As a local business owner, you can no longer rely on print advertising alone. Online advertising is becoming critical as more and more people are turning to the Internet to find local businesses to deliver the products and services they need. Every second of every day someone is typing into a Google, Yahoo or Bing search box a product and a location like “guitars Nashville Tn”. The resulting search page provides a map and 3-10 businesses.
There are multiple pages to the map, but how many people actually browse the other pages unless they are looking for a specific business? How critical is it then with your small business advertising strategy for your business to be on that first page? Huge!
How do you get there and how do you stay there? The algorithm that Google uses to place businesses on the map is a well-guarded secret, but there are experts who through experience have learned some of the tricks. Most of the experts agree on a few of the secrets.
Have a website–You can get on the first map without a website and Google will list your site as maps.google.com. But you are very vulnerable to being bumped off if you happen to luck into a top spot without a website. Physical address–Google’s intent with the maps is to highlight local bricks and mortar businesses. A business with a physical address will trump one with just a PO Box all else being equal. The address should be accurate and checked for proper placement especially if there is a directional factor like East in the address. Categories and keywords–Selecting the proper categories is critical for showing up in searches. Keyword research in your niche can yield big results allowing you to carefully select the most “searched for” keywords. Other Data Providers–It is believed that listings in other directories like Internet Yellow Pages, Superpages, etc. provides Google with a higher credibility score. But just having those other listings will not help if there are discrepancies between the listings. Customer Reviews–It isn’t clear what role customer reviews plays in the ranking, but most experts believe that they do play a role and should be encouraged.