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Local search marketing online has become the standard for driving new customers to a local business. Below, I will discuss ten solid tips to ensure any local business has the opportunity to outrank their competitors. (more…)
One of the first steps to local search marketing is to add and claim your listing in Google Places. This process is fairly simple and you can add your business listing, but occasionally you’ll run into some roadblocks that can make it a little more difficult. One of these roadblocks might be that your listing is already claimed and titled as an “owner verified listing.” If you’re the business owner and you have not had anything to do with Google Places in the past this can be troubling, but there is really no need to worry as this can be corrected.
The first step you will want to do in this situation is verify that no one at your business has taken the initiative to claim the listing. If you’ve ask around and determined that the listing was not claimed by someone at your company and you do not already have an owner verified listing you will want to create one for your company.
Here are the general steps to follow to create an owner verified listing for your company:
It cannot be emphasized enough that you will want to be attentive to detail to ensure that all the information is correct, as the last thing you will want is to have duplicate listings for your business.
Now that you have the correct listing online, go the Google Places listing you want removed. Once you are there, you will then click on “edit this place” to report a problem.
This will bring up this screen:
Select the “Place has another listing” option and provide details in the comment area with the URL of the correct listing and your request to have the duplicate listing removed. You may have to repeat the report a problem if the duplicate listing is not resolved after a few weeks.
Alternatively, you can also utilize Google support for Places, which might address other issues you could be having in claiming your listing.
Good luck and happy listing!
Do you have a story or a tip to share for perfecting the process of creating a Google Places listing? If so, comment below!
Much attention has shifted towards local search marketing in recent months, but many might be unaware that it has been around for quite a few years and has been a big part of the way the search engines have evolved to what you see today. In November 2010, Google made a massive change to the local search results, integrating those results with the organic results.
I am currently working on how-to guide for local search marketing for Vertical Measures, and let me tell you, I have never had to edit a writing piece as much as I have this. Things in the local search industry are moving fast, very fast, and business owners, more than ever, need to try to keep up. Google has a very cool time line of corporate milestones, that it updates every so often with the changes and new products it rolls out.
Here are the instances that had to do with local. And, with the way things are going, this timeline will likely be missing something by tomorrow.
March 2004: Google introduced Google Local, offering relevant neighborhood business listings, maps and directions.
February 2005: Google Maps was released and featured satellite views and directions.
Shortly after that, Google Local was available for mobile devices and included SMS driving directions.
June 2005: Google Earth, a satellite imagery-based mapping service combining 3D buildings and terrain with mapping capabilities and Google search, is unveiled.
February 2007: Traffic information introduced for Google Maps for more than 30 cities around the US
May 2007: At our Searchology event, we announce new strides taken towards universal search. Now video, news, books, image and local results are all integrated together in one search result.
May 2007: Street View debuts in Google Maps in five U.S. cities: New York, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Miami and Denver.
June 2007: Google Maps gets prime placement on the original Apple iPhone.
June 2008: A new version of Maps for Mobile debuts, putting Google Transit directions on phones in more than 50 cities worldwide.
June 2009: We add a new dashboard to Google Places, which gives business owners information, such as what people searched for to see their listing or how many times their listing appeared in search results, about how customers find their businesses in Google Maps.
September 2009: We introduce Place Pages to Google Maps: one page that organizes all the relevant information about a business, point of interest, transit station, neighborhood, landmark or city—in any part of the world—in one place. Place Pages include rich details, like photos, videos, a Street View preview, nearby transit, reviews and related websites.
October 2009: Google Maps Navigation, our turn-by-turn GPS navigation system, includes 3D views and voice guidance—and because it‘s connected to the Google cloud, it always includes the newest map data, lets you search by voice or along a route, and provides live traffic data.
April 2010: Google Places (formerly the Local Business Center) gets a new name along with some new features, like showing service areas and, in some cities, the ability to use an easy advertising program called Tags.
November 2010: Google local results and organic results were combined, creating mayhem in the local search industry with local search experts attempting to find all of the consequences of the changes.
Local search has evolved dramatically over the past few years as the demand for local businesses in search results has also increased dramatically. While things have changed, the message to local businesses is still the same. Local businesses must pay attention and engage with this elephant called Google if they wish to succeed online.
As the local search industry continues to grow, so does the terminology! While there are certain terms and phrases that are standard across the industry, there are some that are less commonly used or have alternative terms. Below is a list that might help you navigate your way through the streets of local search and in the process provide a basic understanding of local search marketing. In most of the definitions here, since I just can’t help but get carried away when talking about local search, I have also given some tips on how to best utilize these features to help your local search rankings.
