© 2012 EZlocal, Inc. | Local Search Made Easy ezlocal.com

Competing for Visibility in Maps & Google+ Local

by Dave Cosper VP Marketing, EZlocal, Inc.

Small Business Pro Guide

Local

Local

The shift to social (Google+) is indicative of a more democratized local algorithm.

Further evidence is Google Map Maker being increasingly relied on as the back-end for Google+ Local.

Google Places Google+ Local

The Google Local Business Center (owner dashboard) used for edits/updates/reporting will likely be wholly integrated into Google+ Local with Map Maker serving as the back-end “mapper-driven” verification tool.

Map Maker encourages users (or "mappers") to update geographic info, particularly in their local

area, within Google Maps. Updates are reviewed by other mappers before being published online.

Note: “Google Trusted Reviewers” are allowed

special editorial privileges. Opportunistic SMB Marketers would be wise to begin diligently

working towards attaining this special status.

Google Maps and Earth content is constantly being updated from every angle – literally.

AdWords Ads; Sponsored Ads; PPC (Google paid advertising)

Local business listings; Maps; Google+ Local (formerly “Places”)

Universal results: websites; Internet directory (IYP) listings

Organic

How local search content often displays in a SERP (Search Engine Results Page) ...

Consider that Google relies on multiple sources for information verification, weighing various signals to determine which businesses are the most relevant

and locally prominent for any given search query.

Making sense of Google’s local search algorithm

Your Google+ Local page.

100’s of factors determine where this page ranks

Ex: plus.google.com/115118824099727884428

Local search ranking factors are based largely on:

Location

Relevance

Prominence

Location ”Distance from centroid”

ezlocal.com/mapradius

Don’t expect to rank in Maps outside of a 10 to 15-mile radius of city searched.

Relevance ”Authenticity and depth of content”

Does content throughout the web (associated to your NAP) corroborate your categorization and location?

Prominence “Local popularity”

Quantity and quality of mentions, and reviews, of your business.

Google+ Local Page Ranking Factors (just a few):

• Physical address in city of search on G+ Local page • Proper business category associations on G+ Local page • Domain authority of website • Quantity of structured citations (IYPs, data aggregators) • City and state in the page title of home page • Local area code on G+ Local page • Quantity of native G+ Local page reviews • Quality/authority of structured citations • Owner-verified (claimed) G+ Local page • Quality, quantity and diversity of inbound links to website • Product/service/location keywords in anchor text of inbound links • Photos and logos, and video, on G+ Local page • Depth of content, and % completion, of G+ Local page • Categories and location keywords in G+ Local page review content • Categories and location keywords in G+ Local page “at a glance” • Number of +1s on your website • Number of followers of G+ Local page • Historical performance of G+ Local page • Number of likes on Facebook • Number of followers on Twitter

Important: Standardize your NAP and business details according to Map Maker User Guides.

http://support.google.com/mapmaker

Tip: Pay close attention to Google’s grammar guidelines for business name and street address. Avoid address abbreviations, keyword stuffing, and use of special characters such as '#' or '/' in the Name and Address field, with the exception of a

dash or hyphen character '-‘ or a ‘#’ used in this format: #suite number (#200).

N = Name A = Address P = Phone number (local)

Establish consistency

Once your NAP (Name, Address, Phone number) is standardized using Google Maps guidelines and ran

through USPS verification, it is important to make sure your NAP is consistent everywhere else on the web – including

on your website using hCard / schema.org format.

Example: If Google crawls your listing on another site and instead of “Road”, you have “RD”, Google may not

read it as the same address.

Your NAP serves as the anchor in building valuable citations throughout the web and establishing your

online “certificate of trust”. Treat it with care.

Note: Do not list multiple phone numbers. Use the same local phone # on all listings.

Build-out your G+ user account

The user account associated with your G+ Local page should be complete. Add personal details, photos, etc. Ideally, use an email address linked to your business’s domain (owner@yourbizname.com). Be active, build social connections and Circles.

Upload a minimum of 10 unique photos

Tip 1: Add GPS Tags manually via sites like Panoramio, Flickr, Mappr, and Google Earth. Tip 2: Use keyword descriptive file names and provide image descriptions (ex: riva-motorsports-service-center.png).

