Google Places: How to Represent Your Business on Your Page

If you’re a local business with a local focus, then Google Places is the place to be. Statistics show that 97% of people looking for a local business complete an online search for a business as their first step.  Statistics also show that over 60% of all completed searches are for local businesses.  Google Places provides a FREE opportunity to be found on the first page of Google search results when someone is searching for a local business!

Once you’ve claimed your Google Places Page, you’re ready to fill out a profile about your business.

Your profile consists of some very basic information about your business, including: hours of operation, address, website, contact information, etc.  Some things to consider for each section in your listing:

• Address: If you are a small business owner and work from home, you may want to weigh the pros and cons of having your address listed for your business.  If you decide to list yourself with Google Places, you DO get a free place to list business, but you also reveal your home address.  Another simple thing to consider is your phone number listing.
• Phone number: To create a measurable way to track traffic coming from your Google Places page, consider listing an alternate phone number at which you will only receive calls from customers who found you via Google Places.
• Website: Make sure you are listing your URL in a consistent way.  Even though a click on myurl.com (without www.) may get you to www.myurl.com, if you have listed your URL a certain way elsewhere, stay consistent and list it the same way on Google Places.
• Categories: Google Places asks you to list up to 5 categories your business falls into.  As you type, Google will suggest categories that begin with the spelling you have typed.  If you choose categories already listed, you are selecting from a pre-determined list of categories created by Google.  You can also type categories that are not listed.  We recommend using some categories created by Google as well as some of your own.  Make sure your keyword or keyword phrase is included somewhere in your categories.
• Operating Hours: If you choose to list your operating hours, take note that you have the option to list two sets of operating hours (this would work great, for example, if you were a doctor’s office with two physicians working alternate hours).
• Photos and Video:  When you upload relevant photos and videos, first title them with your business name and keyword.  This will help with your SEO and help you be found in searches for images.

Lastly, what is the best thing Google Places has to offer your business?  Reviews!   Quite possibly, the most beneficial thing about Google Places Pages is the ability for users to leave reviews of their experience with your business that will appear in a Google search!  Reviews help increase your page ranking.  Also, both positive AND negative reviews provide you, as a business owner, with an opportunity to demonstrate your leadership ability as a business owner.  The way you handle negative reviews is very telling to readers!  Whatever you do, do NOT delete negative reviews.  Instead, respond in the same way you would if someone called your business and complained!  Apologize for the mistake and offer a way to make it up to them!  This provides you an opportunity to shine, to show potential customers how they’ll be treated if they have a problem with your service.  You have nothing to loose and new clients to gain by managing negative reviews effectively!

If you are a business who uses a third-party vendor to host reviews, it may behoove you to ask some of your customers to post reviews on your Google Places page, anyway.  Although many of the third-party reviews will appear as a link in your Google Places Reviews, the reviews themselves will not be listed on your page AND will not be as highly favored by Google.

Get reviews from satisfied customers on the spot!  Set up a netbook, iPad, laptop or any other tool and ask customers to log in and leave you a review.  You could entice them to do this by holding a weekly drawing for a prize for those who provide reviews on your Google Place Page.

Now go out there and Get Found with Google Places!

Google Places—Why Every Local Business Needs A Page

In honor of Google Places’ Second Birthday last month, we have decided to focus on the benefits of Google Places for Local Businesses.

Why is Google Places relevant? 

If you’re a local business with a local focus, then Google Places is particularly relevant to you. Google states that 97% of people looking for a local business perform their search online first.  Statistics also show that over 60% of all searches are for local businesses.  Google Places provides a FREE opportunity to be found on the first page of Google search results when someone is searching for a local business!  And since Google receives the lion’s share of all search traffic (66%) this is the place small business owners want to be.

If you’ve ever searched for a business near you, you have undoubtedly noticed that Google provides local results with a corresponding map at the very top of the page, often before any of the organic search results.  These are “Google Places”—information for businesses tied directly to a map to help a user find the nearest relevant businesses.  Although it’s difficult to predict what the results will look like (as Google often changes the look, location and quantity of results shown), we can say with confidence that it makes sense for small business owners to invest the time it takes to appear in these results.

What’s Included On My Google Place Page?

Think of your Places Page as a mini website for your business—listing just the basics.  Google provides places for you to list a description of your company, post your contact information, list hours of operation, payment options, tag your keywords, and most importantly, provides a place for customers to leave reviews (often what sells people to go ahead and make that phone call).