Category: When listing your business with Google Places especially, you will want to choose a category for your business. This is a very important factor in their algorithm. If you have not claimed your business on Google Places, it will choose a category for you from a set of approximately 2,000 default business types based on the North American Industry Classification System. Be sure to select the correct category for your business and up to 4 subcategories to be sure the search engines know what your business is all about.
Centroid: As determined by the local the search engines, the centroid is the very center of a neighborhood or metropolitan area. A business’ proximity to the centroid plays a role in where it ranks in the local search results; however there is debate on how important it is. In my opinion, I believe it matters more in competitive markets. For example, if there are 1,000 plumbers in San Diego and someone searches for “plumber, San Diego, CA” the businesses that are closer to the centroid and have nicely optimized listings are more likely to show up towards the top.
Citation: Citations are to local search optimization as links are to website search engine optimization. Citations are viewed by the local search engines as a listing of a business on a website, preferably with a matching address and phone number to that which is provide on the business website and on that search engine’s local listing. Ideally, you have your complete address and local phone number on your website, you have claimed your search engine listings, and you have matching listings on sites like Yelp, CitySearch and Internet Yellow Page sites. The search engines see these listings as verification and as votes for your business. This will help your rankings in the local search results.
Data Provider, Aggregator, IYP: Companies such as infoUSA, Localeze, and Superpages are major data providers, also known as data aggregators and Internet Yellow Pages. The search engines often crawl these sites to gather business data. These companies often have contracts with the search engines to provide this data. So, if you see that your business is already listed on the search engines, these sites are very likely where the search engine got your information. You will want to claim your listings to ensure all the information is correct.
Directory: A website that lists business contact information in an organized manner, typically in alphabetical order and/or by business type. Just as the search engines look to data providers and aggregators to gather information, they also crawl directories.
Geospecific search: When a user searches for a business or company with a geographic modifier such as a city, state or zip code. For example, “plumbers, San Diego, CA”.
Google 7-Pac: The 7 local listings that appear alongside a map at the top of a search engine result for a geospecific keyword. These results are determined by the search engine’s algorithm. If a particular neighborhood or metropolitan area does not have a large concentration of the type of business the user is searching for, Google might only show 3 results. Similarly, Yahoo and Bing have a certain number of results that will show up next their maps.
Local algorithm: Just as the search engines have an algorithm for the organic search results, they also have a specific formula that determines the ranking for business listings relevant to a particular geographic area. Various factors play a part in this algorithm, some carrying more weight than others.
Review: A customer’s summary of his/or experience with a particular business. Reviews cannot be controlled by the business owner. Reviews can be left on Google Places and on most other local search listing sites like Yelp, Foursquare and Gowalla. Business owners should pay attention to these reviews and use reviews as an opportunity to engage with customers. This touches on online reputation management.
This list covers the basic terminology that you will likely hear when you start talking to a local search professional. Knowing these terms will get you on your way to having a better understanding of local search. To continue your journey in learning about local search, check out our “Go Local or Go Home” webinar on the Vertical Measures webinars page.
To wrap up our Local Search Optimization interview series, I thought it only fitting to get first hand advice from David Mihm of DavidMihm.com and the Director & COO of GetListed.org, an online resource that helps small business owners claim and enhance their listings at major search engines. His 2008 Local Search Ranking Factors, and recently released 2010 version is recognized among the most important studies of Local Search Engine Optimization.
Elise Redlin-Cook: There are just so many local search sites out there. I’d like to know your opinion…Do you see the market continuing to grow, or narrowing down to a few key players?
David Mihm: Unfortunately for small business owners, I see the market continuing to fragment. 15 Miles does an annual study of the space–the most recent version from October 2009 and it seems like each year Google remains below 40% in Local market share…which is pretty astonishing when you consider its dominance in traditional search. There are a bunch of long-tail players like Superpages, Insider Pages, Citysearch, and Yelp that cumulatively make up a major chunk of the market. Now, this year, it looks like we’ll be adding Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare to the mix as significant players. I say it’s unfortunate for small business owners because they’re typically the ones with the fewest resources to devote to online marketing, and it’s truly becoming important to be involved in a lot of different places in Local. Even before the addition of Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare, I illustrated the complexity of the Local Search Ecosystem last year.
Elise: What would you say are the best free local search sites today?
David: Well, I think we cover most of the big guys on GetListed.org — Google, Bing, Yahoo, Yelp, along with Best of the Web Local — and an even fuller list, for those who have the time, is on that same Local Search Ecosystem page I mentioned earlier. It’s also important to note which directories and Internet Yellow Pages are ranking well organically for some of the keywords your business is trying to rank for & ensure you have plenty of visibility on those sites.
