Ongoing Google Places service - What's the monthly fee for?

18 replies
I have read a few people talking about their pricing structure for their places service and noticed a few of them charging an ongoing maintenance fee every month. What is this for?

Is it just to build more citations or to build backlinks to those citations?
#fee #google #monthly #ongoing #places #service
  • It varies, but it's usually for weekly or monthly reporting and most do some citations. But it should also be for whatever it takes to keep the client on top. Google changes the rules, may need to tweek the listing. Learn a new trick, tweek the Place page. Competitors leap frog your client, then they may need an extra push.

    Then there is troubleshooting. A Google bug hits the client or a new duplicate pops up and steals all their trust points. There's always something.

    I don't even offer ongoing. I should but don't. I just don't have time and don't like to do maintenance. But I think I'm going to start, because clients really need it due to all the bugs and changes.
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    • Profile picture of the author 1960Texan
      Catalyst eMarketing, your answer was spot-on, but the following blew my mind:

      Originally Posted by Catalyst eMarketing View Post

      I don't even offer ongoing. I should but don't. I just don't have time and don't like to do maintenance. But I think I'm going to start, because clients really need it due to all the bugs and changes.
      You should absolutely start offering ongoing services! By not doing so you are potentially leaving a guaranteed, full-time income on the table. Getting the client is the hard part; the citation building and back-linking can be outsourced for a small percentage of what you are charging.

      I get the occasional new client that just wants the one-time set-up, but most of my clients immediately see the value in paying me a monthly fee to keep them in the top three of the local search results (I strive to get them to the #1 spot, but never make it a promise).

      Will
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  • Profile picture of the author LastWarrior
    Edit: Oops! Read the question wrong. My bad.

    LastWarrior
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  • Profile picture of the author zx88
    What niche are they in:

    for example: a plumber I would charge 250... or dentist easily goes up to 1k.
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    • Profile picture of the author Bennette
      A common problem I find with clients is consistency. They know it needs to be done but many won't update coupons, add videos or even promote getting reviews after it's been set up.

      Making sure it's done and the customer starts generating leads then their happy. By not offering monthly maintenance then they say oh that Google thing you set up for me doesn't work.
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  • Profile picture of the author sdentrepreneur
    Depending on the Client, I charge $500.00 first month and $250.00 per month for ongoing citations, back links, keeping deals current and monitoring reviews. Gotta stay ahead of your competition..ya know?
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  • Profile picture of the author Dr Dan
    I agree that its all about the recurring income. I started my business doing a little of everything and now I have transitioned to just 1 service. Google Love! Which is just the lease site method but ranking them in multiple positions all over the place and first pages of Google.

    Anyways... my point is to get the recurring income! Less work and you dont have to try and get new clients every single month.
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  • Profile picture of the author Hugh
    I love residual income. Because I don't use contracts, the clients
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  • Profile picture of the author sitefurnace
    OK thanks for the tips guys so...

    More citations
    update coupons
    build backlinks to citations
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  • Profile picture of the author jsherloc
    Also, if you are charging for any type of "SEO" work in general, I feel that it almost always should be ongoing payments. It is just the nature of what we do, things constantly evolve. Its why we are needed in today's business market, to stay on top of this type of stuff.

    You don't necessarily need to make it JUST about Places too since it usually requires a "holistic" approach of sorts, but include the Places "upkeep" in the monthly SEO charge that includes web site work, additional 2.0 work for rep management/brand awareness, etc.

    The clients that don't respect what we're trying to do with monthly charges (keep them on top of their competition for max exposure etc) typically won't fully respect ANYTHING you are doing "online marketing-wise" anyways, so best to get rid of them at your earliest convenience and find more clients that DO respect/appreciate the "upkeep" that is necessary IMO.

    - Jim
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  • Profile picture of the author jimevee
    Good thread I've always wondered how Google Places work.
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    • Profile picture of the author Chris Lagarde
      Google Places and organic SEO now go hand-in-hand. You have to keep up the work, or the inevitable slide in rankings begins. The work can vary with adding new: citations, backlinks, articles, backlinking aritcles, and many other options. In most cases, no real secrets to doing all of this.
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  • Profile picture of the author Marfling
    How much weighting is placed on the amount of backlinks the actual website has? For example, if they have a low number of citations, but a lot of backlinks to their website, can I outperform it by increasing citations to the place page?

    I'm still trying to gauge how to determine the level of competition.

    Thanks,
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  • Profile picture of the author habreza
    What is Google Places Simply put, Google Places was designed to be the Yellow Pages of the 21st Technology Support Services and Solutions - Since 2005 Google Plus offer ongoing maintenance and optimization for a small monthly.
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    • Profile picture of the author wislndixie
      Originally Posted by habreza View Post

      What is Google Places Simply put, Google Places was designed to be the Yellow Pages of the 21st Technology Support Services and Solutions - Since 2005 Google Plus offer ongoing maintenance and optimization for a small monthly.
      I'm a newbie here and I just did a search for "mycity attorneys". Several Google listings showed up and here's my quetion(s).

      Are the attorneys listed there because Google put them there or did they actually fill out the form and claim a listing? Most of the ones I saw were all alike, meaning no photos, reviews..mainly just address and phone numbers.
      (seems like these would be good prospects to make their listing complete)

      Some listings had their website under their google places listing, so am I to assume these attorneys have actually claimed their listing with google and been verified?

      Is there any money to be made going after these generic listings with bare minimum information?

      Thanks for any help.
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    • Profile picture of the author 9999
      Very informative thread! I agree that Google Plus Local is the next yellow pages, just have to educate the client.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kung Fu Backlinks
    Google ranks the local listings based on their own algorithm, just like they rank websites with their own algorithm.

    I wouldn't bother with trying to get those with page-1 rankings already. Just because there are no photos, doesn't mean they haven't claimed their listing or optimized it. Photos don't display right away, so they could have made those changes recently. In any case, they're already page 1... go for page 2-4 and only those businesses with an actual website. The site may not be linked to the local listing, so Google the business name and / or phone number to see if you can find a website. It would be easier to land a firm that has a website and obviously knows the value of being online.
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  • Profile picture of the author habreza
    Clients are yet to know about this services but try to make them understand the needs.
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