Putting it all together - Developing a strategy that works
This is the hardest part to write about because each company's situation is different. The goal is to have your business show up at the top of the listing for as many categories or keywords as possible. The way you do that varies depending on the type of business.
If you searched your listing and you were already showing up well, then congratulations! The only thing you need to do it update your Google Places, adding wording, images and video that will encourage your prospective customer to call or come in.
If you have hundreds of competitors listing above you then you have a lot more work that you'll need to do. Start by looking at the top sites. Print out their Google Places listing and figure out what is different between their sites and yours. Then get to work and change your site. There are only a few factors that you need to look at that really make a difference:
- Your Places Page - Make sure it is well written and has the right search terms. Everything that we have discussed above.
- Reviews - make sure customers are writing reviews on the review sites above.
- Citations - Listings of your business on other search engines and directories. Generally the more the better.
- Location - Google puts a premium on location. If you are closer than your competitor to the person searching and everything else is the same you should show up first. If customers come to you and your competitor is located closer to the majority of the population you are going to have to develop an alternative strategy to make your business show up first, but it can be done. We've helped clients show up in in front of businesses with better locations.
Good luck! You will be more than rewarded for the time you put in to make your Google Places page show up. When you get Places all set up the way you want it don't forget about Bing, Yahoo, Best of Web and Yelp. They all have local directories that drive business, however each drives far less traffic than Google, which is why we have put so much attention to them.
If you want to get listed but don't have the time we can get you up and listed. The cost varies from a one time fee of $395 to $695. There is an optional monthly fee of $100 per month.
Services we provide:
- Set up your Google Places account. Update all information on the website.
- Perform keyword research to determine the best words so your site shows up.
- Optimize your site for keywords selected
- List your business on other sites such as Bing, Yahoo, Best of Web and Yelp
- List your business on local directories. We do this so that your
site will be seen as more relevant to Google and therefore return a
higher ranking.
- Upload and optimize photos.
- Create videos that visitors can watch on your Places page.
- Create or help you create coupons and other special offers.
After completing the work above your site will show up for the
chosen search terms. The exact placement will vary depending on
competition and distance from from the person searching. We sign each
client up under their own Google Places account so you will be able to
see the traffic and activity that Google is sending you.
Businesses
that we have already researched cost $395. New categories cost $495.
We create up to two videos for $150. If you are local this price
includes shooting the images. If you are outside of the Triad of NC we
will create the videos but will need the pictures and raw video.
