Google Places Tips

Google Places Tips

May 10th, 2011 // 12:21 pm @ Marnie Castle

Through Google Places, formerly called Google Local, you have the ability to create a high-quality free listing for your business whether you currently have a website or not.

While it’s relatively easy to create the listing, it can be much  challenging to get your listing to appear on the first page for the keyword phrases you are targeting.

To that end, I offer the following seven tips:

1. Before creating (or claiming) your listing it is important that you do thorough research. You should know what you your customers are searching for when they are trying to find your product or service.

2. Fill out every field completely.
There are approximately 20 fields to fill out when completing your Place Page listing. It is imperative that you fill out each and every field as the omission of even one can negatively affect the ranking of your Places Page.

3. Utilize every available category.
Google will suggest one category specific to your business and require you to use it. However, you can also add more categories and it is important to do so.

Using your keyword research, use your remaining keywords as the category names until you have used every additional category available to you.

4. Google allows you to use up to ten photos and I encourage you to use every one of them. You can also enhance your optimization efforts by renaming your images to include your keyword phrases before uploading them.

It may seem basic, but it’s true. Each business owner is afforded the same opportunities when creating their Google Places listings but many don’t take advantage of them.

5. You’re allotted five videos — use them too.
As it is a bit harder to create videos than photos, you’ll frequently find that your competitors fail to use their entire allotment.

However, you can create short “slideshow” type videos (which are merely a collection of photos put to motion) quite easily. If you search Google for the phrase, “slideshow maker,” you’ll find a number of tools that can help you make these types of videos online.

You’ll need to upload each video to YouTube.com before you can add it to your listing.

6. Understand citations and build as many of them as possible.
A citation occurs whenever an online reference is found for your business and services. In Google’s eyes, it’s a validation that your business truly exists and that it offers the type of services you list on your Places page.

It’s important that your citations closely match the information found on your Places page. You can create your own citations by submitting your information to a variety of online directories including Yellow Pages, Super Pages, CitySearch, Insider Pages, Yahoo Local, Localize and a number of others.

7. Get reviews and ratings.
Google will automatically display reviews it finds on sites like yelp.com and  insiderpages.com. Having a lot of positive reviews is not only helpful for your Google Places SEO, it can help you get business that might have gone to a competitor otherwise.

Ask your existing clientele to post a review of your business on the site of your choice and if necessary, offer them some form of bonus for completing the task.

If you spend the time to follow each of these seven tips, you’ll be well on your way to getting your Places page listed on the first page for a variety of terms.

Just like traditional SEO however, don’t make the mistake of neglecting your listing after completion. While you’ve completed the majority of the work, it’s wise to continually build new citations, get more reviews and ratings and respond publicly to the reviews you receive.

Category : Blog