Google and many marketing experts recommend that you make your Places listing as complete as possible in order to make it more attractive to searchers.

Search Engine Optimization consultant Geoff Kenyon explains, “Google wants to give users the best experience possible; in most circumstances the user will have a better experience if there is more information present on the Places page. This means not only filling out the required text fields but also the optional ones.”

The implication is that all other things being equal, Google, given a choice between two similar Places listings, would display the more complete listing more prominently.

Even when several results are shown side-by-side — as is the case with Google’s new local carousel (search for “coffee new york” for an example) — a more complete listing will be more compelling to the shopper.

With this in mind, be certain to include your website URL, email address, telephone number, hours of operation, accepted forms of payment and well written description of your business.