Google Places (Maps) Rankings

Chloe Brooks · 06-08-2011, 02:54 AM

Hi Guys
From what I hear having citations from other websites can help the rankings in Google Places. So how do you get them if you have a site that is not located in the US and also how does the citation work?

Do I get other websites to link directly to my website or is it linking to the google places listing for the citations? Or is there anything else that I did not get? Lastly how do I find high quality citation websites to link to me?

Thanks a million
Chloe

webapex · 06-08-2011, 04:26 AM

Citations are listings in other indexes, like the online yellow pages that ideally list the exact business name, address and phone number as appears in the places listing. There are some paid business directories that google highly regards, like the BBB online.
Check the top ranked competitors places pages, you can find signs of citations, like reviews from other sites.

Links to the places listing page reportedly raise the listing position too.

paulgl · 06-08-2011, 07:11 AM

Do you mean reviews? From sites like Yelp, tripadvisor?
As far as I know those are worldwide.
You need visitors to do good reviews on those sites. Google will take those
from various other review sites. Google even has their own ratings page.

Many people will create fake accounts and pump up their ratings.

Paul

Matthew Loop · 06-08-2011, 07:45 AM

Citations, reviews and anchor text backlinks are key to Google Places profiles. Below is a system you can use for local citations.

Whitespark Local Citation Finder for Local SEO

Reviews should come from happy customers. You want to have a disproportionate amount of reviews than that of your competitors.

You can get anchor text backlinks from article sites, press release sites, forums, blogs, etc...

paulgl · 06-08-2011, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Matthew Loop

You can get anchor text backlinks from article sites, press release sites, forums, blogs, etc...

Those have nothing to do with google places. It's all about location,
relevance, and reviews.

Paul

Matthew Loop · 06-08-2011, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by paulgl

Those have nothing to do with google places. It's all about location,
relevance, and reviews.

Paul

That's incorrect... Anchor text backlinks to the actual Google Places listing are VERY important in conjunction with everything else you mentioned. That's based on over a thousand local clients I've worked with over the years.

alxvallejo · 06-08-2011, 10:11 AM

If I'm not mistaken, backlinks to your website have a strong correlation to your Places rankings.

Gebruiker1700 · 08-27-2011, 06:01 AM

What is the best option?

To link with anchor text to the Google Places listing
or to link with anchor text to the website homepage?

What option is better if you want to rank high on Google Places?

AbsoluteDominance · 08-29-2011, 01:48 PM

I had a similar experience to Matthew, shortly after adding some links to a gp page I noticed a significant jump in position. I am interested to know what others have found?

Steve

AbsoluteDominance · 08-29-2011, 01:49 PM

Also, Chad Kimball found a way to add 5000+ citations to a business, has anyone else found cool ways to increase that number for gp ranking?

bfennell1 · 09-01-2011, 11:19 AM

Google places used to show you the citations, it seems that they have disappeared now or am I wrong?

jesseholmes · 09-01-2011, 11:48 AM

Hey Chloe,

I've seen significant boost in my GPLs using citations and creating what are called 'my maps'. My Maps is a feature of Google Maps that lets you create and share personalized, annotated maps. I have a guy who creates them for me with different gmail accounts.

Although citations and my maps were once extremely effective, back in July Google did an overhaul on their places page:

Article from searchengineland.com says -

"The new layout of Place Pages puts a heavy emphasis on reviews. More specifically, it emphasizes reviews from Google users and no longer shows review content from third party sites. (Google had issues with both Yelp and TripAdvisor over review snippets last year, you may recall.)

Rather than showing external reviews, the new Place Page only links to third party sites after showing a selection of Google user reviews."

