This is an over-looked and under-utilized tool for most local businesses. The places property has the ability to bring a lot of social proof and get customers directly to your door. We can help you getting your property high in the Places search as well as in the Google search engine.
Google Places – How it Works and How it Will Benefit You
It’s a fact that Google Maps are searched by millions of internet users each and every day. If you place a free listing on Google Maps, then this makes it much easier for internet searchers to find your business. And you need to use Google Places to craft your listing.
In this respect, when a potential customer searches for local information using Google Maps, they will potentially find your business. They’ll be able to see your address, your hours of operation, and you can also add images of your products and your storefront for further impact. What’s more, you do not even need your own website.
So How Does it Actually Work?
If you optimize your Google Places for Business listing, it gives you an edge over both Google’s Pay-Per-Click campaigns as well as Search Engine Optimized webpages. No doubt you’re wondering how? Well, Google Places targets those individuals who are using Google search to find local products and services. Furthermore, a Google place listing is an excellent way to target smart phone users who may be located just around the corner from where you are.
The fact is that if your business is a local business, a Google Places listing is the best online advertising medium for you in terms of cost versus return on investment.
Ranking Your Business in Google Places
There are a variety of elements that Google uses to rank a business in Google Places, but the four main ones are:
This means how close your business is in respect to where the searcher is located. Google calls this factor the center-point or ‘centroid’.
Optimizing your listing will help it to rank higher in Google Places listings. Your business should be listed in the correct category, of course. This will allow your business to show up in exact category searches as well as category synonym searches.
Citations are references about your business. These are located on literally hundreds of local directories whereby the citation or reference is broadcast to Google. The general quality of each citation provides a weighting factor. The higher the overall quality, the higher your Google Places ranking will be. Huge dividends can be gained from having a well-organized management campaign for your citations because this enhances the trust factor that Google has with respect to your listing.
Again, the quality of the reviews your business receives will greatly affect its’ ranking in Google Places. Reviews, like citations, appear to have a very large impact on the scoring system overall. Google collects this information by ‘scraping’ review sites such as Yelp, InsiderPages, SuperPages, among others. The information is analyzed and then works to affect the ranking process overall.
Here at www.Libelty-SEO.com, we specialize in not only the creation and optimization of Google Places listings, but also their maintenance. Simply contact us today for a free consultation about how we will help you to improve and increase your business’ profile as well as your profits.