Elise: How about the best paid local search sites today?
David: 
As with any other branch of search marketing, it’s important to track ROI…and in Local, that means tracking ROI across individual verticals (for instance, paid ads on Yelp may be terrific for restaurants but not cost-effective for plumbers) and geographies (Kudzu ads may be great for Atlanta businesses but not so much for Seattlites). As a general rule, though, three of the most worthwhile places to spend money are on the major data aggregators for local search sites–infoUSA, which has just launched a new product called Express Update, Localeze (enhanced listings only currently available in bulk), and Acxiom–currently only accessible via Universal Business Listing.
Elise: Merchant Circle allows you to add coupons, reviews, blog posts, etc. Will the other local search sites continue to adopt this trend of allowing more user generated content?
David Mihm: I wouldn’t single out MerchantCircle as a shining beacon of customer service, but they surely have done a nice job with their SEO and some of the features you note above help quite a bit with long-tail search traffic. It’s going to be more important after Google’s MayDay update for IYP’s–already sucking wind since the introduction of the 10-pack–to create as much unique content alongside their business listings as they can.
Elise: Is it more important to be listed on niche sites that are specific to your industry, or the big sites with lots of traffic?
David: Depends completely on the vertical…not only for rankings at Google Maps/Google Universal, but also for the degree to which the particular players have established themselves in a particular market. For instance, if you’re a hotel and you have a weak presence on TripAdvisor, you’re in serious trouble–both for searches at Google, and on TripAdvisor, because Google relies so heavily on TripAdvisor ratings, reviews, and business data for its own hotel/hospitality index. There are plenty of longer-tail examples, including HealthGrades.com for doctors and medical professionals, AngiesList.com for plumbers, etc. You can almost always count on the major IYPs to have a solid presence across multiple verticals, though.
Elise: So, I’ve got to ask…do you see value in the paid listings versus the free listings?
David: I think Google by-and-large has done a nice job with its flat-fee product offerings via Places…including Tags. I’m not sure that their earlier Local Listing Ads wouldn’t ultimately make them more money, since they essentially guaranteed a slot in/near the 7-pack, but it certainly is easy–and relatively inexpensive–to set up a Tags campaign for a single-location business. I think the more complex the paid offering, and the more complicated the billing procedures, the harder it is for small businesses to understand what they’re getting.
To answer this question from a marketer’s perspective, again, it’s important to track ROI using your analytics. On some sites, paid listings might be incredibly worthwhile, but not so much on others. Experiment frequently and track assiduously.
Elise: If a business doesn’t actually have a brick and mortar location, should they still try to list themselves on local search sites?
David: There’s no solution (PO Box, UPS Store, fake address, etc) that will really work in the long term. Although Tim Coleman did quite a thought-provoking post recently about some of the difficulties Google may face in combating the latter. Yes, Google recently started allowing go-to-client and service businesses to include service areas and hide their address, but given the reliance of its algorithm on location information,
if the only place you’re listing yourself is Google, your chances at ranking are pretty poor.
Elise: That’s the perfect segue into my next question. What would you say are the top local search ranking factors right now?
David: Funny you should ask, given that this year’s Local Search Ranking Factors came out only a couple of weeks ago 
. Most panelists felt that claiming your listing, having a physical location in the city being searched, categorization, and what I would call traditional citations (from IYPs and data providers) remained at the very top–where they’ve been since I began this survey in 2008. I was somewhat surprised to see unstructured or non-traditional citations (such as those found in a newspaper article or blog as opposed to another local search site) ranking so highly since those haven’t been showing up for all that long–folks are obviously finding that those mentions of your physical location are critical for ranking, no matter where the search engine spiders find them.
Some of the other traditionally-important factors like keywords-in-business-title and proximity-to-centroid seem to be declining somewhat. And frankly, I’m a bit surprised that review quality isn’t rated higher by the panel (positive ratings were only #42 out of 58 total positive factors)…but I can’t say I disagree, based on all the local search results I’ve looked at in the past year.
Elise: Well, thanks David. It sounds like I have some reading to do!
If you are interested in learning more about Local Search, check out our our webinar, “Go Local or Go Home“, tomorrow, on July 15th at 11:30 a.m. EST (8:30 a.m. PST, 10:30 a.m. CST). In this webinar, attendees will hear from Sarah Moraes, Internet Marketing Specialist, and Jason Hendricks, SEO and Link Acquisition Specialist of Vertical Measures as they explore everything from the basics of setting up a local search listing to what it means for SEO.