The google blog says itself -

"Based on careful thought about the future direction of Place pages, and feedback we’ve heard over the past few months, review snippets from other web sources have now been removed from Place pages. Rating and review counts reflect only those that’ve been written by fellow Google users, and as part of our continued commitment to helping you find what you want on the web, we’re continuing to provide links to other review sites so you can get a comprehensive view of locations across the globe"

So while you can build a few more citations on sites like:

yell.com
ufindus
SmileLocal
TouchLocal
Scoot
InfoServe
Yelp
WeLoveLocal
BrownBook
BView
Hotfrog
Qype
local,yahoo.com
yellowpages,com
411.com
infospace.com
anywho.com
judysbook.com
yellowbot.com
shopcity.com
dexknows.com
magicyellow.com
zidster.com
infousa.com
localeze.com
citysearch.com
yellowbook.com
insiderpages.com
kudzu.com
local.com
merchantcircle.com
cityvoter.com
citysquares.com
foursquare.com
hotfrog.com
rateitall.com
bestofthewest.com
qype.com
Angie’s List
Brownbook
ziplocal.com
foundlocally.com
citydirect.info
frommers.com
ibegin.com
daplus.us
hotpot (Google)
gowalla
urbanspoon
zagat
tripadvisor
ezlocal.com
backpage.com
metromix
nymag.com
parentsconnect.com
servicemagic.com
cosmotourist.com
trivago
blog.hostelbookers.com
promotionalcodes.com
couponsnapshot.com

Reviews are really where everything is going.

Hope that helps!

-Jesse

bostonterrierjoe · 03-12-2012, 10:33 PM

dont they have a service that submits all the listings for you?

06-08-2011, 02:54 AM	#1
Chloe Brooks HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: , , USA. Posts: 260 Thanks: 5 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Google Places (Maps) Rankings - How to get citations and how to link? Hi Guys From what I hear having citations from other websites can help the rankings in Google Places. So how do you get them if you have a site that is not located in the US and also how does the citation work? Do I get other websites to link directly to my website or is it linking to the google places listing for the citations? Or is there anything else that I did not get? Lastly how do I find high quality citation websites to link to me? Thanks a million Chloe
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06-08-2011, 04:26 AM	#2
webapex Senior Warrior Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 1,554 Thanks: 83 Thanked 245 Times in 226 Posts	Re: Google Places (Maps) Rankings - How to get citations and how to link? Citations are listings in other indexes, like the online yellow pages that ideally list the exact business name, address and phone number as appears in the places listing. There are some paid business directories that google highly regards, like the BBB online. Check the top ranked competitors places pages, you can find signs of citations, like reviews from other sites. Links to the places listing page reportedly raise the listing position too.
	“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field” Niels Bohr

06-08-2011, 07:11 AM	#3
paulgl Plundering the Web War Room Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: , , . Posts: 4,851 Thanks: 804 Thanked 1,200 Times in 887 Posts	Re: Google Places (Maps) Rankings - How to get citations and how to link? Do you mean reviews? From sites like Yelp, tripadvisor? As far as I know those are worldwide. You need visitors to do good reviews on those sites. Google will take those from various other review sites. Google even has their own ratings page. Many people will create fake accounts and pump up their ratings. Paul
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06-08-2011, 07:45 AM	#4
Matthew Loop Facebook Ads expert War Room Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Atlanta, GA Posts: 100 Thanks: 10 Thanked 29 Times in 21 Posts Social Networking	Re: Google Places (Maps) Rankings - How to get citations and how to link? Citations, reviews and anchor text backlinks are key to Google Places profiles. Below is a system you can use for local citations. Whitespark Local Citation Finder for Local SEO Reviews should come from happy customers. You want to have a disproportionate amount of reviews than that of your competitors. You can get anchor text backlinks from article sites, press release sites, forums, blogs, etc...
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06-08-2011, 10:11 AM	#7
alxvallejo HyperActive Warrior Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: New England Posts: 183 Thanks: 13 Thanked 3 Times in 3 Posts Social Networking	Re: Google Places (Maps) Rankings - How to get citations and how to link? If I'm not mistaken, backlinks to your website have a strong correlation to your Places rankings.

