Website Design, Search Engine Optimization

14.32

Google Places Phone Number is key. #smx Be careful when changing. Learn about GP tools to audit your  data

Data sources for Google Places:

• Local Business Center – Google
• Yellow Pages ad feed data providers
• Scraped content from other websites
• User generated content

The main determining factor – N.A.P.

• Trustworthiness of the source
• Recentness of the data
• Completeness of the data
• Number or sources displaying the same data

1. Owner verified vusiness data via google places
2. Data via business directories, in order of importance
   Super Page
   City Search
   Yellow Pages
   Info Group
   Yahoo Local
   Insider Pages
   Niche Industry websites
   others
3. Approved UGC
4. Scraped data

Preventing problems:

• Check your NAP (name, address, place)
• whitespark.ca, helps you find all the sources your business is listed for consistency
• Yext – Local Search Scorecard
• GetListed.org (by David Mihm Inc.
• Local SEO Check up – Bright Local this is not free
• Be careful which account you use when claiming / creating listing
• Check the email associated with this account frequently
• Update your listing frequently
• Follow Google Places quality guidelines

When problems occur -

• report a problem via “Report Problems”.
• Editing the information via Map Maker – to fix duplication
• Google Troubleshooter -
• Google places help forum

Search Influence with Joseph Henson:

How can an audit help you? Audit and organize the local data first.

The Local Search Ecosystem is huge all the places that feed into places

1. confirm business name  be consistant if you have many
2. usps.com/zip4 confirm your address
3. One unique primary phone number per location, should be a local number
4. Check for duplicate and merge listings
5. Whitespark – analyze your listing, there is a paid version

Data Aggregraters:

• InfoGroup
• Localeze
• Aciom – mybusinesslistingmanager.com

Use one email account for each location and it should be a domain email account.

Local landing pages for each location: embedded google map that goes back to your Google places page

Optimized: Resolving Data Confusion in Google Places Mary Bowling

Presented a good Case Study of a Google Places disaster

Some of her points:

• Places Troubleshooter tool once she learned how to use it started to work after 60 days.
• MapMaker – is inside places account

• Losing good reviews. LIstings are merged and replaced and they should get merged. Report via troubleshooter if they are not merging
• Phone number is key. Be careful when changing phone number

Corey Morris – sharing a Case Study on Houlihan’s Case Study @coreydmorris @emfluence

14.46

Q&A For Google Places Presentation:

Recency what are tactics for keeping your information recent and fresh?

• coupon
• twitter like announcement
• Fill in new quality data

Multiple listings for the same Drs.? Multiple Lawyers and Drs. in a single firm

• Practitioners don’t want to use the same business name
• Phone number use a different one for each practitioner

Businesses that have merged together?

• Mark one as closed, choose the one you want
• Neither have the right info you need to start over.

Agregators – good to use the paid service for good information.

First delete from Google Maps and then to all the places you are listed and delete.

Phone verification is better than the post card on Google Places.