[UPDATED 9/17/14]: Google Places is now referred to as Google My Business. This service allows businesses to make themselves more visible to search engine and their visitors online, while the basic functions of Google Places remain the same. The updated dashboard makes your stats easily viewable in one place with deeper insights into your audience. Even if you're not a local business, the insights and reviews provided by Google My Business can be beneficial for all businesses.
Google Places quality guidelines state that the business name for your listing should represent your business exactly as it appears in the offline world. Taglines, phone numbers, URLs, and extraneous keywords should not be added to the business name field. While you can still see businesses use this strategy, it is not a long term strategy and in the end could get you delisted or penalized within the local search results.
A best practice in regards to Google Places is to use a standard version of your legal business name. Google gathers local citations across the web to create, update, and rank Google Place listings. Having a standard business name will allow Google to aggregate your business data successfully. There has been some instances where using a generic business name, such as Orlando Fence Company, that has caused the merger of several different business listings with the same keyword-rich business name into one listing. Not good.
For addition help setting up your Google accounts, or any other social media marketing efforts, contact Sales & Marketing Technologies to speak with an Digital marketing specialist today.