08-27-2011, 06:01 AM	#8
Gebruiker1700 Warrior Member Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 1 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	How to rank high on Google Maps/Google Places What is the best option? To link with anchor text to the Google Places listing or to link with anchor text to the website homepage? What option is better if you want to rank high on Google Places?

08-29-2011, 01:48 PM	#9
AbsoluteDominance Active Warrior Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Minneapolis, MN USA Posts: 51 Thanks: 4 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts	Re: Google Places (Maps) Rankings - How to get citations and how to link? I had a similar experience to Matthew, shortly after adding some links to a gp page I noticed a significant jump in position. I am interested to know what others have found? Steve
	Some times you just have to take life by the throat and shake a little more out.

08-29-2011, 01:49 PM	#10
AbsoluteDominance Active Warrior Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: Minneapolis, MN USA Posts: 51 Thanks: 4 Thanked 6 Times in 5 Posts	Re: Google Places (Maps) Rankings - How to get citations and how to link? Also, Chad Kimball found a way to add 5000+ citations to a business, has anyone else found cool ways to increase that number for gp ranking?
	Some times you just have to take life by the throat and shake a little more out.

09-01-2011, 11:19 AM	#11
bfennell1 Active Warrior Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Indiana Posts: 34 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post Social Networking	Re: Google Places (Maps) Rankings - How to get citations and how to link? Google places used to show you the citations, it seems that they have disappeared now or am I wrong?

09-01-2011, 11:48 AM	#12
jesseholmes Warrior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 16 Thanks: 0 Thanked 4 Times in 4 Posts	Re: Google Places (Maps) Rankings - How to get citations and how to link? Hey Chloe, I've seen significant boost in my GPLs using citations and creating what are called 'my maps'. My Maps is a feature of Google Maps that lets you create and share personalized, annotated maps. I have a guy who creates them for me with different gmail accounts. Although citations and my maps were once extremely effective, back in July Google did an overhaul on their places page: Article from searchengineland.com says - "The new layout of Place Pages puts a heavy emphasis on reviews. More specifically, it emphasizes reviews from Google users and no longer shows review content from third party sites. (Google had issues with both Yelp and TripAdvisor over review snippets last year, you may recall.) Rather than showing external reviews, the new Place Page only links to third party sites after showing a selection of Google user reviews." The google blog says itself - "Based on careful thought about the future direction of Place pages, and feedback we’ve heard over the past few months, review snippets from other web sources have now been removed from Place pages. Rating and review counts reflect only those that’ve been written by fellow Google users, and as part of our continued commitment to helping you find what you want on the web, we’re continuing to provide links to other review sites so you can get a comprehensive view of locations across the globe" So while you can build a few more citations on sites like: yell.com ufindus SmileLocal TouchLocal Scoot InfoServe Yelp WeLoveLocal BrownBook BView Hotfrog Qype local,yahoo.com yellowpages,com 411.com infospace.com anywho.com judysbook.com yellowbot.com shopcity.com dexknows.com magicyellow.com zidster.com infousa.com localeze.com citysearch.com yellowbook.com insiderpages.com kudzu.com local.com merchantcircle.com cityvoter.com citysquares.com foursquare.com hotfrog.com rateitall.com bestofthewest.com qype.com Angie’s List Brownbook ziplocal.com foundlocally.com citydirect.info frommers.com ibegin.com daplus.us hotpot (Google) gowalla urbanspoon zagat tripadvisor ezlocal.com backpage.com metromix nymag.com parentsconnect.com servicemagic.com cosmotourist.com trivago blog.hostelbookers.com promotionalcodes.com couponsnapshot.com Reviews are really where everything is going. Hope that helps! -Jesse
	"Free Video Reveals My #1 Secret To Getting Local SEO Clients Multiple First Page Google Rankings On Complete Autopilot Within 60 Days..."

03-12-2012, 10:33 PM	#13
bostonterrierjoe Warrior Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Posts: 11 Thanks: 0 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Re: Google Places (Maps) Rankings - How to get citations and how to link? dont they have a service that submits all the listings for you?