When Google puts out a product, it tends to be a game changer. Google Places is as good an example as any. While it went through a number of 
incarnations, the finished product is now a part of any Google search for specific businesses or local options that offer the services and products they provide. Like so many things Google offers, this function can be leveraged to your business’ advantage if you know what you’re doing.
First, you need to set up a listing with Google. This is easy enough, fortunately. All it takes is for you to confirm your listing either with a phone call or a postcard. Next, submit whatever relevant information you want Google to display on your behalf. Here’s where some of your competition probably gets lazy. Basic information is important, of course, but don’t forget to send in plenty of photos and a video or two, too. Really optimize this opportunity the same way you would your website. Google can put untold millions at your doorstep if you handle this process right.
Then you just wait for Google to update your listing. It could take a couple of weeks, but obviously the wait is worth it. The search engine will then crawl through the Internet to find more third party information about your company that’s relevant to the listing. This is why it’s always important to do everything you can to ensure that sites like Yelp are going to report back positively on your company. Google is sure to harvest that site’s info and make it immediately available to anyone who searches for your business or local options for that industry.
Another place you see companies screw up with Google Places is also similar to mistakes that are common on their websites. Most people know by now that keyword stuffing is tantamount to sabotage when it comes to SEO. Yet they essentially try the same tactic with Google Places. The search engine allows users to pick categories their business falls into. Pick one category—the most accurate category—and leave it at that. Your restaurant isn’t a bar, for example. It may have a bar, but that’s not what people are looking for when they search Google for “bars in Saint Paul.”
Every business should take advantage of Google Places and optimize like they would any other web presence they have control over. However, like a website, you need to be smart about how it will reflect on your business and how Google will view it.
Source:
http://www.inc.com/guides/201106/how-to-use-google-places-to-market-your-business.html