Intro to Google Places - Getting Started with Google Places

Intro to Google Places

Jennie Lane@owlflurry

Search Engine Marketing TeamSchipul – The Web Marketing Company

Why?

20-50% - or 2+ Billion

B2B

1. Crawl: Claim your Listing2. Walk: Handle the Basics– Make sure everything is

correct– Link back to your

website3. Run: Be a Places Pro– Fill out all fields– Add rich media – photos

& videos

Photo credit: flickr.com/photos/ernestduffoo/5821154551

Step 1: Claim Your Listing

Photo credit: flickr.com/photos/90547352@N00/4169265839

Find Your Listing: google.com/places

Step 2: Verify the Basics

Photo credit: flickr.com/photos/maryandjc/3155506458

Basics

• Make sure the information is accurate– One & only one listing for your location– Address & phone number are correct

• Use the exact business name• Report Issues you Can’t Fix– “Problem with this listing?”– Google Map Maker google.com/mapmaker

Categories1. Use All 5 Categories2. Use as many Google

Categories as possible>> Google knows that

Dentists clean teeth & Plumbers fix faucets

3. For custom categories, base on profitability – Tip: Use terms that

trigger a “7 pack”– Tip: Look at your

competitors

Step 3: Advanced

Photo credit: flickr.com/photos/blhphotography/488927490

Rich Media

Add Status

Opportunity to link back to your site!

Step 4: Reporting

Photo credit: flickr.com/photos/emdot/2424314

Step 5: Advanced Stuff

Photo credit: flickr.com/photos/jackson252/5410881997

Encourage Reviews

• Link customers to review sites

• Quality over Quantity

• Bad reviews are ok - Respond publicly & take it offline

• Google pulls different rating sites depending on the industry

• For insight on your industry, view competitor pages

LocalSEOguide.com surveyed top 20 categories in top 20 US cities and came up with this list of most popular sites:1. Yelp2. CitySearch3. InsiderPages4. Yahoo Local5. DealerRater6. JudysBook7. TripAdvisor8. Edmunds9. Zagat.com10. OpenTable

In Summary

Photo credit: flickr.com/photos/harryvale/792177914/

Dos & Don’ts• DO have one and only one listing• DO make sure your name is consistent

throughout• DO link back to your site• DO include frequent updates• DO use as many Google Categories as possible• DON’T forget to look at the stats!• DON’T forget to optimize your website for

local searches!

Google Places is Not Enough!

• Remember that you have to optimize your site for location as well– Use City/State Keywords– Location Pages for each Location– Display address and phone in text throughout

• Make sure site is consistent with Google Places– Reinforce Categories– Ensure name, address, phone match

Bing Local Listings

Questions?

Jennie LaneSEM Team, Schipul

TheSEMBlog.com

Photo credit: flickr.com/photos/blhphotography/466297169