How to Google Places

(formerly Google Local)

You already know that Google Places drives your listing on Google Maps. I submit that it also can have a big effect on your Natural Search Rank as well, but there is no way to prove that – yet. I get more inquiries from businesses that are having problems with their Natural Search performance only to find that the only thing wrong is their Google Places setup. So I would put this at the top of SEO To-Do List.

If everything is working fine with your Places and Maps listing on Google, what follows is about as important as a raincoat on a sunny day. But when your Google Places does not behave, it can be a nightmare to fix. There are all kind of things that go wrong on Google Places.

• Your Listing gets Hijacked
• Ghost Listings (duplicates)
• Your Account gets Suspended

Lets start with my favorite > “Account suspended. Make sure your listings meet the quality guidelines.”

Unfortunately this is much like being thrown into a Kafka-esk penalty box. You don’t know what you did wrong. You can’t get out until some unknown period of time has past. You can’t call someone. (there is no phone support for Google Places) Its pretty frustrating.

Here is what you can do: (you are in the DIY-SEO section. You have been warned)

You can request a review from within the places account. Assuming that you are in your Google Places account and see your listing, there are three views/pages. There is an Analytics view, a Locations view and the Edit view. You want to navigate to the Locations View. (see below for login help: Login to Google Places)

Now your account will be labeled Pending Review, but that does change anything. Beside that, you are directed to http://support.google.com/places/bin/answer.py?hl=en-US&answer=107528&rd=1 where you are supposed to find your crime. It is usually the case that all the criteria are met. But lets review the important ones:

1 ) Google Says: Ownership: Only business owners or authorized representatives may verify their business listings on Google Places.

This one deserves a lot of explanation. Duplication. Are you the business owner? If so, there are two things that could have gotten you into trouble here. a) you created another listing for the business and have forgotten about it, so now you have two listings and Google thinks you are spamming. b) you have hired anoutside firm to do Adwords for you and they have created a Google Account that is conflicting. They may be long-gone but YOUR Google Accounts were setup under their login (name). Big problem. My advice – never let another firm setup your Google Accounts unless they explicitly do it in your name and hand over the logins immediately (they are your property BTW). Read more here.

2 ) Google Says: Account Email Address: Use a shared business email account, if multiple users will be updating your business listing. If possible, use an email account under your business domain. For example, if your business website is www.google.com, a matching email address would be you@google.com.

Get it? Sadly this is where most people go wrong. Use a unique email address for your Google Accounts. USED IT ONLY FOR THIS PURPOSE. ONE email address for ALL YOUR GOOGLE ACCOUNT LOGINS. IT IS ONLY TO LOGIN TO GOOGLE (PLACES, WEBMASTER, ADWORDS, ANALYTICS). ALL WITH THE SAME LOGIN. Got it! This actually is confirming what has likely happened in #1. Your accounts are all screwed up and you have duplicate listings floating around where you can’t find them, but Google sees them in their index. Thus the penalty box.

3 ) Google Says: Business Name: Represent your business exactly as it appears in the offline world.

This one is easy to see if you have abused this rule. Stop trying to keyword-stuff your Google Places listing. Keyword stuffing is a poor SEO tactic no matter where you do it – it seldom helps.

I have run into this problem personally, with my company name. Its SELeads, short for Search Engine Leads. I like the play on words and its truely harder to say Search Engine Leads, but for businesses searching for me, I like Search Engine Leads better. I am in the business of being found in search afterall. Google has no sense of humor and suspended my listing.

4 ) Google Says: Do not create listings at locations where the business does not physically exist.

Big stumbling point. I’ve written about spamming Google Places here already. But lets discuss use cases. If you are a car dealer, you have one location where you sell new cars, used cars, service, financing, etc. That does not mean you have 4 different businesses – and you kind of know that. You will wreck your search rank creating 4 listings for your dealership. Just better not to risk it. Its not worth it.

