To get a Google Places ranking is really very easy and needn’t take much time; so it’s another tool in your SEO “kit bag” that can help make a difference.
Just in case you’re not familiar with Google Places, this is the system whereby your business is identified on maps that Google serves in search results – you know, the maps with the red pins labeling locations?
Most businesses are NOT using Google Places correctly and therefore it’s easy to gain an immediate advantage over your competition and this brief guide shows you how.
- Claim Your Listing
It’s easy to claim your listing for free here. Simply fill in your business details and wait till Google sends you a PIN number through the mail so you can verify that you are the owner of that business.
- Set Up All The Details Correctly
Go through and list all your details correctly and consistently, including address and service area (if applicable – online businesses may have no specific service area.)
You can add little features like coupons to encourage visitors to come to your business; for example 20% discount on particular items if they visit your business before the end of the month. Whether they affect your rankings is not clear though.
- Gather Reviews
To give your business more online legitimacy and relevancy, encourage reviews from customers; ask them to post in your Google Places reviews section.
- Gather Google Places Citations
Citations are to Google Places what back-links are to off-page SEO. They give you credibility and authority and position your business as the place to go in your market.
Citations are web listings of your business name, address and any other contact details exactly as they are listed on your website and on Google Places. That’s why consistency is so important – so that you get credit for every citation.
These may be listings in directories such as Yellow Pages or Trip Advisor and there are some smart ways to build them and get ahead of your competition, because few businesses are using them to their full potential.
There is a website called Whitespark that allows you to analyse what the leading websites in your field are doing and to reverse engineer it.
It will list the top 7 websites in your field for their Google Places ranking and you are able to view all their citation sources and identify which of the sources are most commonly used. This information tells you the places to start approaching for citations because there’s usually no reason why you can’t be listed there if other similar websites have been listed already.
- All Businesses?
As you go about optimising and building your Google Places listing it should help you with local search rankings.
It’s especially important for a business with a physical store to be listed here; even if your business is conducted entirely online you can use your listed business address as it gives you another way of appearing in search engine results – and, as we keep stressing, variety is the name of the game with your SEO strategy.
You can learn more about a varied SEO strategy by watching the Competition Crusher workshop by clicking here. It’s free to watch and contains great advice for any start-up online business.
Claiming your listing is the first step in Google Places ranking.
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Dave,
With the recent release of Google Plus Business Pages: http://www.google.com/+/business/
Do you recommend people use both? Or concentrate your efforts only on one? If so which one?
I hear rumours online, that Google Places could be on the way out?
Cheers
A really nice roundup, David. Thanks!
Hey Matthew,
Good timing I actually just finished a presentation about this for one of my corporate clients. We’re just looking to convert it for our YouTube channel – stay tuned.
In the mean time… yes I think using both is the way to go. Google+ isn’t going anyway and it’s proven to influence rankings.
Your SEO Coach,
Dave
Ps. I haven’t heard anything about Places going anywhere but we are seeing Google pages and places merge… therefore, wouldn’t surprise me if they became one in the same. Too early to say though.
Hi Dave,
Brilliant guide, I do this myself but it’s great to always have a reminder.
I have a quick question regarding citations…
If the Google places listing has the phone number formatted like “xxxxx xxxxxx”, but directories show the number like “xxxxx xxx xxx”, is that a big problem? Surely the Google bots will know it’s the same number even if the formatting is a little different.
Thanks
Kiran
Hi Kiran,
Thanks for checking in… Google’s pretty smart these days. Don’t stress about the formatting of the number – the key is to just make sure the number is the same.
Hope that helps.
Your SEO Coach,
Dave
Thanks Dave, much appreciated!