Google Maps – Page 2 – The Web Authority

April 10, 2014April 5, 2014

How to Place Locally on Google – One Business Multiple Cities

Image of a Google Maps exposure on Google.com.

In our series on how to place locally on Google I will be looking at the next easiest scenario which is one business with physical presences/offices in multiple cities. This is also a fairly easy scenario to place locally on and similar in some ways to the actions that you would take for the one business with multiple locations in one city.

Here’s what I’ve found works for location specific placement.

1. See our post from 4-8-14 on how to rank for one city. In this twist of one business multiple cities, again it is best to put all your location addresses in the footer of your website. If you have more than three or four locations, I would do a location page for your website and then just list the city and state names in the footer hyperlinking to your specific location page.

2. Again as in the single city with multiple location pages a unique page for each location is in order linked from the all locations page. What is very important to understand is that the content on these locations pages MUST be unique. You cannot simply copy the one location and then drop in the new location. Try to write something of value about each unique location.

3. Setting up a Google+ Local page for each location is really key for organic placement. Take some time and thought into what you will write and make sure the pictures and videos if you have them (highly recommended) are unique to that location.

4. Make sure you validate your Google+ Local page. A PIN will be hard copied mailed to the physical address. Your staff really, and I mean really, needs to be vigilant to find this PIN envelope. It will look like junk mail and will have NO Google ID on it. I have had many clients have significant delays in validating and have required multiple sends of the validation letter as it is simply missed. Nothing will show on Google until you validate and then typically a two to four week delay after verification to show in the results is not uncommon.

This scenario and the one on Tuesday are fairly simple to enact but very important. With mobile searches being delivered preferentially local content the activity from local searches and local exposure is simply too huge to discount.

April 8, 2014April 5, 2014

A Guide to Placing Locally – One City with Multiple Locations

In this series of blog posts on placing for local searches on Google, I’ll take a look at a few strategies that work especially where you operate in one city with multiple locations. Over this week and next, I’ll be looking at other tougher to place scenarios and offering some advice on what to do as well.

The easiest scenario and the first I’ll focus on is where your multiple location business is all based on one city.

Here’s what I’ve found works well for placement for this scenario:

1. Make sure to put your locations with complete address and phone number in the footer of your website. If you have more than three locations this starts to be a little bit cumbersome, but for most businesses your two or three locations can easily be entered in the footer of all pages of your website.

2. Make sure to create a locations page in your website where you’ll list all your locations with full physical addresses, spelled out state name versus abbreviation, zip code and phone number. Link these locations to specially designed pages that show pictures of each location and give a little bit of flavor about what each location offers that may be unique. You may want to include cross streets, specialties, metro directions, and a blurb about the staff. It is crucial that you do not use cookie cutter content for each location simply change the location specifics. Make sure each page is unique and validates as unique using Copyscape Premium (my data checking tool of choice).

3. Set up a Google+ Local page for each location. Understand that there is no scamming Google on addresses. You’ve really got to have a business at the location you register. Google will send to that address a PIN number inside an envelope with no Google branding on it that looks like regular junk mail. It is important that you and your staff really watch for a week for this confirmation letter in order to complete the validation of your Google+ Local page.

The power of placing locally on Google for your individual locations is huge. The reach, potential visibility, and customer traffic you can get from following these very simple steps is not to be discounted. Google is preferring to promote local businesses first in the organic search results so it is very important to capitalize on this to boost your business’ exposure.

May 7, 2012May 19, 2012

So You Want the Blue Balloon Next to Your Google Maps Listing – How to Get It

Do you want that blue balloon found next to certain listings in Google Maps? Most listings have the red balloon, but you want the blue one as it really stands out. Here’s how to get it.

First, the blue balloon denotes a sponsored Google Maps listing. It means that this business is using Google AdWords Express to promote their website and Google Places page. If you are already using AdWords you may not want to proceed with these instructions, but say you don’t care about click performance, you just really want that blue balloon!

Allison at Google AdWords has explained to me how you can get the blue balloon. First, you will need to create a Google Places page that uses the SAME login as you use at Google AdWords for your regular pay per click account. Within your new Google Places account you will see a link to AdWords Express or you can login directly to AdWords Express at http://www.google.com/adwords/express/. Once you have your Places page set up, just enter your credit card information and website information.

AdWords Express will not allow you to manage your pay per click account as you typically do in the AdWords control panel. It is a streamlined and fully automated ad serving program. You cannot set keywords, bids, or targeting, or for that matter even create ad text. AdWords Express will set up generic keywords (in many cases just your business name), set your ad targeting to a 15 mile radius (you will not be able to change this), but it will allow you to select a monthly click spend range.

The next time you login to your regular Google AdWords account, you will then see a new ad campaign appear. The campaign name will consist of a string of letters and numbers and is grayed out. What you see is a read only copy of your Google Places AdWords Express advertising program. You cannot make changes in AdWords, just read what is there. To make any changes or to stop activity you will need to login to AdWords Express or your Google Places account.

Then voilà! You now have a blue balloon next to your paid ad that will show Google Maps and in some Google organic listings.

Do I recommend this course of action, meaning advertising on the super simplified and automated AdWords Express platform? Only if you are a do-it-yourselfer when it comes to AdWords, and only if your monthly budget is under $500 for clicks for a 30 day period. If you are a power advertiser and already have a well set up AdWords account and pay a professional manager, I do not recommend following this course of action just to get the blue balloon. As long as you have location extensions set up in your AdWords account, your AdWords ads are already showing in Google Maps – just not with the blue balloon.

From what I have seen in viewing these accounts once set up, the keywords are very, very general and the type that you would typically pause in a well-managed AdWords account as low performance high dollar click cost keywords. I personally don’t feel the cash drain and poorly targeted activity is worth it just to get a blue balloon.

December 23, 2011December 18, 2011

An Update on Google Places This Month By Google

Google has been changing the information it shows on Google Places pages this last month. Here are a few updates that they have made and adjustments to our service offerings due to the changes.

First, it is important to know that we do not guarantee any specific placement on Google Places or improvement in your current placement. You should be very careful of using any firm that does guarantee this. Google has not revealed any specific information about how to optimize for Google Places to any resource and in fact we have debunked some of the techniques used by “Google Places guaranteed placement firms” and have written extensively on the topic of best practices for Google Places.

Since November 2011, typically your Google Places listing will link directly to your website. There may be a link in your listing that will forward readers to your Google Places review section, but no longer does Google force a reader to view a Google Places page in order to find out information about that business. Although we do cannot definitively identify that our updates to categories and additional details make a difference when Google “racks and stacks” the results for location specific searches, those elements that were hidden previously in Google’s Google Places recent updates are now again visible to readers who visit your Google Places page when they click an arrow to open up the additional information fields.

Google will only show four service categories and now only the first four or five additional detail items you list in your Google Places account. As a result our monthly service update pricing has changed from $40 a month to $25 a month. This service is only available to accounts who have used our set up service which costs $240. As an honest web services provider who wants to make sure that all we do benefits you on the Web, our decrease in service charges is based on the lower amount of time to update your account on a monthly basis.