GeoTag: mark location of your photos. This feature is available on all smart-phones.

Keep your page fresh by periodically updating content, like messages “from the owner”

You can enhance your page with a Street View interactive 360-degree “see inside” tour:

Locate a Trusted Photographer here: http://maps.google.com/businessphotos

Include a YouTube video(s)

This is an optimized 60-sec HD video we created for our client CrossFit: http://youtu.be/Y4gp8PZ1KsA

Google+ Local pages with video not only consistently rank better but also generate higher engagement and response rates.

Generate a minimum of 10 customer reviews

Encourage customers to leave detailed reviews. It’s okay to incentivize, but make sure you don’t get too many all at once – spread them out. Target reviewers with established G+ accounts.

Tip: Consider “Reviews” and “+1’s” to be the new “inbound links” of G+ Local.

Make it easy for customers to find and leave reviews on your Google+ Local page

Use QR codes on marketing materials and place review links on your website, emails, Facebook, etc.

Building citations throughout the Web.

Citations are “mentions” of your business name and address on other sites (no link necessary). Structured citations from well-established sites and business portals/directories help increase the degree of certainty major search engines like

Google, Bing and Yahoo have about your business’s contact information and categorization.

What are citations?

Weight of local citations will vary city to city and by business category. Here are just a few worth mentioning:

Citations not all created equally

Yelp Yahoo Local SuperPages CitySearch Facebook DexKnows

BBB.org YouTube City-Data

Yellowbook.com Yellowpages.com

Angieslist MerchantCircle ServiceMagic

Manta EZlocal

Seek out citation sources by looking for relevant sites around the web.

Look for niche/vertical directories within your industry and locale by Google searching your phone number and that of your high-ranking competitors –

identifying directory listings indexed in search results.

Tip: Use tools like whitespark.ca/local-citation-finder to look for potential citations.

Look for citation opportunities from a variety of sources -- be creative and think outside the box. The more locally popular

and trusted the source the better.

Examples: Set up a free Wi-Fi hotspot at your business and get listed in Wi-Fi directories. Offer check-in deals via Foursquare. Sponsor local

events and groups who will in return publish your business’s NAP on their webpages. Lots of opportunities out there.

Building citations: Think outside the box!

KML can be effective for citations, especially within certain verticals. KML is a file format used to display geographic data in an Earth browser, such as Google (and Bing) Maps. Create KML files to pinpoint locations, add image overlays, and share rich

data. You can do this with GeoRSS map feeds as well.

Create KML (Keyhole Markup Language) files

Tip: GeoSitemapGenerator.com is a free and user-friendly KML file generator.

ezlocal.com/map

Why Local-Mobile-Social is important

There’s a frenzy of consumers searching local

86% of consumers use the Internet to find local businesses. 2

Online search is the #1 way consumers look for products & services. 2

58% of consumers begin a purchase on search engines, outpacing company websites and social media. 3

More than 20% of all searches on Google each day have local intent. 4

Online reviews are kind of a big deal

86% of consumers consult online reviews before buying, and 90% of consumers trust the reviews they read. 5

78% of consumers say reviews are important when deciding what to buy. 7

7 out of 10 consumers share reviews with friends, family & colleagues. 6

Word-of-mouth still important

90% of consumers trust recommendations from people they know and 70% trust the opinion of unknown users. 11

45% of consumers say they have products in mind, but do not conduct a local search for a specific business. 12

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Mobile consumers take action

Google mobile search is up 4x in the last year. 1

After looking up a local business on their smart phone, 61% of users called the business and 59% visited. 1

1 in 3 mobile searches has local intent. 1

25% of Americans use only mobile devices to access the Internet. 8

For now, Google dominates mobile search

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% of searches 9

Will Apple Maps grab significant market share in 2013? ?

Yet as few as 15% of business listings on Google have even been claimed.10 It’s winner takes all,

and the early bird gets the worm!

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

Has website Claimed listing

facebook.com/ezlocal

gplus.to/ezlocal

Sources