explicit about their favorite places being those that achieved a certain level of activity in Google Local Business Center.

Will McLemore, proprietor, is an enterprising fellow and had signed up for Google Local Business Center well before Get Found Friday (and well before he was a customer, in fact). His business is constantly selling things, but it’s not a store. It’s not the kind of place that gets a lot of retail foot traffic. In short, it doesn’t fit the profile of a lot of other local businesses, some of which I’ve worked with, that seem like more natural results of a Google Maps search or even just universal search results that include maps.

So we’re both interested in what put him over the top. It’s possible that having a maturing business that has been pretty smart about the Web and search for its duration meant that just being an early adopter of Google Local Business Center has given him more exposure. It certainly makes for an interesting Google Analytics challenge, as I look to see whether queries like [nashville auction] can be correlated meaningfully with the numbers mentioned in the letter for people who “found” McLemore Auction and then people who requested more information. Unfortunately, both seem like statistics that Google keeps to themselves.

Now Will has a barcode on his door. It’ll be interesting to see whether anyone scans it. And even more interesting to see what Google does with the results.

Here are the criteria:

• Your business must be independently owned and located in Metropolitan Nashville and Davidson County.
• Your business cannot have more than two locations.
• Your business cannot have more than 50 full-time employees.

Our focus in this promotion is helping small, locally owned business that are building their brand get found. Being listed in Google Local Business Center is one of many important steps a business—particularly in retail or restaurants—can take to get found by potential customers. And it improves the search experience, too. A customer might find out that you exist, and might even learn your address. But are you making your hours of business easily available to them? Are you learning how people found you? You should be.

Search and search engines (including variants from the general purpose heavyweights, like Twitter Search) are the Yellow Pages of the 21st century, and we want you to be listed.

And before you know-it-alls protest, yes we know that Google Local Business Center is a free service that anyone can sign up for. But we also know that some businesses are just getting their online presence off the ground and might not be as familiar with the Web and how to leverage it as you are, smartypants. We want them to get found, too, okay? And we want to ensure they put their best foot (and information) forward as they get started. And if more local businesses sign up on their own and discover how to leverage the dashboard, then more the better!

We look forward to supporting our independent and local business community. Sign up today!

Even if you don’t qualify or if you’re already listed in Google Local Business Center but want to learn more about the process of getting found, please contact us. We offer services that aren’t free, too.