Optimizing Google Places Part 3: Off-site Techniques
In Optimizing Google Places Part 1, we discussed the things you can do to start your business using a search engine optimization mindset. In Optimizing Google Places Part 2, we covered the techniques used on your website to increase your Google Places ranking. Once these have been taken care of, it’s time to expand your mission to other websites on the internet.
In the old days (pre-Google Local Business), all one had to do was spam the internet with links to their website using keywords as the anchor text, and presto – they would be organically ranked for the keywords. Organic listings for local businesses are no longer as important. Now, a position in the top four on Google Places will bring you far more business than organic rankings, and as such is far more important – but ranking in Google Places is different.
Tip 1: Leverage your address and phone number
Just like on-site optimization, you need to make sure that whenever your business is mentioned on any website, your address and local phone number are right next to it. Any listing at any of the following websites must include your business address and phone number:
Local business directories (mlive.com)
City chamber of commerce
Statewide business directories (mibusinesses.net)
Article submission sites (ezinearticles.com)
Nationwide business directories (bizhwy.com)
Press releases (1888pressreleases.com)
Any time you can add your business name, address, and local phone number to a website – do it. Every time Google finds your business name, address, and phone number online, it adds one more piece of proof that you exist, and the more pieces of proof you have, the higher your business will be ranked in Google Places.
Tip 2: Leverage your happy customers
One thing that Google has done an amazing job at is providing users with information about businesses. They crawl the local city business directories and include reviews along with your Google Places listing. This can be a double-edged sword! I have seen businesses that are devastated by poor online reviews, who lose all of their customers because of the damage to their reputation. With the old Google Local Business, you had no recourse against these bad reviews.
Now with Google Places you can respond to bad reviews, but they will remain part of your listing. My advice: try to keep your customers happy. A happy customer tells one person about their good experience, a mad customer tells 20 people about their bad experience, and a mad customer with internet access will tell thousands of people for the life of your business about their bad experience. Try to keep bad experiences to a minimum, and if they do create a negative review online, try to work with them to remove it.
Here is a real-life, current example: I am in the process of looking for a used car, and as part of my search, I tried searching for used cars in Grand Rapids, MI. Several Google Places listings came up, and I clicked one for more information. The Google Places listing had one star out of five, and there was nothing but negative reviews about how the salesmen are liars, the cars died ten miles off the lot, etc. Needless to say, I moved on without giving that business another thought. Fair or not, this is what your potential customers are going to do when they see all negative reviews.
In addition to keeping bad experiences to a minimum, encourage your happy customers to post a review about your business online! Give them an incentive, like $10 off their next service, or anything else you can think of to say positive things about your business. They can post their review directly on your Google Places listing, or at these sites:
insiderpages.com
citysearch.com
Reviews are more proof to Google that your business exists, and even negative reviews can improve your ranking – but keep in mind that too many negative reviews will drive customers away from your business, and you will never get the chance to talk to them or explain the situation.
Tip 3: Patience
Finally, patience is the key. Adding your business listing to websites across the internet will take Google even longer to crawl and index than changes to just your website. Plan to make a block of changes as soon as you can, and then wait three to six months to see where the changes cause your Google Places to move before making more changes.
In Optimizing Google Places Part 4, we’ll discuss the final tweaks you can make to your Google Places listing to squeak the last little bit of optimization and get ahead of your competition. Need some help navigating the internet to improve your Google Places listing? Call McFarlan Enterprises today at (616) 717-5805!
Optimizing Google Places Part 3: Off-site Techniques
In Optimizing Google Places Part 1, we discussed the things you can do to start your business using a search engine optimization mindset. In Optimizing Google Places Part 2, we covered the techniques used on your website to increase your Google Places ranking. Once these have been taken care of, it’s time to expand your mission to other websites on the internet.
In the old days (pre-Google Local Business), all one had to do was spam the internet with links to their website using keywords as the anchor text, and presto – they would be organically ranked for the keywords. Organic listings for local businesses are no longer as important. Now, a position in the top four on Google Places will bring you far more business than organic rankings, and as such is far more important – but ranking in Google Places is different.
Tip 1: Leverage your address and phone number
Just like on-site optimization, you need to make sure that whenever your business is mentioned on any website, your address and local phone number are right next to it. Any listing at any of the following websites must include your business address and phone number:
Any time you can add your business name, address, and local phone number to a website – do it. Every time Google finds your business name, address, and phone number online, it adds one more piece of proof that you exist, and the more pieces of proof you have, the higher your business will be ranked in Google Places.
Tip 2: Leverage your happy customers
One thing that Google has done an amazing job at is providing users with information about businesses. They crawl the local city business directories and include reviews along with your Google Places listing. This can be a double-edged sword! I have seen businesses that are devastated by poor online reviews, who lose all of their customers because of the damage to their reputation. With the old Google Local Business, you had no recourse against these bad reviews.
Now with Google Places you can respond to bad reviews, but they will remain part of your listing. My advice: try to keep your customers happy. A happy customer tells one person about their good experience, a mad customer tells 20 people about their bad experience, and a mad customer with internet access will tell thousands of people for the life of your business about their bad experience. Try to keep bad experiences to a minimum, and if they do create a negative review online, try to work with them to remove it.
Here is a real-life, current example: I am in the process of looking for a used car, and as part of my search, I tried searching for used cars in Grand Rapids, MI. Several Google Places listings came up, and I clicked one for more information. The Google Places listing had one star out of five, and there was nothing but negative reviews about how the salesmen are liars, the cars died ten miles off the lot, etc. Needless to say, I moved on without giving that business another thought. Fair or not, this is what your potential customers are going to do when they see all negative reviews.
In addition to keeping bad experiences to a minimum, encourage your happy customers to post a review about your business online! Give them an incentive, like $10 off their next service, or anything else you can think of to say positive things about your business. They can post their review directly on your Google Places listing, or at these sites:
Reviews are more proof to Google that your business exists, and even negative reviews can improve your ranking – but keep in mind that too many negative reviews will drive customers away from your business, and you will never get the chance to talk to them or explain the situation.
Tip 3: Patience
Finally, patience is the key. Adding your business listing to websites across the internet will take Google even longer to crawl and index than changes to just your website. Plan to make a block of changes as soon as you can, and then wait three to six months to see where the changes cause your Google Places to move before making more changes.
In Optimizing Google Places Part 4, we’ll discuss the final tweaks you can make to your Google Places listing to squeak the last little bit of optimization and get ahead of your competition. Need some help navigating the internet to improve your Google Places listing? Call McFarlan Enterprises today at (616) 717-5805!