Google Business Searches Now Area Based - How Are You Dealing With It?

[steeeeeeeeeeeeeeve]

Hey guys

I live in the UK and I'm dealing with a lot of the SEO for the company that I work for as well as web design and marketing and noticed recently that Google searches have become more inclined to find local companies ahead of the ones that may be further away but can have better SEO in place.

I was wondering how you guys with businesses are coping with it and what practices you're putting in place to ensure you're still up there. My boss had an idea to purchase PO Boxes, or renting a 'ghost' office in selected cities so that we can add the addresses to our Google Places and should someone search for our targeted terms in a different area than where we're based, we should still pop up to them.

Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated

[orvn]

Originally Posted by steeeeeeeeeeeeeeve

Hey guys

I live in the UK and I'm dealing with a lot of the SEO for the company that I work for as well as web design and marketing and noticed recently that Google searches have become more inclined to find local companies ahead of the ones that may be further away but can have better SEO in place.

I was wondering how you guys with businesses are coping with it and what practices you're putting in place to ensure you're still up there. My boss had an idea to purchase PO Boxes, or renting a 'ghost' office in selected cities so that we can add the addresses to our Google Places and should someone search for our targeted terms in a different area than where we're based, we should still pop up to them.

Any thoughts and advice would be appreciated

Well, I do local SEO, this is how I've been exploiting it:

Link your account to Google Hotpot, rate and review hyperactively.

Upload aesthetic photos to your Google Places.

Go black hat and do this from multiple IP addresses (I use TOR network) using different usernames (you're going to need ≈10-20 Google accounts).

Remember you don't want reviews for all your business to be from the same set of Google accounts, you have to switch it up a little, even if it is from different IP's.

Also note that five ratings gets your search result pretty little stars next to it, which is rather spiffy, not to mention more clicked-on.

Don't forget: when you're logged into your Google account, if you have a default location set on Google Maps, Google will return local search results (places) for a number of searches that it didn't used to before.

Example: 'Car rental' will take you to local car rental agencies, by proximity/popularity. Wheras in the old system, it would have taken you to the global (or national) search results for 'car rental'.

[steeeeeeeeeeeeeeve]

Thanks orvn, I'll give it a try, I appreciate your in-depth answer

[Fraggler]

How do your offline business clients like you creating false reviews ?

[orvn]

Well, I do try to be honest in my reviews, but of course, this is nothing but clear and blatant Google abuse.

My clients usually don't mind. Their altruism fades when they know it'll bring definite gain to their business (and it does!).

It's just that those five little reviews can do SO MUCH for your places result. Of course I could just wait for five real customers to review it, but that takes forever, if it ever even happens.

Like I said, this is definitely black hat, I doubt Google would approve. My clients, on the other hand, do.