How to Begin using Google Places for Your Business

First, you should know that even if you have not set up a page on Google Places, it’s possible that a page already exists for your company.  For many businesses, Google has taken data that already exists on the internet (including your business address, hours, business type, etc.) and created a page on your behalf.  This is why the first step you need to take is complete a search for your business.  Type your business name and location into the Google search bar (or go to Google Maps and search for the same information).  If your business appears, there will be a link above the provided map that says, “Business Owner?”  If you are the business owner, this is where you will start to “claim” your business.  Google will then email you a code to enter with instructions to verify you have the rights to that business page.

Once you have received your code and claimed your page, you can log in using your Google Account (or by creating a Google Account and logging in).  You will be able to fill in the specific fields listed above, upload photos and videos of your business, save your changes, and get started!

Come back next week for advice on how to represent your business on your Google Places Page!

So, you’ve done your keyword research.  Trends and Insights have got you jumping, and now it’s time to compete with the 50,000+ competitors out there to be found on the first page of Google Search results.  So, what will set your keyword apart?

Keyword Optimization, of course!

The placement, frequency, and geography of your keyword are all important pieces of your Keyword Optimization puzzle.

SAM, what is Keyword Placement?

When I refer to keyword placement, I’m talking about optimizing content by making sure that your relevant keyword is EVERYWHERE on and in your page!  Your keyword should appear in the body content of your site/page, should be tagged, AND should be a part of your URL.  A cute URL is not as important as a relevant one.

How often should my keyword appear, SAM?

Frequency is a VERY important factor in optimizing your keyword.  We call the frequency of your keyword, “Keyword Density.”  Keyword Density ≈ (Keyword Phrase) ÷ (# of words). Ideal keyword density is approximately 3-5%, and can be easily calculated at http://www.keyworddensity.com/.  Remember, a keyword density which is too low, won’t optimize your site.  If your keyword density is too high, you could be flagged for keyword spamming.

SAM, what does geography have to do with Keyword Optimization and SEO?

Great question.  I am referring to varying types of media.  And by using the word geography, I’m asking you to see your site/page, and all forms of media in a bubble-chart layout.  If you’re trying to populate the web with your content, you need to “cover a lot of territory.”  Make your mark in a video, podcast, blog, article, and connect them all to your website, making sure to use your keyword strategically in all locations.

How to Figure Out Your Best Search Terms Using Google Search Bar and Google Keyword Tools—FREE!

Last week we touched on how to do the initial brainstorming for keyword research—some good ways to find out which keywords you may want to actually research.  So, you’ve got the list of terms that you think people may use to look for you, your product, or your service on the internet (to solve their problem).  NOW what?

It’s time to find out what the numbers say.

Where do I go first?
Well, there are a number of products you can use to find out which words are working and which words are not.  The good news?  There is a free version of almost all of them.  Google offers: Google Search bar, Keyword Tools, Insights, and Trends to help you with your keyword research. Some other products out there include: Wordstream, Worktracker, and Keyword Discovery.  For now, we’re going to focus on Google Search Bar and Google Keyword Tools.

Let’s start with the Google Search Bar.
Sound familiar?  It should, because you probably use it every day.  We’re talking about the exact same search bar you type your searches into when you’re looking for something.  Maybe you haven’t noticed it before, but whenever you search for a term or phrase, when Google provides your results page(s), Google indicates how many results are yielded (and how long it took for the results to appear).  Example: Search “mashed potatoes” and you will see that 17,200,000 results were found within 0.16 seconds.  “Mashed potato recipes” yield 357,000 results in 0.19 seconds.  Google Search Bar is the easiest, least complicated tool to use.  If you’re looking for terms to be found for, you can decide pretty quickly whether or not you stand a chance (competition against 17 million other results for “mashed potatoes” and you want to land on the first page?  You can probably stop right there…)

Let’s pretend you searched “mashed potatoes” or something else, and your results yielded 24,000 results instead. We would advise you to proceed checking out the statistics on your term (as a rule of thumb, 30,000 or less is a good place to start).  Head on over Keyword Tools, through AdWords or Google.

From Keyword Tools, you will be able to search terms and find out the volume and competition for searches, as well as learn some groovy stuff about your website and the websites of your competitors.

Next visit www.adwords.google.com.
From the tabs at the top, choose, “Tools and Analytics,” and from the dropdown, choose “Keyword Tool.”  From the landing page, type into the word or phrase box whatever it is you’re looking to see.  As an example, let’s continue with our “mashed potatoes” theme.  Type it into the box, click search, and look below to use the tools.  You will find that under “search terms” you will see your keyword, how many searches are completed each month locally, yearly, and what your competition will be like.  One goal when choosing keywords is to have terms that yield HIGH VOLUME and LOW COMPETITION.  This combination means a lot of people are searching for your term, but not a lot of websites are using that keyword to be found.