But this is a significant issue for the home-businesses and information workers that service customers locally. They need to be found in local searches, right? For example, if your business is “house-cleaning services”, you likely call home your office. But you don’t want the world to know your home is were you call “office” and you don’t want to be found online that way. So you get a PO Box. Makes senses. I have the same problem. I work at client locations and at a desk at home or at a desk on the road at a hotel, motel, coffee shop (if its a quiet one). Hotels/Motels/Coffee Shop chains have had to install ethernet (Wi-Fi) to attract the increasing number of mobile information-economy workers. Its a major part of the economy, or am I wrong? But using a PO Box as the “official” location for my business got me suspended. Thanks Google! Thanks for supporting the Information Economy and the Information Workers that support you Google!

Bottomline: you must be a physically located business to use Google Places or don’t try.

Here is the simple rule > 1 local business > 1 website > 1 Google Places listing. Delete the other listings. Just do it.

5 ) Google says: Website & Phone: Provide a phone number that connects to your individual business location as directly as possible, and provide one website that represents your individual business location.

See? If you cheated in #4, then you may or may not have used different phone numbers. You should take care that the phone number is unique to any other Google Places listing you might have.

6 ) Google says: Use a local phone number instead of a call center number whenever possible.

You should use a local number, not an 800# because this is about LOCAL business afterall.

7 ) Do not provide phone numbers or URLs that redirect or “refer” users to landing pages or phone numbers other than those of the actual business.

SEO 101; Redirects are bad. Redirects will get you into big trouble. If you are doing redirects and you are in the penalty box – you deserved it. Unsure what a Redirects is? Call me. You need the help.

8 ) Google says: Only businesses that make in-person contact with customers qualify for a Google Places listing.

This is an FYI. This is an issue that probably does not apply to you, but might be affecting you. If you see spammers who are crowding out your listing on Google Maps and in Natural Search Results – Third Party Lead companies will often compete for place in the results pusing your listing down. Report them from THEIR places page, bottom of the page “Report a Problem”.

If you are sure you do not violate any of these guidelines and are still in the penalty box: (no surprise, that’s usually the case)

There is no phone support for Google Places. Lovely! So your next (and only course), visit Google Places Help to drill-down to a point at which you will get a form to submit to Google.

Login to Google Places

Just logging in to Google Places can be a challenge. Doing a search for the URL on Google even, leads to a login process that shows no listings. Don’t panic! Get used to this with Google. The best way to login is through the problem listing Places Page you clickthrough to from Google Maps. At the top is the Business Owner login.

But if you are starting from scratch or you have a login (user name & password) use this login Google Local Business Center

Assuming that you are in your Google Places account and see your listing, there are three views/pages. There is an Analytics view, a Locations view and the Edit view. You want to navigate to the Edit view which will have your business’ Basic Information visible.

Bonus points: How to enhance your search rank by fine-tuning your Google Places listing

• If you have more than one location, seek professional help.*
• Do not get aggressive with the Service Area and Locations settings – keep it real or you run the risk of losing reputation.
• Use the phone number on your website home page or the about page
• List only one phone number
• Use a local phone number. Do not use an 800-type number. Think of this as a serial number for your business. Google WILL cross reference this phone number with other listings on the Internet (its a search engine afterall). If the phone number you list here conflicts with other numbers Google finds around the Internet, you will lose reputation.

Google aggregates information about your business from all over the web. Make sure information about your business on third-party sites is accurate, and try to contact the respective site directly to correct any inaccurate information.

• Videos help
• Images help
• Be sure to fill in as much detail as you can without getting spammy.

Reputation is a term I use to describe what I sense (from experience) that Google looks for, using algorithms, to spot typical gaming of their search results. The fewer signs of tricky-spammy behavior, especially here on your Google Places listing, the better your reputation. Thus the better your search rank may become.

Encourage customers to review your business by clicking Write a review on the Place Page. This is new from Google. Google seldom gives advice, so I recommend you take it. And while you are at it, don’t forget to take full advantage of Google Plus. There is a theme unfolding here.

Now if I were an aggressive type, I’d also take advantage of Google Offers before your competition figures out how to.

If you have more than one business location, you should seek professional SEO help because this takes some expertise to do correctly. If you are a business with multiple locations – you can spend your money (read “time”) learning why this warning exists in the first place.

I put this under the DIY-SEO section, but I strongly recommend that you do not do-it-yourself due to the potential impact of getting it wrong. Contact me if you’d like a FREE audit of your Google Places Listing

SELeads