June 1st, 2011 : Setting Up Google Places, Yahoo Local & Bing

Setting up your master local spots is by far the most important part of your entire internet marketing strategy as 65% of all local searches click on the map sections of search engines. First we want to give you a little background on a local footprint. When you conduct a local search such as "austin remodel" on Google, Yahoo or Bing, you are provided with a local map result. Those results often have businesses in them that have never created an account with Google, Yahoo or Bing. They also may be listed on Yellowpages.com, Yelp.com, Superpages.com, etc. So how are these businesses getting placement with these sites? Many of these online directories use local data providers like Localeze.com and infoUSA. Basically, when a new directory or an established directory updates its database, it pings it against sources like the above so it can provide more relevant results for users. However, if you did not provide the data, your local footprint may be getting replicated over and over to hundreds of directories with the wrong phone number or address, or worse, no website address.

The good news, user input data is used over automated data. So all you have to do is make sure you are the user who inputs, so you know definitely that the data is your data linking to a site you own. Also, Google Places and other local directories validate the data from other sources. That is why it is important to have the most relevant and up-to-date information about your business in many other sources, so Google can feel confident that you are a relevant result for its users.

The first place to start in this phase is the Holy Grail of all the sources; and this spot is primarily the main reason why you are going to contribute to so many sites we list as sources throughout our blog. This would be your Google Places account. We have provided more detail than the others sources simply because the majority of your leads will come from this source initially.

Google Places: The must dos and don'ts.

For starters, let's assume that you personally have never created one of these accounts before. If you have already personally setup your own Google Places account, this post may still provide some additional value. By personally we mean that you have created a Google Places Account with your existing Google Account or have registered a new Google Account upon creation of your Google Places Account. Personally does not mean you paid someone to do it for you. Nine out of 10 times a web designer or SEO expert will not use your account to create the Google Account. The following reasons are why they will not use your account.

• It takes too long to get the right information from the customer to get them going, so the SEO expert will use his own system such as yourbusinessname@theirdomain.com to get you setup. This is the worst mistake you can make when setting these up, as your piece of real estate is now a rental property for which you are being overcharged. Google has helped a lot with this by removing different business listings from the same account, so SEO providers are getting more creative to maintain control of this spot.
• If the user stops paying, the SEO expert or web designer is the owner of the real estate property, and there is no way to transfer or take over that account at this point. All is lost and you will have to start over.
• Often you have a phone tracking number on your listing. Basically this is a number that the SEO Company can forward to your number, but they can also change to their number to do phone verification. A phone tracker is used for two reasons: one to prove you are getting calls and two to verify your business in local directories. Google has since removed the phone verification system for new place accounts and very rarely will see that option we have noticed. So verification with Google needs a physical address to your business.

As an local internet marketing provider, we advise against the business owner not owning his Google Places spot. However, as an Local Internet Marketing Provider, we also know that business owners sometimes feel they do not have time to do anything related to the web and want us to do everything. So there is only one way to do it for them and that is by setting an account up that we control.

Now that you understand the importance of creating your account personally, let's get to the main portions of setting up your Google Places account. The following tips will guide you through the process.

Tips When Setting up Your Google Places Account

1. We recommend looking for your business on Google Places and attempt to claim your listing if they have it listed. Nine out of ten times your business is already in Google Places with the wrong information if you have not personally set it up yourself. By claiming the listing you will have the option to verify the listing by mail to a physical location of your business. There is no way of getting around this and really is for your protection. If you can't claim it, simple create a new one.
2. Have you ever seen those listings on Google Places on the 1st Page such as "Austin Painting Company | Business Name"? If you just started on Google, which could be the case, you probably are not seeing any of them. Nowadays you will not see too many of those as they have already been flagged and removed from Google Places Searches. The best thing we can tell you about your business name is enter it as you would on your business card or on your billing statements. Chances are other directories are going to display your data the way it is found in other sources, such as your business registration documents, etc. We cannot stress this enough: do not put keywords in your business name, even as tempting as it may seem. You will be flagged over time, and nothing is worse than seeing success and then seeing it disappear just as quickly.
3. Make sure all your contact information is displayed with the exact same format on your website. It is important that you give Google Places a 100% match to your local address. Do not let Google's robots guess, no matter how good they are.
4. Use a local number when entering your phone number. This is also used to determine if you are a local business.
5. Try to use an email that has your domain in it such as "info@mydomain.com".
6. Do not leave your website address blank. If you do not have a website, then you missed point of our entire post. Set up the web elements before you start competing on Google Places, we have an amazing internet marketing software that can help you with that. You have the best possible chance of converting your prospects if you have a website to validate your online existence.
7. Match your description on the Google account with the description on your website.
8. Choose categories that they suggest. Google Places requires you to have at least one category which is available. We recommend choosing only categories they have. There are some tips online that this is where you can put in local keywords such as "Austin Remodeler". We advise against this. Google Places is much more sensitive than ever before. If you are providing Google Places with your correct business information and solid description of what you do, then you are at no risk of becoming flagged for breaking its guidelines. You will optimize your listing over time by including photos and videos.
9. Service or Location Settings section is very important if you are a services business. By default Google Places assumes the location of your business is where customers need to come to conduct business with you. Service settings allow you to select a mile radius that includes all your service areas.
10. Make sure you add a logo as your first image. This is often overlooked, but it is very important for standing out on Google Places.
11. Add photos of your business. If you have a website, you should have some images readily available to upload during the creation of your listing. Make sure you save your images with keywords in them that best describe that photo. You can always right click on your computer and rename your photo right on your desktop before uploading.
12. If you have a video that you have already loaded to YouTube, paste in the link to it from YouTube. We are assuming you have not read the Social Networking Phase, so more than likely you don't have a video. No problem, you will add that at a later date.
13. Verify your listing by mail. Typically it takes 5 business days and the faster you enter in the authorization code the faster your listing will start the process, which you need to be patient, eventually you will be getting indexed in searches.

You can use these same tips when setting up most business directories. Immediately following your inclusion into Google Places you should setup a Yahoo Local, Bing Local and 6Qube Local account.

Yahoo Local Setup - http://listings.local.yahoo.com/
Bing Local Setup - https://ssl.bing.com/listings/BusinessSearch.aspx

There are hundreds of local directories in which you will be placing your business over time. These local directories or local citations will help grow your Google Places, Yahoo Local and Bing Local rankings. To learn more about our internet marketing software please visit http://elements.6qube.com or to create a Free Business Listing.

Tags: Internet Marketing Strategy, Internet Marketing Guide, Internet Marketing Software

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