Google Places SEO help!

by latnem
7 replies
  • SEO
  • |
Hey Warriors,

I have a few friends and family members that own small businesses that I am trying to help out by ranking their Google Places pages higher.

I find it really hard to find good information on Google Places SEO, most good videos or articles I find seem to be a bit dated.

Could anyone point me in the right direction for good information on google places seo? Or perhaps offer some advice if you have experience with this.

- Thanks
#google #places #seo
  • Profile picture of the author dmtaylor247
    Here are some of my tips for Google places;

    1, Make sure you fill out your profile 100% don't leave anything out, including pictures, text details, opening hours, full name, address, telephone number and payments. Get a video made on Fiverr and include that too.

    2, Optimise the keywords well, you only get 5 so use them wisely, be sure to include at least one keyword with your location and make sure it's the keyword that best describes your business and where it is located, so if you are a carpet cleaner in london put in "carpet cleaning london" for other terms use generic keywords like "stain removal" etc.

    3, Link it to your Adwords account if you have one, if not then set one up, get it verified with your credit card details. This will show Google you're a serious business and that you actually exist!

    4, Use classified ads websites like Gumtree and Vivastreet and include a link to your website if you can with full contact details as it can help to promote relevance and give you links from trusted sources and also some paying customers!

    5, One of the main things you need to rank well are citations. Google will use business directories to check if you are a legitimate business, some of these directories include Yelp, Brown Pages, Yellow Pages, Thomson Local, Touch Local, Free Index, Cyclex.

    There are hundreds more high quality directories so put yourself out there and be sure to leave your full name, address, telephone number and website if you can. Also put these exact same details on your Google places page and on your contact page on your website. When Google crawls the web and finds this information on a trusted source they will know you are a legitimate business and will be able to link the directory citation to your website and google places account.

    Just one thing to note at this stage, you might want to put your telephone number on the Telephone Preference Register (TPR) as you will get alot of cold calls from companies offering seo and online advertising services. This will put your number on a hotlist that all telemarketing agencies need to reference in order to comply with regulations.

    6, If your customers are happy then ask them to leave a review, give them a card with the Google places web address on it, don't expect them to know what it is and don't be afraid to ask them, tell them it will help you out alot, the more high quality reviews you have the better chance you have of ranking high. If you do a good job most customers will leave a review for you.

    7, You will notice alot of business' creating locations pages on their websites. So if you are a carpet cleaner in london, you could build pages around that area i.e; yoursite.com/carpet-cleaning-westminister

    When Google indexes these pages their algo will see that you are included in their Google places service. They will look at the relevance of the page and your location and services offered. Sometimes they will take that exact page and remove it from the search results and place it in the directory for that particular search term, over time they may change that page to show your index page. So create pages and link them all from an "areas covered" page but be sure to write high quality content that is, relevant, helpful and educational

    Just keep developing content like you would for any other site, build natural high quality directory and ezine article links to your homepage and internal pages as you would normally. Submitting articles is perfect for this type of business to gain trust and backlinks as you can offer your customers your professional advice and expertise in your area of work.

    Thanks and thumbs up if you find this useful!
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    • Profile picture of the author latnem
      Thanks for the great response.
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      • Profile picture of the author seanpearse
        Hi Latnem,

        I've recently written about the most important Google Places ranking factors in my blog and also some of the most important on-site SEO tips if any of your family/friends have websites that you would like to have merged with the Google Places listings.

        There are other excellent local SEO blogs like Mike Blumenthal's Understanding Google Maps & Local Search and Andrew Shortland's Local SEO Guide but if you tick all the boxes in my two blog posts you should be well on your way.

        Good luck
        Signature

        What the world needs is more geniuses with humility, there are so few of us left!

        Local SEO Ireland

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        • Profile picture of the author rosesmark
          Originally Posted by seanpearse View Post

          Hi Latnem,

          I've recently written about the most important Google Places ranking factors in my blog and also some of the most important on-site SEO tips if any of your family/friends have websites that you would like to have merged with the Google Places listings.

          There are other excellent local SEO blogs like Mike Blumenthal's Understanding Google Maps & Local Search and Andrew Shortland's Local SEO Guide but if you tick all the boxes in my two blog posts you should be well on your way.

          Good luck
          Your tips are looking good but if we apply everything in Google places but that map doesn't come up then what I do?
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          • Profile picture of the author seanpearse
            Originally Posted by rosesmark View Post

            Your tips are looking good but if we apply everything in Google places but that map doesn't come up then what I do?
            Google places listinga are renowned for taking quite a long time to respond to alterations or optimisation techniques so make sure you follow those basic tips thoroughly, get as many quality local citations that you can and be patient! If you want a more comprehensive strategy email me the details of the businesses you are trying to rank and I'll put together a proposal for you if you like.
            Signature

            What the world needs is more geniuses with humility, there are so few of us left!

            Local SEO Ireland

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  • Profile picture of the author webinventaekhlas
    You can hire a seo specialist to help you. But that would not be free for sure.
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  • Profile picture of the author sackboy127
    I think it's best to outsource this kind of stuff to professionals who specifically deal with Google Places, and charge the client for double the price. In case of your family, you can just ask them to recommend your services to everyone they know might be interested in similar jobs.
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