Before we get started I want to share a recent email I got from one of my clients:
“BTW…. I did what you said and found all the directories I could with the wrong info and BAM!!!.. Back to first position and the phone is blowing off the hook…. Lookin at adding a second van….Thanks again for all your help and if you ever need anything, just say the word!!” ~Tony from Carpet Cleaning Bend Oregon.
1. The most important part of ranking a Google Places page is LOCATION. You must have a physical location in the city your are trying to rank in and the closer you are the to the center of the city the better. No PO Boxes, UPS Boxes work right now, but may not in the future because they are being abused and Google doesn’t like that.
2. Having consistent business name, address and phone number listings across the Internet is also VERY VERY important for your Google Places ranking. Many times you do everything right and you still can’t seem to rank above weaker competition. Why is this? There can be several reasons why, but most likely your business has inconsistent information and Google is confused and a result you don’t rank as high as you deserve.
3. Do a free checkup on http://yext.com. Just use the free service as a checkup tool. This will give you a quick and easy snapshot of your business across 10 major online directories and may reveal incorrect business info that needs to be updated. It is not necessary to sign up for the paid service.
4. Separately Google your business name, address and phone number and make notes on any inconsistencies. This should be an organized list that shows any incorrect information. It’s also a good chance for you to see your current Citations and possibly improve company descriptions and profile data.
5. Register your information with the following info websites. Why do this? Much of the online information about your business is automatically scraped together by different sources on the Internet. These three websites store data that many websites and directories use to compile information on your business. Sometimes you will find information on your business that is incorrect and there is seemingly no way to change it. It’s most likely that the data is automatically being pulled from one of these three sites.
http://localeze.com/ (free)
http://www.expressupdateusa.com (free)
https://www.ubl.org (paid)
Wait 90 days, then manually correct ANY and ALL inconsistencies that you possibly can.
Sounds easy right? Well just like most things worth doing, this is hard work. If you hire it out you better make sure they do it right the first time. Sloppy work will result in wasted money and wasted time.
