GP102 – Google Places Advanced

Please make sure you have taken time to read GP-101 (Google Places – The Basics) before you move on to the information contained in this more advanced tutorial on Google Places Business Listings. You will need to make sure you understand what a Google Places Business Listing is, where they appear, and that you have claimed your listing properly before branching off into the more advanced concepts presented below.

There are three (3) major areas that impact the placement of your Google Places Business Listing (GPBL). They are listed in the blocks above. We will discuss each in detail in this tutorial.

Area #1 – Google Places Check List

Things that support GPBL placement

  • Claim your Listing
  • Choose most appropriate Categories (use Google provided vs. freeform categories whenever possible)
  • Use Local Area Phone Number (not 800) as primary
  • Use Offline Legal Business Name (DO NOT add Keywords to your Business Name)
  • Use both Location and Product keywords in Description
  • Include Secondary Keywords of Products and Related Niches in Additional Details

Things that create a robust GPBL

  • Adding associated YouTube Videos (up to 5)
  • Adding user created My Maps (unlimited)
  • Adding associated Photos (up to 10)
  • Adding Related Coupons
  • “Post to your Place Page” Note

Things that are HARMFUL to your listing.

  • Use of Toll Free number as primary phone number in GPBL (should be alternate phone)
  • Having Multiple Listings with Same Business Name
  • Having Multiple Listings with Same Phone Number
  • Having Multiple Listings with Same Address

Area #2 – Information provided on your Web site Check List

There is some debate as to whether SEO (Search Engine Optimization) associated to Organic Placement plays any role in GPBL’s placement. Some say, absolutely not, others say there may be “some” relation between organic SEO and Local Placement. Either way, most experts do agree on the fact that your own Web site plays a very large role as a “reference” site when it comes to Google verifying and placing your business in the Google Places Business Listings.

Things that support GPBL placement

  • Full Address on Contact Page (as listed in Trusted Providers)
  • Matching Business Name, Full Address and Local Phone (###) ###-#### in footer TEXT on all pages.

Things that MAY support GPBL placement

  • Google Map embedded on home page
  • Business Name, Full Address and Phone (###) ###-#### in Meta Tags
  • Business Name, City + State in H1 / H2 tags

Things that are HARMFUL to your listing

  • Exclusive Use of Toll Free on Contact Page or in Footer
  • Exclusive Use of PO Box on Contact Page or in Footer

Area #3 – Information Provided by Trusted Providers

The most important thing to keep in mind when working with any suggestions provided in this Trusted Provider section is to make sure your Business Information (Name, address, city, state, zip, web address, local phone number, etc.) matches from provider to provider. It’s all about consistency!

Don’t spell your address differently from site to site.
Example: 2nd E Third Street vs. Second East 3rd St. vs. 2nd East 3rd Street, etc.

Also, don’t change the way your name is listed from site to site either.
Example: 1891 Lennox House B&B, The Lennox House Inn, Lennox House Bed and Breakfast.

And remember, always use your Local Phone number as your primary number.

Things that you “CAN CONTROL ” that support GPBL placement

  • Your business is cited on all the Major Data Providers (See Below)
  • Your business is cited on related Local sites (See Below)
  • Your business is cited on Crawled sites (See Below)
  • Having / Having Many Customer Reviews

1) Posted on a Search Engine Review Sites (See Below)
2) Posted on a 3rd Party Review Sites (See Below)

  • Quantity of Inbound Links
  • Address on Domain Registration Account

[Test] Enter your Domain and click to see the address on your account

Things that may be “DIFFICULT TO CONTROL ” that support GPBL placement

  • Quality of Inbound Links (local and global)
  • Keywords in Inbound Anchor Text (City, State, Bed and Breakfast, etc.)

Major Data Provider Sites

1. infoUSA (free)
2. Superpages – Submit a Site (free)
3. Localeze – Submit a Site (free)
4. YellowPages – Free Listing – also offers paid advertising
5. Yelp – Add your Listing (free)
6. InsiderPages (free)
7. Acxiom (To check your business information with Acxiom E-Mail consumeradvo@acxiom.com, or call (501) 252-3122. Include your business name, address, phone number and URL.)
8. YahooLocal – similar to Google Local Listings (free)
9. Citysearch (paid)
10. Merchant Circle
11. Yellowbot

Other Data Provider Sites

1. IAF.net
2. AreaConnect
3. Switchboard
4. GetFave
5. Yellowpages.Lycos.com

Local Sample Sites

Use Getlisted.org to Find MORE Local Listing Sites

Additional Local Site Suggestions

  • Local Niche Sites
  • Civic Sites
  • Municipal Sites
  • Chamber of Commerce
  • Local B&B Directories
  • Local Business Directories
  • … and so on

Crawled Niche Site Suggestions

Other Crawled Site Suggestions

  • Your State B&B Association
  • Your State Travel Association
  • Global Niche Sites
  • … and so on

Search Engine Review Sites

Note: Typically, when a guest locates a property listing on a search engine site where they choose to leave a review, they will simply click the “review” button, log into either Google, Yahoo or Bing as required, and a pop-up box for them to type in will appear. Those reviews will then show up in the reviews section of the local listing.

3rd Party Review Site Samples

GPS (Global Positions Systems) Update Position and Get Found

With more and more people using GPS in the car and on the phone, it is important for businesses to make sure they can be found. Below you will find several steps to make sure that you are listed with the providers from which GPS manufacturers get their information.

1 – Start by going to the Itouch Web site to identify your Lat / Long GPS coordinates. At this time, check to see if your location is correctly indicated. If your location is correct or not, continue on with the following steps to either verify or update the following GPS feeds (you’ll need your Lat / Long coordinates from this step to check these feeds).

2 – Many experts say that data for GPS devices may come from local 911 mapping so make sure you are registered as a business with your locality whether city or county. To locate the appropriate 911 Web site for your area do a search in Google with your City or County + State + 911.

3 – If you determine that your information is incorrect on USGA maps, you may contact United States Geological Survey at 1-888-275-8747 or submit a request at gnis_manager@usgs.gov.

4 – You will need to make sure you are registered and your information is correctly recorded with NAVTEQ Map Reporter. We have found that NAVTEQ Map Reporter does not support “bed and breakfast” as a category, so innkeepers will want to use the Hotel designation.

5 – TeleAtlas is a main provider for GPS manufacturers, so please click here verify your information on TeleAtlas.

6 – An unlikely source of GPS information is INFOUSA, which also updates GPS makers, so please verify your information by clicking here on INFOUSA.

Following these steps will assist you in ensuring that your information is stored correctly in the newest versions of GPS, as well as phone updated versions.

Keep in mind that older GPS units will not have newer business information unless the GPS owner has taken the steps to update their unit.

References and Additional Web and Blog Research Sites

Test your Site for Inclusion on the Top Local Search Engines

Google Provided Information on GPBL

Research Articles

Acorn GPBL Blog Posts