Google places is where you can manage your business listings in Google maps. You know when you look for a service in your area and you see the maps on top of all the other listings? If you look below I have attached an image that shows an example of a search result of map listings for the phrase "Pizza Atlanta GA" this is just an example to show you. I've highlighted the map listings in YELLOW.
I also want you to notice what I have highlighted in RED. Those are other sites that have reviews of their service. This is an important part in helping you get higher rankings in Google Maps. Google cross references these other sites to see if your business is a good business to list over all the other listings.
How To Optimize Your Google Listing
Whether your an internet marketer trying to help out your clients or you have your own local business. Here are some of the best practices when creating your listing. This is a very important part of your listing. You must fill out your listing with everything that you can. The more you input to your listing the more you will get out of it.
- Use keywords in title
- Use keywords in category section
- Upload Photos & Videos (keyword optimized)
- Use a local phone number
- Use a local address
- Add Hours of Operation
- Add payment options
How To Get Your Listing On The First Page
Now that you have your listing all set up we still have some work to do. Making your listing and optimizing it is not always enough to ensure that you appear on the first page. From my experience the two biggest factors that effect your results is CITATIONS and REVIEWS. The first part we are going to talk about is citations. Citations simply are other sites that have your address on them. They could be your website or other websites. The best practice is to have your business listed in as many directories as you possibly can. Here is a list of the Top Ten most important sites to have your business listed.
- Google Places
- Yahoo Local
- Bing Business Portal
- Super Pages
- YellowBook
- Angie's List
- Yelp
- Citysearch
- Merchant Circle
- Insider Pages
To get more reviews you need to encourage your customers to leave feedback about your business via through the above websites or directly on your Google Maps listing. The sites I listed above most of them will not only give you a citation but allow your customers to leave feedback. You can write them or send them an email to take a few minutes to leave feedback for your business. [box type="note"]Here is a quick tip on how to get more citations. Add your business info on your own website and when you make blog comments, posts, or forum posts make sure to include your business info as well. In forums you can even use your info in the signature box. You can also make free blog accounts at places like Wordpress, Tumblr, and Blogger. There you can include your business info to get extra citations. [/box]
The Easier Solution!
Do you not want to go through all of that yourself? Does it seem like a complete headache to you? Well if you don't want to go through all of what I listed above you can hire me to do all of it for you! That's right I can do it for you. Why should you let me do it? Because I have gotten over 100 websites on the first page of Google for Maps and organic listings. Don't hesitate feel free to ask me your ?'s on my contact page.
Original Post Here: How To Utilize Google Places
