Google Places in Search Results:\u00a0 A Competitive Edge for Your Business<\/h2>\n
The Google Places listing for your business will also sometimes appear in keyword search results in Google.\u00a0 Google has recently placed a stronger emphasis on Google Places listings, often showing Google Places info above organic search results for a certain keyword search.\u00a0 For example, a company\u2019s actual website could be ranked #20 organically appearing on the second page results for a given keyword search, but show up on the first page search results, or even #1, with its Google Places listing.\u00a0 The Google Places search placement result isn’t for the company’s website itself, but instead for its Google Places listing.<\/p>\n
In the example below, we\u2019ll use Quality Shed\u2019s Glendale, CA location and the keyword phrase search “Glendale, CA sheds”.\u00a0 The company’s actual website<\/em> pages are listed on the second page results, however its Google Places listing is coming up #1 overall!\u00a0 When you click on Quality Shed\u2019s Google Places listing heading, it takes you directly to their website, not the listing itself.\u00a0 By getting your Google Places listing to rank high in Google, you can give yourself a significant search advantage over your competitors while creating an important new entrance point to your website potentially attracting new customers you wouldn’t have otherwise.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Google will search other business directory sites that may include a listing for your business along with any reviews for your business.\u00a0 Google currently scrapes reviews about your business from these other sites and will populate your Google Places listing with those reviews.\u00a0 In the above example, although Quality Sheds has four reviews in its Google Places listing, it also has a review from someone who reviewed the company through \u201cInsiderpages.com\u201d.\u00a0 Google pulled a review from InsiderPages about the Quality Sheds and automatically added it to their Google Places listing.\u00a0 The review pulled from insiderpages.com was a positive review for the company, however\u00a0 it\u2019s essential to check your Google Places listing regularly to ensure any possible negative reviews that could be floating around in cyberspace about your business don\u2019t inadvertently get pulled in by Google to your listing. When reviews are added about your business in any directory, it’s beneficial for you to personally respond to both good and bad reviews about your business.<\/p>\n It’s a good idea to make sure your business is listed on as many reputable directory and review sites as possible.\u00a0 However, because there are a multitude of directories on the web, many of which would hold little value to your business, you’ll want to focus on local directories and directories that center on your type of business.\u00a0 Local online phone directories and trade organization websites that provide business listings are a good start.\u00a0 Make sure you accurately list your business name and add as much info as you can about your business to each.\u00a0 \u00a0It\u2019s important to have your business name consistently shown in all directories so that search engines can identify that a listing belongs to your business and not another.\u00a0 If you find your business in a directory\u00a0 with auto-populated information that isn\u2019t accurately spelled or contains other information that\u2019s incorrect, make sure you claim the listing or contact the directory\u2019s administrator to correct it.<\/p>\n It’s a must to have a sitemap.xml file, usually placed in the root directory of your site, for search engines like Google to find and read each time it indexes your site.\u00a0 This site map file provides the complete page structure of your site to search engines.\u00a0 If you have a traditional HTML based site, you’ll want to manually generate and upload your sitemap.xml file to your site periodically or at least when you make significant changes to your site.\u00a0 A good resource for generating a sitemap of your site is xml-sitemaps.com<\/a> .<\/p>\n With WordPress based websites (and with some other CMS sites) you can install a free plugin that constantly and automatically keeps your sitemap.xml up to date with the changes and updates you make to your website.\u00a0 You can download the WordPress sitemap generator plugin her<\/a><\/p>\n Your sitemap file will help your overall site ranking, but alone may not influence how well your business ranks in Google Places.\u00a0 However, another type of sitemap, the Geo Sitemap,\u00a0 can be a factor considered by Google for your Google Places ranking.\u00a0 The Geo Sitemap is a KML file which is used by Google to show locations on both Google Earth and Google Maps.\u00a0 To generate a Geo Sitemap, you’ll need to create two files, a KML file, and an XML file, and upload both to your sites root directory.\u00a0 You’ll then need to submit the Geo Sitemap to Google with your Google Webmaster Tools account.\u00a0 To generate both the necessary KML and XML files, you can use the Geo Sitemap generator tool at SiteMapDoc.com<\/a> .\u00a0\u00a0 Follow the directions and upload the files to your site.\u00a0 Remember to change the generated code to use your website’s correct URL and make sure you save both files with the appropriate file extension, .kml and .xml.\u00a0 Finally make sure you add your new Geo Sitemap file to your Google Webmaster Tools account.\u00a0 You’ll need to submit your .xml file to Google Webmaster (which points to your .kml file).\u00a0 If you don’t already have a Google Webmaster account you can sign up for one through your Google Account or by clicking here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Google Places is a dynamic service that Google is constantly tweaking to improve the way it serves its search engine users and revenue model.\u00a0 It\u2019s critical to stay on top of Google Places current trends;\u00a0 what is an effective strategy today, may not be tomorrow.\u00a0 Once you\u2019ve mastered the topics described in this article, you\u2019ll also want to educate yourself on more advanced methods to improve your Google Places ranking. \u00a0\u00a0Best of luck with optimizing your Google Places listing and growing your business.<\/p>\n Author\u2019s Note:\u00a0 I\u2019d like to extend a special thank you to Quality Sheds of Glendale<\/span><\/a> for allowing me to use their company as an example in this article.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n![\"google](\"http:\/\/www.itegritygroup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/08\/google-places-optimization-e1314576718965.png\" "\\"google-places-optimization\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\nOther Business Directories Affect Your Google Places Listing<\/h2>\n
Sitemaps and Geo Sitemaps<\/h2>\n
Conclusion<\/h2>\n