Below “search terms” is a laundry list of terms and their stats under “keyword ideas.”  These results are Google’s recommendations of similar terms.  The similar terms may be terms you have already come up with as possibilities OR may offer terms you never thought to consider.

Already have a website?  Check this out…
Head back up to the top of the Keyword Tools page.  Directly below where you typed your keyword(s) is a search bar for “website.” This tool is what you can use to see the keywords Google believes are relevant to your website. Moving out of the realm of potatoes, we’ll search www.searchwithsam.com.

Now, let’s examine the results.
Google thinks that “pay per click on Google,” “pay per click with Google,” “pay per click at Google”… are the most relevant to www.searchwithsam.com.  It’s possible that you may even see some search terms that you used to get here listed below.  This is a great tool to see how Google sees your website AND the websites of your competitors.  Go ahead, choose your own website and try it out.

Some key tips to remember:

-        The more words you have in a keyword, the more targeted you can get (it’s easier to optimize)

-        The goal is to be found on the first page of search results

-        High volume and low competition are ideal when choosing words to be found for (will make being found on the first results page more realistic)

Check us out next week for how to read insights, trends, and How to use the “Long Tail.”

SEO is Not About You
It is perhaps the hardest lesson for anyone to learn, but especially for newbies when figuring out how to optimize their web content with Search Engine Optimization (SEO).  Starting a new blog or business is FANTASTIC!  YOU have all sorts of new ideas to enlighten the world with!  YOU are enthusiastic about what you have to give and the lives you will change with YOUR new fabulous blog!  Well, we’ve got news for YOU.  It is NOT about you.  As a matter of fact, it has nothing to do with you.  Well, maybe a little, but when it comes to search, it all boils down to who the prospect is, what they’re looking for, and making sure you’re a true match.

You think you know what customers need better than they do?  That may be true, but the customers still have to find you… and whatever they’re looking for, you better be it.

Where to start?  It’s called keyword research, and it’s really the foundation for all web activity.

Are You Found for the Right Searches?
What it boils down to is that every time a person types a word, phrase, or query into Google, Bing, or any other search engine, it is noted and recorded as a search.  If you have an online presence, your goal is to be found for the RIGHT searches, i.e. when you have what the searcher is looking for.  Investing in the time up front to do some keyword research will help you to ensure that the traffic directed toward your site is maximized AND meaningful.

Who Really Matters?
-        Until YOU or your product are famous, no one is looking for you… they are looking for an answer to their problem. You may have started a company selling green peas and have decided that you’re going to start calling green peas, holiday peas, and make them the next big thing.  Well, that’s fantastic, but you are not Cher and no one knows what your genius holiday peas are yet.  Thus, no one is looking for you or your peas, and you will not be found.  If you’re famous, you can do what you want.  If you’re the average Joe or Jane, you need to conform a little.

-        High volume traffic does not mean meaningful traffic.  Just because someone is landing on your page does not mean you’re a rock star.  It does you (or them) no good to accidentally land on your site if you don’t have what they’re looking for.  Thus, it’s important to use the right keywords in your site, your URL, blog titles, etc.

-        Think of their search as a question, and your site to be the answer—your keywords must be married.  Your prospect is not going to change their thoughts or behavior, so if you want to be found, you’re going to have to make the move.

Nobody Thinks About it the Same Way You Do
Want to get started?  Aside from using some fabulous analytical tools (which we will touch on next week), one of the best things you can do for you, your site, and your company, is to consult some searchers.  Your searcher consultants can be friends, strangers, family, or anyone who is not tied to calling your green peas, holiday peas.  We did this last week during our Pay Per Click Club Meeting and found that everyone had some surprising and exciting results (a few people even had the “it’s not about me” aha moment).  Find just a few people, explain your business, who the average customer/searcher is (are they men? women? age? occupation?), what they are looking for (hopefully the answer is your product), when they are looking for (is this a quick search while they’re on the road? in the office?), and ask them what they would type into Google if they were looking for you!  Keep an open mind, don’t have hurt feelings, jot down the results (you will need them when we get to the analytics)This is the simplest way to get yourself outside of your head and thinking about your business/service/product/site from the perspective of the searcher.

Stay tuned… more to come on SEO.